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1.17.99 Winter Blues Yes, it's that time of the year again. Time for cold fingers, frosty breath, and salt encrusted bearings. Yeah, I'm talking about our lovely winter season. Not many riders care to venture out of their cozy homes this time of year, but a die hard few cannot put their passions on hold. They're those skaters you may pass on your way home from snowboarding, or the ones all bundled up in front of that icy curb at the local supermarket. These boys won't take snow for an answer, and will find a place to skate no matter what. "What's the big deal?" You might say. "Just pick up a snowboard. It's just like skating only on the snow." A likely argument. While snowboarding is loads of fun, anyone who has tried to bounce back into skating after a season on the snow will know better. They both have many things in common, but the techniques used are worlds apart. While snowboarding can lead to bigger stuff on the streets, the neglected techniques mean weeks spent getting back into form. Even then, you start below the level you were at in the fall. It may be months or longer before you see improvement in your skill. So the next logical step is just to head to the indoor skate parks. "Yeah, they got ramps, rails, and all sorts of good stuff." While all of the above is true, I for one am against skating at parks. Parks are good for building up confidence and skill, but the only thing you get good at is riding parks. The thing that gets me is that they call these things "street courses." Street courses? Where did they grow up skating? The truth is most parks are not owned by skaters, but anyway back to my point. Skate parks are primarily made up of ramps. Quarterpipes, launch ramps, funboxes, and halfpipes make up the bulk of the terrain. Most parks only have one or two objects that actually relate to the real world. Most often a low handrail is provided. This can be fun, but only briefly. The other object commonly found in most parks is a makeshift curb, usually on the side of a funbox. So, you have two objects to practice on. The key word here is practice. You don't want to spend your life in a skate park. You want to be out on the streets tearing it up with your buddies away from all those annoying rollerbladers who are always cutting you off. Also, skate parks are expensive, where as the streets are free. Yes, Einstein FREE. In a world where many riders can barely afford a new skate, it just doesn't make any sense to fork over money to ride. If you're still with me here, you are beginning to see the only logical option is to suck it up and ride through the shitty season of winter. Well, you could move to So. Cal or Florida, but that would be too easy. Enjoy the crappy weather, the bulky clothes, the stiff muscles, salty roads, and desolate parking lots. Yeah, you may be the only one out there, save for an equally adventurous friend, but you are having a ball, while everyone else is getting soft watching videos and drinking cocoas. Spring will come soon enough with it's own batch of crappy weather. By then you'll be ripping it up while everyone else is still blowing the dust off their egos. |