Those of you who read my last post on slamming will no doubt laugh at this idea, but it's been a couple of days and the pain is subsiding. Slams never seem to really make it into my long term memory in any detail. I might not skate if they did. Not to deter anyone else from learning to skate, I'm just not sure I have any innate talent.
So, in spite of this, I am challenging myself to drop in on vert in 2008. At least 2 ft of vert on top of at least 6 ft of transition. I can almost always successfully drop in the 6' wood bowl at my local park, so this would be at least a small step up. I strongly prefer a wood ramp - concrete scares the hell out of me.
A couple of things have recently inspired me to push myself a little harder. First, my son. He is getting so good so fast. I think he does have natural talent, but I definitely know he is tenacious. He will repeat a trick as many times as it takes until he gets it down.
Second is running across other late-starters like myself, but a little more advanced. OldLadySk8r, on the Old Man Army forums and MySpace http://www.myspace.com/pattihurst is one such person. She is 41 years old, an attorney in DC, and a pretty fearless skater judging by her videos and pics. She has apparently been skating just a little longer than me, and has recently dropped in on vert. Her repertoire of miniramp tricks is pretty impressive too.
And finally, I ran across a video of the 2007 Tony Hawk Drop In Challenge on Shred or Die:
http://www.shredordie.com/videos/90bce74423
These guys have guts. Tony, if you have an open spot in the 2008 challenge, I'm there. I think. Maybe. 13 feet ?
Time to get new kneepads - yeah that's all I need ... better pads:)
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8 comments:
Hi there! Saw your comment on one of the 'Dropping In' movie clips. I see you link to OMA and MAS. I'm active on both. Why not join up (if you haven't already) and say 'Hi!". Your starting from scratch is not so rare really. I know of several people (apart from Patti, who I was honoured to meet at last years OMA barbecue) so come on board! Ton of respect man, I'm 42 and I've been skating since 1975 and I know how hard it is to learn new stuff now, let alone from scratch. You rock!
I didn't see a mention of MAS trevenenenenenen..
Come and join the forums on:
http://middle-age-shred.com
Full of skaters in their 30,40s and even one at 50 now...
All abilities, some amazing some just rolling.. Even some female ones..
Hello there. :)
Keep it up! And your son rips already.
Sign up at the forums for MAS and OMA.
I'm 49 and started in 1966. The only trick then was being able to roll. Didn't ride tranny for 10 years and then got bitten...
Had a break for nearly 20 years and have started again a couple of years ago.
Learning new stuff is hard. And relearning old stuff is hard. It's all hard! But a lot of fun.
/respect
Keep it up! I'm 35, 20 years on board, but we've got a couple of "late bloomers" in our group as well. Check out Concretins.com for a day in the life of the 'Cretins. Hope to see you on OldManArmy too. You won't find a better group of old peeps who will encourage, teach, and skate with you anytime. We'll give ya a good razzin' when you need it too. Welcome to the revolution!
Right on man...keep at it. I cant think of anything that will keep you feeling younger than skating. And also, you OWE it to yourself to join up the old people crew at OMA.
rock on brotha!! keep it up!
so good to see older guys skating, its not just the domain of young punks, old punks can skate too!!
Awesome!
I quit skating when I turned 30. I was too old. I took 12 years off, then they started pouring all this great concrete tranny. I had to come back. Dropping in is the hardest thing to learn, I think.
I'm 45, and still improving.
Join us on Old Man Army!
rock on cole!
drop in on that gnarly vert, have someone film it, and we'll all celebrate with you when you do it!
see you on the OMA forums ...
:)
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