Head...Move...Now!

I ordered my S-One helmet the other day. I've been a little worried about buying the right one because...well, I have a gargantuan head. I need to get a helmet that fits. When I was little and in school or church we made little hat things, the teacher always had to make them a little bit bigger for me than the other kids. My siblings and I always felt like the kid with a large head in So I Married An Axe Murderer. 

I tried to go to a local skate shop to try on some helmets and see what size fits best. They were sold out of S-One and so one of the employees handed me another helmet to try out. He said it was a great helmet, one of his favorite to wear. I looked at it and became livid inside. He had handed me a non-certified helmet. It was basically a plastic shell with some foam pads (really cheap foam pads) inside. I thanked him, handed it back, and left the store before I could get on my helmet rant and start shouting helmet safety like a Southern preacher. 

This experience, along with the fact that nobody has made the promise to always wear a helmet (nobody, shame on you. Yes shame on you all), prompted me to ascend my soapbox of safety and talk about helmets again. 

I start by showing you this really cool video. This kid backflips off his skateboard, down a set of stairs, and lands on anther board. An absolutely awesome feat!

I was impressed. After I saw the video I saw a link to another video of him practicing the trick. Check it out.

This kid...might be a good boarder, but he is really really really stupid. Not only does he put himself through this punishment but...he has no helmet! If he over-rotates on one of those flips he could smash the back of his head right on the concrete and BAM. Bad news. There are a million things that could go wrong. Like this kid who had a much more severe fall. Stupid....stupid, stupid, stupid. 

Below is another video of a guy who took a little fall. Its not that large but he hits the back of his head and suffers memory damage. He forgets where he his and what happened. For the next six hours he cannot consolidate new memory and has to be told over and over again what happened. Its pretty crazy.

I don't mean to hate on anyone or be rude, just to illustrate a point. The moral of this story....please, wear a helmet. You might think it looks silly, or it ruins your hair or whatever. But you only have one brain, and it is easy to damage. Take care of it, don't sell out to look cool. It is cool to wear a helmet. Anyway, in you sport of choice you should not care what others think, but find enough validation in yourself, along with enough love and care for yourself to wear a helmet. 

For more information about longboard safety check out what this group of people are doing at The Longboard Coalition. 

Also I apologize if there was any language in the videos. I tried to preview them beforehand and I didn't catch anything. If there is please let me know and I can fix it. 

Speaking of Safety...When Bambi Attacks!

I was at work just yesterday when someone told me of a longboarding accident they had heard about on the news. It was not the kind of longboard accident I had ever heard of before, or even something I had been afraid of in the past. Going 40 mph in a practice run for a downhill race, a longboarder was knocked off of his board...by a deer. This seemed funny to me after my recent post on safe riding. I guess you can't think of everything while you're out there. Good this this kid was wearing a helmet.

I had a video posted on this but it has been removed. Click on the news link above to see another video on it.

Longboard Helps: How to Brake

Unforgiving rock hard asphalt. Covered in little gravel pebbles and tar. 20 grit sandpaper surface. This is what is waiting to welcome you if you fall off your longboard. This is not a welcome most wish to have. Longboarding can be a very fun sport, but if not done safely it can cause serious injury or even death. One thing to keep in mind is that the faster you go, the harder you fall. Therefore it is paramount that you keep your speed in check.

If you get going too fast not only does your danger level build, but you may experience the dreaded SPEED WOBBLES!!! (Dun dun duuuun). At certain high speeds and with certain board set ups, your board will start to uncontrollably pitch from left to right and eventually throw you off. Take this poor sad man for example. He had a bad case of the speed wobbles, and the lucky guy was stupid enough NOT to wear a helmet. Bad decision every time! He's lucky he missed the car and made it to the grass.

I remember my worst case of the speed wobbles. I decided it would be a good idea to put my longboard trucks on my skateboard. Then, stupid and without a helmet, I decided to bomb a hill. I was surprised at how sharp my turns were on my board. However I forgot that the shorter the board, the less stable at high speeds, and soon my carving turned into wobbling. The full force of my stupidity hit me and I wondered what to do. I decided to bail before I got going too fast. I jumped off my board...took two running steps...tripped...did a flip....landed on my back and rolled four or five feet where I came to a stop on the curb of the road.

I lay there bleeding, groaning and wondering why I ever did something so dumb. My little brother came racing by me on his board, "Mason! Are you okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyy!!!!!!!!!!" And he shot right by me as I lay there in the road. I eventually pulled myself off the curb and onto the grass and waited for my brother to come save me. Five or ten minutes later he returned and was somehow surprised, after my ragdoll asphalt acrobatics, that I was still laying down. He took me home and I was fine except for some roadburn and bruises. I am lucky beyond all reason that I didn't hit my head. When I flipped I really should have slapped my forehead on the ground. I got a lucky chance, and I've always worn a helmet ever since.

I can tell you from experience, check your speed, stay in control. Going fast is fun, you do look cool, until you hit a rock and go flying, or get speed-wobble-thrown and get all cut up. Controlling your speed is one of the first things you should learn.

