So it is the last day of December, 2024 and I have made several attempts at starting this blog. To be honest, I am not the hacker I used to be, and the new technology does not come as easy to me!
So this post will catch up our progress and adventures, until now.
I started my new skating education in the garage back in October. I found Braille Skateboarding’s bootcamp for beginners on Youtube and it has been invaluable. I am still on the first video and I am trying to be very regimented with mastering one skill before moving on to the next.
So far, the video has me practicing rolling back and forth across the garage, stopping by putting my foot down, attempting 180 frontside and backside turns and things like that. I have forced myself to take it slow, starting each practice with the very simplest movements.
Early in November we had an awesome visit to the skatepark in Riverside Park in New York. After some initial delays, we got down to it and had a great time. I restricted myself to pushing up and down the side and daring to go over a few small bumps. Eammon and my nephew Nathan were a little braver and went up and down some of the larger elements.
The scene was very family friendly, although there were real hardcore skaters mixed in with the toddlers on scooters. The best part of the visit for me was that the experienced skaters were more than tolerant of me and my baby steps, to the extent that when I bumped into one of the guys, we sparred with dueling apologies instead of static. Awesome! The park was nice as well, with a massive bowl off to the side. Nathan thought he might drop in but decided against it. It’s on my goal list to get in that bowl one day – I’m doing it!
Eammon and I had practiced in the garage for a while before we decided to check out the skatepark in North Bennington. Now, to some, this park would be less than impressive. It’s got those slippery metal ramps and a rough blacktop surface. But to someone who grew up in a time where skateparks only existed in California and our dreams, this is awesome.
My big skatepark trick is rolling up to a ramp and doing a backside turn on it and rolling away. Small victories.
Eammon can get higher up on the ramps then me, a combination of his snowboarding practice and youthful fearlessness. He is a good skate crew member and very encouraging.
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