OK, so you're wondering: why skateboarding, for heaven's sakes?
The short answer:
I LOVE IT!
The long:
When I was 10, Santa gave me my first skateboard--a Hobie Super Surfer with clay wheels. It was primo. I rode that thing eight hours a day.
Within a couple years, I was lucky enough to earn one of five spots on the Hobie Amateur Skateboard Team. Try-outs were brutal. It was like 100 degrees and there must have been a couple hundred kids waiting for their turn in front of the judges--Hobie Pro Team members Skitch Hitchcock, Mike Weed and Steve Shipp.
I'll never forget the moment I got the letter informing me that I had made the team. As a team member, I got to go to the Hobie factory and choose any equipment and clothing I wanted. Paradise!
I was a dedicated student of the sport, practicing every afternoon after school, revising my freestyle routine. Pretty soon, I became skilled at 360s, nose and tail wheelies, L-sits, daffys...Our team would meet at a local skateboard park to practice our tricks and talk about "mental toughness." For a skateboarder, I think that meant not breaking your board in two if you fell on your face during a contest.
Skateboarding also gave me my first lesson in local politics. When my favorite skate spot--an old, empty reservoir that made for outrageous riding--was suddenly turned into a police-patrolled NO TRESSPASSING zone, I penned some speeches, gathered up my skater buddies and marched into the local city council meeting to present our case. We promised to wear full safety gear, act responsibly and not sue the city if we suffered serious bodily harm.
The council members listened with charmed smiles...then denied our petition, 6 to 0.
Anyway, flash forward, um, 25 years or so, and I'm still skating--on the street, at skateparks, across my living room floors... My husband gave me a new Sector 9 longboard for my birthday a few years ago; that's my main cruiser now, along with a new reissued Fibreflex Teamrider. But I still ride my old Hobie from time to time, just for grins.
Now my son, Jack, is starting to cruise along with me! (In full safety gear, of course.) Fun!
Skate on, everyone!