"Mason, hold on a second," you may ask me, "there are no brakes on a longboard. How on earth can you control your speed. "Good question," I respond, "there are a few ways. Lets talk about them."

Ride It Out or Bail
If you feel confident enough you can just have faith and keep riding until your board slows down. If you're on a hill that levels out at the end you may be able to hold fast and ride it out. If you feel uncomfortable my advice is to bail before you get going too fast. Jump onto some grass. The sooner you get off, the slower you'll be going, and the risk of injury is minimized.

Skidding
If your board has a kicktail you can push it down to the ground and use that as a brake. I would suggest getting a tailguard if you prefer this method or else the road is going to eat up your board. To be honest I would not suggest this method of slowing down. Lifting your two front wheels off the ground while going at high speeds is not the brightest or safest idea.

Sliding
A fun but more expensive way to slow down is to slide. Basically your board goes perpendicular to your direction of motion and your wheels slide sideways on the road and you slow down. Its fun, and it looks really cool. I suggest looking up some videos on how to do this. It can get a little pricey because it causes damage to your wheels, causing flat spots that bump as you ride, and sliding-gloves are recommended as well. This can add up. This video below shows some pretty cool slides as well as some impressive footwork.

Carving
Turning your board from one side to the other, or carving, will slow you down. The harder you carve the more you decelerate (my physics teacher would hate that I just used that word). This is a lot of fun for riding  and a preferred method of braking. Carve those hills! My one word of advice is not to play "Chicken" with the curb because you lose every time, the curb won't move out of the way, and Bonnie Tyler will not sing about her hero.

Windbraking
If you are going at a speed of 25 or more miles per hour you can stand up and spread your arms, pull your jacket out wide, just do everything to create as much wind resistance as possible. Certain companies sell "sails" you can buy, the problem is that wind conditions have to be near perfect, and one crash will tear up the "sail" material. Windbraking won't stop you but it may slow you down just a bit. There are still better methods however.

Brakes on Your Board
Some companies do make brakes for your board. I'm not sure how well they work but they look cool. You can check them out here Skatebrake.com and Brakeboard.com.

Foot Braking
Besides carving this is my preferred method of braking. Basically you are dragging your foot on the ground and this slows you down. This can bring you from high speeds to a standstill if you want. You need good balance because what you do is take your back foot (or whichever one feels most comfortable for you) and you drag it on the ground. Start by putting the front pad and toes on the ground and slowly lower your heel down and try to apply pressure using the whole surface of your sole. As you can see from my earlier post on shoes, this does eat up the sole of your shoe. However, I think its better to have asphalt damage to your shoe than your face. This is why I recommend going with a cheap pair of shoes, a pair you bought specifically to trash. Practice foot braking because, in my opinion, it is the cheapest and best way to slow down.

Kahuna Big Stick

An ingenious idea of a "paddle" for riding was used by Kahuna Creations. It is basically a paddle handle on one end of a stick and vulcanized rubber on the other end. This is primarily a propulsion device, but it can be dragged on the ground to slow you down. It is a lot of fun to use for pushing forward or braking, I would suggest anybody getting one. Dragging it for braking does cause some wear on the rubber but you can buy replacements for pretty cheap.

Now that you know all of these methods, get out and practice them. They will make you a more dynamic rider, and really increase your fun when you aren't falling and getting injured all the time. Most important though, WEAR A HELMET!!! Safe speeds and safe riding is no substitute for a good helmet. You can go brain dead moving at five mph or fifty. Wearing a helmet is your best tool to minimize injury. My personal favorite are Triple 8 helmets, and I'll explain why later, but just get some sort of lid on your head.

Woes and I Wonder

I have a sad story to tell. My scooter, Freya, is in the shop right now. Her headlight is busted and I need that to be fixed so she will pass the safety inspection. She's been gone for a few days now and I've had to find alternative methods of getting to school and work. My plan number two was to solicit the help of Lydia, my Sector Nine cruiser.

It takes me about 20 minutes to board the two miles to work. My biggest obstacle is this huge huge hill I have to push up. It gets a little tiresome. I would be able to handle it like more of a man except for a few reasons. This weekend I played a really long and exhausting game of soccer with my friends. I also had the chance to go wakeboarding all day Saturday with some very generous kind friends on Utah Lake. When the weekend was over, my legs were spent. To make it worse, I have no idea what I did but I pulled my left quadriceps which really puts a damper on my longboarding. I've had to ride mostly mongo all week, I am getting really good though. Now my right leg is starting to get overly sore. I'm hoping my left leg will heal but I get lazy and push regular and hurt it all over again.

Now I promise I am not using my blog to whine to you. That is not the purpose of this post. I've just been giving some background information so you will understand why I have been asking myself the questions that I  pose to you now. When I'm on my long trip this summer, what if both my legs get too tired to push? What if I get too sore? Are there other ways of making the board move forward? What if I got a rope and a car to pull me like a boat (I'm kidding. DO NOT try that. I did when I was younger and it had disastrous results)?  What if I got a huge sail? Or a stick to push with? That would be cool.

I will be looking into that.

Me on the lake. You just have to love board sports. Love them.