My favorite type of skateboarding is skating fast, but I hadn’t skated any halfpipes over eight feet tall in a long time. So it took a bit of warming up and building confidence to get to where I wanted to be. Meanwhile, the fellow dudes were getting tricks and stringing lines together - they’d obviously been skating it with some consistency. But DAMN, that first drop in!
I felt alive again. The pure speed was most of it. But the wind on your face, the sweat coming in around the pads on your knees… The weightlessness experienced just after hitting the top of the transition. The risk of clipping and falling down 10 feet to your elbow… And the feeling of getting that first frontside grind. The boards tapping in approval and the “Yeewww!!” from the homies sinks in.
The young kid being grandfathered in by the "rad dad." The ramp owner (it was his birthday on this occasion). The random connection to a skater from your North Carolina hometown. The Gainesville native street skate legend, watching from the bottom… All these pieces contributing to the big picture of the session. There’s a certain chemistry to hype. And although this particular session was probably normal for the rest, I felt like a kid again. Winded from the previous run but excited as hell for the next.
Once the groove hits, the fearlessness takes hold. Fiending for the next one. Needing the speed, the ultimate rush.
Now, eight feet tall is small. Let’s go and shred them all.
Thanks Chewy,
- 7Ply Epic