10/18/20
There was a much better vibe for me at the park today. It was just as beautiful weather-wise as it was yesterday, and when I arrived at 11 am I was happy to see only two other skaters. A little surprised too, based on how nice it was.
I was in a much calmer state of mind, although I felt a tinge of why are you even going? You’re forcing this… why?
There was guilt on some level, for abandoning my responsibilities for the day to go partake in this frivolous, juvenile hobby of mine. And still some lingering embarrassment from eating shit in front of a bunch of teens the day before.
I needed to get this out of my system first, though. I wanted to. So I did.
I spent some time working on backside slash grinds, to build up my confidence a bit. One of the other skaters even complimented me on one. On “the tombstone,” which I guess is the actual name of the feature I had been calling the “quarter-pipe wall-ride thing.”
After a bit more practice I got a couple on the regular quarter-pipe coping as well. Some BMXers showed up at this point, and I moved over to the other corner of the park to practice more backside kickturns, slash grinds, and pumping to fakie in the “mini-ramp” section.
Coming down the ramp fakie is pretty freaky, but with a bit of practice I was just able to get it, and even build up some speed by pumping. I was good up until my wheels hit the coping. Once they did, all bets were off and I ejected. Got some work to do there.
I find the sheer amount of areas for improvement and learning in skating to be a blend of fascinating, exciting, and disheartening all at the same time. In contrast, with snowboarding… I feel as if I’ve hit a point where I’ve learned what I’ve learned, and now its just time to have fun within my ability. Which is carving, straight airs, back ones and knuckle-tamedogs. I could have fun doing that all day, at least for now.
With skating though, there is just so much to learn. So many little nuances. Its cool, daunting, and rewarding.
MikeFundaro.com 