I threw down earlier than usual, with the tentative plan of meeting ogfm in the old hood, if it didn't rain. it rained up in his his area, out by hte ocean, and so he didn't feel like the wet cold scooter ride into the city, even if it was dry here. I can't say i blame him. But he missed out. About a dozen pushes up the road, I was in the taxi lane and weaving through parked cars. someone behind me was shouting hey hey hello hey, and I assumed it would be some asshole on a scooter that was offended the terrible pollution i was making with my skateboard. but instead, when i swiveled my head, i saw a kid a few pushes behind me on a longboard. normally, i dont have much good to say about longboards, and i guess i still don't, but i liked the guy, because he was skating in the street. so in my mind, he's sort of equally cool as someone on a real skateboard, who only skates in skateparks.
we did the fist bump thing in traffic without slowing down, and when i shouted over the roar of traffic to ask where he was heading, he said the next station east. we rounded the corner and he followed me down the still crowded sidewalks. I think he was surprised that skateboards can leap off the ground. each little thing up or down a curb made him cry out, and he started shouting 'again, again' in english when we approached a new curb. we got to a section with bright yellow metal grate ramps, which are really loud when you land on them as you blast past. because i supposed i wanted to impress him (he kept laughing with delight when I ollied up something), i kept going until my legs didn't work anymore, and rolled off a little fall, as my back truck caught on a metal grate. he stopped and got my board for me, and said "you are crazy" in english. it's the two best compliments i've had in skating, that i can do a trick that can make someone laugh, and that someone thinks i'm crazy for how i skate.
we split ways, and i wandered south, a little slower, but warmed up. i went cruising cruising cruising down to the Perfect Hip, but traffic was still too heavy to skate it. Right around the corner was an old bank spot that I've forgotten about. It's pebble dash and doesn't grind on top, but you can get up there without too much effort. The air was wet with humidity, and i thought of somewhere i wanted to go, so i went on without putting much effort into the banks. on day though, i m going to wax the spine down the end of it.
I pushed on to Daan Park, where there is a big ole roller rink that's well light for flat ground. It has been resurfaced recently, in the same pebble polished material they used at the bridge, about 40 years earlier.
It was so slick that I think they might have put some kind of plastic coating on it. It was as though it was covered in teflon. I could powerslide without actually losing any speed. well, maybe a little speed, but only as much as you would lose on a **********. It was pretty unnerving. Some other kids were there, learning how to push. Their leader was trying ********s, and after a few minutes, we made friends. My countenance shown brightly upon him, and he landed it, several times in a row. Back in my day, he would have been pinned for a future pro, to land some many perfect ones on his first day to get one. I'm so jealous of anyone who can land a trick a few times and then have it perfectly everytime. After many high fives and powerslides, I parted ways with my second new skate friends on the night. Then I went towards the goal of the night; the telecom ledges.
It's a charming spot. It has quaint red bricks, laid at 45 degrees angles to the ledges. The ledges themselves arent all that well light, especially for such a black stone. In fact, i'm not sure what species of stone this is, but it's blacker, and harder, than anything I've ever skated. It looks like black marble, but it's harder than granite. The angle on it is as sharp as steel. It's hard to get it going, even though we've hit it pretty hard. Each new time takes a pretty hefty coating of wax. Even with that, the edge is so sharp taht on a ******* grind, your front truck will have deep groove in about three tries, and the nose will be sliced on an angle like you stuck it in a salami slicer.
The next hour or so was spent running through my short list of tricks, and failing to get any decent grinds, but the angle just kept grabbing my trucks in exactly the opposite way that the surface at Daan didn't grab the wheels. I put some work into, and got the two most difficult tricks in succession after 60+ minutes of trying. It immediately started dribbling rain. My knee hurt from the big fall a few weeks ago. I still can't ollie right. I wandered north for a while, hoping for the best regarding not getting lost in the rain on a worknight. Suddenly, I was at the bridge. It had all worked out.
Happy birthday lzyk. enjoy the cake.
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