The age of skaters

#1

I was heartened by an incident on the bus on the way home from work yesterday. I sat down beside a bloke who was evidently older than me, and beside his leg was a skateboard (slim old school shape, Indys, big soft wheels). We got talking, and he admitted to being 54 years old. He still liked getting about the streets on a skateboard, in preference to walking. He also got out for post midnight hill bombing with some other blokes who I guess were the Sydney Old Skool Team (not sure), and he alos did a bit of slalom, and was intending to come to the TS Slalom comp in December, as well as an unsanctioned naughty persons event on a big hill somewhere near Berowra the following day.

After that, I figured, I’m 39 - so I have at least 15 more years skating in me if this feller is anything to go by! I might move away from bowls to slalom and hills, but at least I intend to go for at least that long!

#2

i guess we are the pioneer skate generation, so it is our duty to skate for as long as possible!

#3

Im 44 (last monday) and whilst my knees are able to let me pump around bowls/pools and tranny parks I’ll keep going.
Bondiboy, no need to wait till your 55 to slalom/bomb hills/freestyle. Late at night is definately the best time to bomb hills too. Im enjoying my late night freestyle sessions across the road in my empty Toyota carpark I mean flat smooth skate park :smiley: Its under cover and well lit. If my knees and legs are tyred I can still freestyle no probs.
I wonder how many of us will still be skateboarding in 15 to 20 years time.
I can see myself rolling downhill on my zimmer skateboard at 75.

#4

I want a new knee and im still skating (although a little sketchy these days)

#5

Waddya mean ‘these days’? :smiley:

#6

Lets make a pac to end up in the same nursing home and drive the staff crazy :laughing: :laughing:

#7

My wheelchairs gettin BDS ultrathane for sure.

#8

Well this old skater (42) certainly echoes the knee issues! Nipped down to Dullo early this morning and managed to tweak my knee again! That’s twice in the couple of months I’ve been back skating - talk about frustrating! Both times it’s been doing very basic stuff - hell, this morning it was just rolling (read barely moving) out at the end of the snake run of all places. Looks like I’m back to watching for a couple of weeks. :cry:

It has made me think more about doing some skate-specific exercises to build up my knee strength - something I know is lacking since i’ve gone from several years of 40km+ running and 150km+ cycling a week as a triathlete to very little over the past 6 months. Things like wall squats, leg extensions and leg presses (as well as core strength stuff) seems like the go. Does anyone do anything like this - or am I really just cracking up with old age! I think I also need to spend a lot more time learning to walk (in skating terms) before trying to run - cos in my mind I just want to rip it up (at a level much greater than I ever achieved 25 years ago). Perhaps that’s what the basic mistakes I’m making are telling me…

#9

Glucosamine sulphate (1000mg) with condroitin (shark cartilage extract) has helped heaps with my recovery time after many various conective tissue injuries. I have spoken to people who think it hasn’t done anything for them, but I have used it on and off for a couple of years depending on my knee mobility and pain and have seen noticeable positive effects.
The only side effect I have come across is that due to a history of peptic ulcers it made my acid stomach worse if it was already burning.

#10

At the age of 21 I gave up skating because I thought my body was too old, thought the bones has set hard and couldn’t take the knocks any more. (There was also the fact that it was 1981, Manly Skate City had just been ripped down and there was nowhere to skate).

I started again at age 41 and I am still going strong at age 45. I do have a bit of trouble reaching down to the rail of my deck these days. I have been doing squating exercises every day to try and get more flexibility happening. If only ollies were invented back in the day. I could have learnt those and wouldn’t have to bend down to reach the rail now. Carving will be my saviour in the future because you don’t have to bend down much for that. Anyway who’s got time to learn lip tricks when there are tiles to be carved.

There are so many skaters in the over 40’s comp’s these days One-T and I are thinking about an over 45’s section. Is that cheating?

Our oldest MOSSer is 54 years of age. He’s recently re-learnt droping in at The Ring of Fire.

My next goal is to win the “Golden Breed” section (50 years and over) at Airbag 8 in 2010. If I’m the only one in it, doing freestyle in the bottom could get me 1st place.

Could chat all day, but I’ve gotta go do some gardening or I won’t have enough skate points to get to Rye Cradle today (11am).

Wedge

#11

Wedge funny that you stopped at 21 and got back on at 41, they are exactly the same ages for me as well.

#12

Feeling my age tonite(43 in a couple of months).
Slammed at Northcote bowl. Badly sprained left thumb and a sore right shoulder. Luckily I cant feel the pain from shoulder as the thumb hurts more! Hit my noggin as well, but my helmet did what its paid for. Just a bit of a stiff neck.
Well thats skating, have had a few big bails over the last few months, but have managed to slide it out. This time I wasn’t so lucky.

#13

Yeah, Ground Hangers I think it’s to with there being no bowls to skate for 20 years. We need a variety of terrain to keen everyone interested. We certainly have that now in Melbourne. And we’ve got a big, keen and varied old school crew.

It was hard getting back on board after 20 years though. In 2001 there were just a couple of parks and just a couple of oldies trying to get back into it. I have to give Steve Hill credit for finding me and repeatedly hassling me to come for a roll. Obliviously his skill blew me away, but I hooked up with Noel and One-T and MOSS was born.

I feel it is now my duty to hassle all ex-skaters to make a come back. That’s why I send so much MOSS-spam.

#14

good onya.
I came back for similar reasons. I kept driving past new parks and thought “fuck it why should the grommies have all the fun”. Now im looking forward to being 60 and still skating (I may even have sorted my front side grinds by then)

see ya at the SOS Jam whenever and where ever that maybe.

#15

I had a half a dozen goes at it over about a 2 year period. It took some time before i knew that i would be able to get back into some kind of rythem again, thank god for the MASH crew for giving me back my skate legs again. Or i would have never done it on my own.

#16

I was on roughly 5 years cycles for twenty-five years. Every five years or so I’d sport myself a new complete with plans to skate, skated for a bit - gave away the board.

You’re spot on GH - MASH means there’s always a bro to roll with and I’m having as good a time now skating as I ever did - maybe better.

#17

Yeah, strange how we all got a similar story to tell. I got back into skating again about 4 years ago. Very part time though, about once a month if I was lucky! Made no progress in a hurry, till Moss came along 6 months ago. Now I am skating 2-3 times a week, progress is still slow but I have improved!
THANKS MOSS for helping me get back into skating.

#18

I had a go at dropping in at fitzy 6yrs ago and promptly fell back and broke my wrist was my 1st drop in ever lol didnt skate again till about this time in 03 then got my 1st bds in may 04 and away i went.

2nd tues of last mon was the 1st anniversary of me dropping in.

no looking back now

#19

I got inspired after being given a free ticket to the Globe World Cup in Feb. I hadn’t skated in about 13 years and im 34 now. I bought a board a week later and have about 8 now. I cant get enough bowl carving, still pretty average but loving every skate sesh. Roll on daylight saving!!!

#20

For some strange reason my favorite number is 69. You do the math. I first stepped on a board in 79 and never stopped, and never will. Hopefully I’ll die rollin. Maybe I should have a casket ready under the Monster ramp.