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Being a skateboarder, or “skater” was one of the defining characteristics of my teenage years growing up East Coast… Citizens find it hard to believe, but there are alot of similarities between bikers and skaters when it comes down it,  to those in the know…know its true and the thrill of rolling is just one of those shared DNA strands between the groups.

doubled up denims and flannels complete the "I am innocent" look

1975.doubled up denim completes the angelic skater look

In NYC in the 60’s and 70’s being a skater made you odd man out…a little weird, a little out there….few people skateboarded, as it was a “west coast” thing at the time… remember, this is the Cali Dogtown era, the era of Tony Alva and SoCal  pool riding and we NYC kids…all we could do is stay alert for opportunities to try and sample some of this type of challenge and terrain…

Pools? ….ha, find me a built in pool in Queens – and a dry one at that!!  the few families that did have a pool, had those flimsy above ground deals….. not so good for rocking the clay wheels we had at the time…when they came out RoadRider polyurethane wheels opened up a whole new world of speed and safety due to their traction and smooth rolling…

So in answer to the lack of decent terrain available and the fact we were always getting in trouble when on the city streets and sidewalks, we skated under highway overpasses primarily and also on bike paths… and my Mom was our 8mmw/ tripod  videographer.

If I can ever figure out how to digitize all the VHS tapes that i had made from the Super 8 film she shot for us…lol..i will be a happy guy..So as city skaters, we lived for speed…it was a rare commodity we all pined for…and i remember taking a few “heart in my mouth” figure 11 runs on what we affectionately called “Suicide Hill”..wearing nothing but leather gardening gloves, i pinched from my Mom.   Amazing me and my skating partner Dave Brozen survived those runs, and we made lots of them. I wonder about Dave….anyway….

my first trip to Cali in 77, i pinched a board and went for a quick curb to curb slalom run
my first trip to Cali in 77, i borrowed a “too-small” board and went for a quick curb to curb slalom run…

 

Just like the progression of transportation, communications, computing technology and medicine – skateboarding has also benefitted from “technological enhancements” over the years- in terms of bearing design, wheel composites, board materials, etc. These improvements also extend to protective gear so you dont wind up looking like ground meat once your flesh meets the pavement, -this is a daily reality for skaters…getting hurt is easy to do.

even now you have some guys, who prefer old school/traditional long boards, who wear minimal protection and go for the gusto. I invite you to check these two characters out…they’ve got big ones… accompany them for the ride and I dare you not to be smiling when your done!

click this number link below to see some bold and brash downhill longboarding…talk about “suicide hill”…..

1654340   <<<TO SEE THE VIDEO<< CLICK HERE

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