Do you Surf, Skate, or both?

trying to get all of my skating in before there's a foot of snow on the ground

 

Nah man, dem vids were sick, classy. Dug the classical too. And you had some fine wahines there.

 

Yeah I've been sketched out ever since when I get on a skateboard. Didn't stop me from doing tons of other stuff that mangled me up good (and unfortunately not nearly the last concussion I've gotten), but the mental part when I step on a skateboard has been tough to get over. I just need to man up and get back on it.

Thanks for the advice on a board. I don't know jack about boards today, need to p/u something cheap to mess around on until I get my stones back.

 

I hear ya. I tore up my ankle a couple years ago skating in a parking lot during a flat spell. I was out of the water for 2 months...well, for surfing at least. The day after I got back from the hospital I used my crutches to get to the water and then hopped in on one foot to body surf. I got some strange looks. But I still skate-I just don't push it as much now. I like surfing more than skating and I want to keep my body in one piece.

 

Yeah man. Was running downhills on a really steep road and got the dreaded speed wobbles. Almost rode it out then next thing I knew I was sitting on the counter. My friends said I planted bad, was face down in the road when they caught up. Said I got up, said "I'm ok" then fell and faceplanted again. They pretty much had to drag/carry me home.

I could recognize my house and fam and stuff but at that moment couldn't tell you anything I'd done for like the last 6 years. They basically just stuck me in front of the tv and kept me from sleeping and gradually over the next couple days stuff started coming back. I remember things from every year during that period but who knows what is missing?

Didn't stop me from going nuts on streetbikes/dirtbikes/skis/snowboard/wakeboard/hockey/etc etc etc...But never could get over the mental aspect of it when I tried to skate again.

 

^^^ This. Given a choice I'd rather surf than skate. Actually rather surf than do just about anything else. Its not just the surfing, I have a burning need to be in the water as much as possible. And keeping in one piece. Mid 40s, +6'1", and 210lbs. Can't say concrete ever felt good but it sure seems to hurt a lot more these days. I would like to just get out and skate around the neighborhood some though. Keep it mellow and just cruise.

 

I started skating around 8 years old and did it every day till I was about 18. I picked up surfing at 14-15 years old and slowly transitioned into only surfing. A little over a year ago I picked up a Carver Taylor Knox Pro and it has made me miss my skating days.

I love this thing, it has helped me a lot with my pumping / generating more speed, but it's not like my old decks that I could do all sorts of tricks on. I was more of a street skater and would skate all around town looking for rails, curbs, steps, loading docks, anything that would allow me to grind, board slide, gaps, big drops, launch airs, etc.

I also would do the all night or all weekend lock-ins at Astroskate, the local roller skating venue. They would bring out all the ramps and turn the place into an indoor skate park, they even had a vert ramp and a boom boom room if you wanted to get jiggy HAHA. Those were the days man. Me and my friend Jeff Lenoce would go there a lot, i learned a lot from him, I gave it up eventually but he went pro and still kills it. I haven't talked to him in probably 18 years though. Hope he's doing well.

 

Ditto on that as well, although my debauchery started in the mid 80s...many valiant soldiers I mean brain cells lost along the way.

Oh well, at least I have good reasons for being an idiot these days.

 

tlok, serious, semi personal question, where you partyin? high or drunk during the concussion?
that might have played into it

no judgement, any given moment, I could be buzzed too, but it could have interacted with the impact

 

No sir, stone cold sober when it happened.

 

sometimes being sober can f u ck you up

 

Agreed. Best day I ever had skiing I was completely out of my skull. Lift line was a real challenge, but once I was moving it was ridiculously easy and epic. Still remember the sound my skis made on the snow. Got chased by ski patrol more than once that day...but never caught. My bro was hitting helicopters so big off stuff it looked like ski jumping.

The difficulty is figuring out when. Sometimes I'm better at things sober, sometimes better with a buzz. Last surf sesh for me was like that. Started sober, wasn't surfing worth a damn, just wasn't clicking. Went sans sobriety and things started to click. Been on the bad end of that too though. Surfing well then decided to add some more fun factor and things fall apart.

Maybe I'll write an app that tells people the optimum time to get buzzed to increase their abilities. Make a few mill then take off on that 10 year surf trip.

 

A few puffs before a surf or skate session never hurt me, but no booze until afterwards is a good rule of thumb.
I paddled out after one whiskey/water and surfed chest high windchop the other day (athother story for another time) and felt pretty loose and had no ill effects, but no booze before surf is a good rule.

Being sober can mess you up! Once on a trip to the Bahamas...i rented a boat with my wife and daughter from Marsh Harbor in the Abacos, and took it out to the out islands and surfed very shallow reefs, dove with lots of sharks, and never got a scratch for almost two weeks. Drank lots of rum every night, and many afternoons.

We brought the boat back to marina in Marsh Harbor, and had a couple hour wait till the plane out. Sober as a judge, we went to order drinks at the pool bar, which was in the middle of the pool, you had to swim up to it. So I go to walk up the stairs to go to the pool to swim to the bar to order a drink, and zip, I slip on some wet tile, go backwards, hit my head and tweak my wrist. If I was in the US I could have sued, but the thought of going to a hospital in Marsh Harbor made me get up, limp over to the pool, doggie paddle over to the bar, and order a rumrunner with a Myers floater.