It was the best kind of failure. I had high hopes, because I thought we would have quintuplet and hit up the black stone paradise that is the 101 area, but it wasn't to be.
The day began with a half hour skate to work, across mostly very smooth asphalt and through a section of the city cordoned off from scooters and taxis. The classes actually went well, and even the students who hate my guts were enthusiastic and happy to do what I told them. I cruised another half hour back to the house, grabbed a jacket, and cruised another half hour to the ice rink. At this rate, I won't be fat for long.
The ice rink used to be a legit meet up spot, because of the central location and the hockey rink sized smooth flatground spot. But then it got resurfaced. They coated it with 1/8 inch of pure teflon, and now it's basically skate stopped, because any lateral movement on landing means sliding out from under you, and hitting the back of your head. Mw and fm showed up, and we ditched the unskateable spot for greener pastures.
Cruising with friends down smooth, well-lit sidewalks is fun. Just saying.
Fm took us to the white banks. It's a photogenic and peculiar spot. The main banks are reasonably steep, with harsh, square tiles that chunked out my nose. They're about waist high, with silver flag poles sprouting out from the flat part on top. It had wax on top, so I reckon it's been skated by someone much better than me. Fm said **1000, who ** ****'d it.
There are also smaller banks there, but the session kind of stalled. I skated the red curbs, which were super slick, but they're in pretty heavy traffic, and soon, we were off to the next one.
At this point, the rest of hte crew failed to show up. One, due to work, and another, due to having gone to the ice rink and noone msg ing him that we left hours earlier. Sorry man.
The new spot was the highwater mark of the evening, but we had to work for it. It's a small plaza, which one of hte MIA skaters declined to come to because "it's completely shit." I don't agree. It does have some trees in the way, and the ledges are tall and they are a weird kind of rough stone that takes decades to grind in. But someone has put in the leg work, adn they grind now. Also, there is a monument to the dead of the 9/21 earthquake, at least, that's what I think it is. It's a 20x20 ft sloped squarish thing; about 8 inches at hte bottom and 4 feet at the top, super slick, and skate stopped on the bottom side. A circle fountain is in the middle, and a narrow channel runs up from it to the top, in such a manner that the technically inclined can ollie on the lower section, do a trick over the channel, and come back down on the other side. Unfortunately, I realized tonight that it's a memorial, and I don't usually skate those or religious sites, even though I'm not religious and have never seen a memorial to anyone dead that I personally knew.
Instead, FM and I skated the rough ledges. At first, it was so crowded that we were forced to skate the taller ones, but I couldn't get on them. It was pathetic.
Then, the hipster sea parted, and I swiftly piled up our bags and jackets and shit on the lower ledge to discourage pedestrians from sitting all over them.
I still couldn't really get on the ledge, but FM was *-*ing it in short order, and ** **** ******* it at speed. Eventually, I got a ***** and a ** *****, but at less than walking speed, so I might as well have not bothered. There is also a manny pad there; one stair up, three down. Fm complemented my ** ****, and it felt good. He would know. Thanks man, made my day.
We kept going, like Napoleon's army through the Russian winter, and made it to a street market with tonkatsu. which we ate, while discussing skating things. Only two of us where left, but we stuck together until the taipei streets insisted we split up. I immediately went the wrong way. I turned around and found myself powersliding to lose speed and leaning crazily back to make it down a very rough and tumble four stair deep "ramp" that you find all around the streets here. My descent kicked up stones and they rattled against things as I passed. One of the cigarette smoking, thrasher hoody wearing, DC shoes wearing poseurs (I'm sorry to use the P-word, but there is not another way to call them) shouting in delight as it happened, and two others said "daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn" at the same time. It wasn't a trick, but I felt like an alien doing something cool on a skateboard.
I skated down the vanishing horizen sidewalks to home. It wasn't even that far. I got to the three stair park and remembered my vow to **** ***** everyday I skate. On my second try, I made the best one I've ever done. It's just a curb, but fuck, that was a very very happy thing to do. A kid with a taiwanese sword, a bit like a samurai sword, was girating and swinging and slicing the air on the other side of the park. Like skating, someone was filming it all, because if it isn't on film, it doesn't count. Right?
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