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July 01, 2012

Comments

I believe the answer to your question would be..."Yes."

Randy, after a night for my brain's unconscious to process my blog post, I'm leaning toward agreeing with you.

The basic reason being... snow is soft, asphalt is hard. Water also is soft, which is why surfing on a wave is different from "surfing" on a road.

Both are fun. Both are good exercise. Both are activities I'd enjoy and don't know how to do. However, falling down on water or snow has much bigger potential consequences than falling down on a hard surface at speed.

A wipeout on a wave is sort of fun, as I know from a lot of boogie boarding. Wipeout on snow much less so. Wipeout on an asphalt road is a whole other level of "ouch."

I needed to get myself thinking more deeply about my first attraction to skateboarding. More to follow, but I'll probably pass on the idea.

P.S. that said (in the comment above), I still can't get the notion of longboarding out of my mind. I'm going to continue looking into the pros and cons of an old geezer taling this up. Will get some advice from real live longboarders (talking with the dead ones... not so useful).

As with surfing and snowboarding if you skateboard you WILL wipeout. No ifs about it. The question is, how bad will it be? It may be only some road rash or a bruise. You seem to be in very good shape for 63, but 63 year old bodies are not as resilient in impacts and do not heal as quickly. When I see a skateboard I resist the temptation to ride it. (especially when someone else is already on it).

tucson, you're right: us old geezers have to be more careful than quickly-healing youngsters. And like I said before, asphalt is harder than water or snow.

Yet... (there's always a "yet") I went through similar thoughts before I got my big Burgman scooter. I concluded that a risky activity's dangerousness is on a sliding scale, and it's in our hands where to slide the danger factor.

On my scooter, I wear full protective gear 100% of the time. I re-took a Team Oregon motorcycle training class. I don't drive at night, and rarely in the rain. I don't speed or do anything crazy (riding a scooter or motorcycle is crazy enough in it's own right).

Haven't had a scratch so far, in three years. But skateboarding is inherently more accident prone, for sure. I just suspect the riskiness is adjustable.

Hum, I think I'll stick with the ocean. But then again, you don't have to worry about sharks on a skateboard - or do you??

If you want to ride a longboard but it is a touch too dangerous for your tastes to just jump on and go you could always get a 4 wheel scooter, basically a longboard with a scooter handle, and take it from there.

I'm 35, live in Los Angeles, and started skateboarding a few years ago. After riding the trick (short) board for a little while I fell in love with longboarding. Have I fallen off of my longboard? Yes, only about three times in the last 2 years. But I got on a bicycle after a bunch of years of not riding one and proceeded to eat sidewalk within 5 minutes... hmmm. For me it boiled down to I wanted to skateboard, I only live once, longboarding has proven to be way safer and more fun for me than the trick board (or getting on a bicycle even). Either way, I say keep it up! Just take your time. Also, learn how to foot break. On a side-note, I read an article about a guy your age doing extreme downhill in Orange County! You don't have to go to to that extreme to enjoy longboarding. Find a relaxed longboarder to cruise with if you want and enjoy. It's one of the greatest feelings for me and I have a session planned for tomorrow : )

I am 60 I do long skateboarding to train for my wake and kite boarding on balance; and it is pretty cool. However; since 18 I ve been surfing, body-boarding, windsurfing a speed in line skating; so the hard lessons I have learned when I was young,

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