Go Skateboarding Day

[Jahfin]

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[Jahfin]

My primary weapon of choice these days:

[Silver Rider]

Miss Coco Puff skateboards.

[Strider]

As far as I'm concerned, EVERYDAY is Skateboarding day. But then, I grew up in Southern California.

You should've seen me in Germany during the early-80's, ripping around the burgs on my skateboard. Oh, the looks on the local's faces.

[Texas Melanie]

Skateboarding Day!

i.e. Go break your wrist day!

Just kidding. My older son skated until he developed a knee condition. He tried to teach me but my fear of falling and lack of any coordination keeps me from the X Games. Go figure.

[TypeO]

As a 70s kid, I grew up on Road Rider urethane wheels, Bahne Skateboards, et al.

My school notebooks were covered in images cut out of Skateboarder magazine.

I had a Hobie Surf-Flex fiberglass skateboard that I had tricked out with 3 inch Bowl Riders.

When my daughter started buying skateboards, my whole family was terrified to see me get on her skateboard thinking I'd surely be heading to the emergency room in no time.

Instead, they were amazed to see me tictacing, pulling nose wheelies and even ripping a few 360s (yes, front AND back).

We have an indoor skate park near my house and they have a night for "old-schoolers", but even most of them are late 20s to late 30s.

If I continue to lose weight and get back in shape, I'd love to get back into it, at least infrequently.

[Jahfin]

My first skateboard was a no-name brand with Chicago trucks and clay wheels from the local Roses Dept. store. Thanks to friends and the pages of Skateboarder magazine, my first "real" skateboard was a Gordon & Smith Fibreflex. I ended up with two of those, one a slalom board with Tracker trucks and (Chris) Yandell wheels. The other one was a shorter board with a kicktail equipped with Gullwing's Phoenix Trucks and Kryptonic wheels. I also had a wooden Sims taperkick board. Actually, I still have all of those boards. The skateboarding bug bit me again a couple of years ago so I upgraded nearly all of those boards. When I got back into skateboarding I wanted to realize my dream of owning a Gordon and Smith Bowlrider but it didn't take me long to learn that Gordon & Smith were no longer the leaders in skateboard manufacturing (though they still seem to be doing pretty well in the surfboard dept.). The only place I was able to find a Bowlrider was on eBay and it was very expensive. The closest current skateboard I could find was a very similarly made Sector 9 board that even emulated (if not flat out imitated) the original G & S 5-ply maple laminate design. The day I bought that board two years ago, I could not stop riding it and ended up skating into the wee hours of the morning. Since then I've really gotten back into it full bore and have three long boards (one with a kicktail) and a slalom board along with my original quiver. All of them are Sector 9's except for one of the longboards which is made by Arbor (who have since merged with Sector 9). Out of the old boards, the only one I really ride anymore is the Sims. I upgraded it with a new set of Tracker half-track trucks and some spongy Orangutang wheels.

At the ripe old age of 48, I'm guessing my renewed interest in skateboarding is my mid-life crisis. The way I look at it, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a Ferrari. Funny thing is, it all started when someone tried to discourage me from getting back into it. All it took was one ride on my old G & S slalom board. After about 20 minutes of gliding around a parking lot without busting my ass I had skating fever, again. It hasn't let up since.

[Strider]

As a 70s kid, I grew up on Road Rider urethane wheels, Bahne Skateboards, et al.

My school notebooks were covered in images cut out of Skateboarder magazine.

I had a Hobie Surf-Flex fiberglass skateboard that I had tricked out with 3 inch Bowl Riders.

When my daughter started buying skateboards, my whole family was terrified to see me get on her skateboard thinking I'd surely be heading to the emergency room in no time.

Instead, they were amazed to see me tictacing, pulling nose wheelies and even ripping a few 360s (yes, front AND back).

We have an indoor skate park near my house and they have a night for "old-schoolers", but even most of them are late 20s to late 30s.

If I continue to lose weight and get back in shape, I'd love to get back into it, at least infrequently.

Awesome TypeO! I remember Bahne boards, though I never rode one. I was a Hobie kid in the early going. I'm old enough to remember the cheap boards with metal roller-skate wheels you could get at Sears.

My first skateboard was a late-60's Hobie Super Surfer, a wood board with clay wheels mounted on ADAPTABLE trucks...I remember thinking how cool it was that you got a wrench with the board so you could adjust the trucks and tighten or loosen your turning radius.

When you're a boy, anything that comes with its own tool automatically classifies as AWESOME!

Alas, even the improvement from steel to clay wheels didn't eliminate the tendency of skateboards to stop on a dime when hitting a pebble on the sidewalk or street, hurling the rider off the board. After one too many scraped and gashed knees, elbows and hands, I put away the board and stuck to riding waves.

Then, when poly-urethane wheels hit, it revolutionized what you could do on a board, and I got back into skateboarding bigtime. My parents got me a cheap fiberglass board from Sears before I upgraded to a Hobie Surf-Flex with either Track Force or Bennett trucks.

Orange County was a skaters paradise of asphalt, concrete and swimming pools and the skate mags were full of the exploits of Jay Adams, Tony Alva and the Dogtown boys. Jay Adams was my first skateboarding icon...I had his poster up on my bedroom walls and in my school locker, along with Led Zeppelin, Gerry Lopez, J.R.R. Tolkien, Diana Rigg and Susan Dey.

As the 70's turned into the 80's, I rode various boards...Hobie, Sims...I had a Tony Alva model, then a Hosoi board when Christian Hosoi blew up the scene.

I was in the Army from 81-85, and my first post was Ft. Hood, Texas. Since I was gonna be land-locked, I left my surfboard behind but brought my skateboard to tool around the base. Killeen(which is the base town) didn't provide many skate opportunities, but Austin did.

Then, when I was stationed at Nürnberg for the remainder of my service, I brought all my boards...skate-, surf-, and snow-. I introduced a lot of German and European kids to skateboarding during my time there. And I was the only person with a snowboard as far as I could tell...what a pain that was. Try going up on a snowboard using a T-bar lift, which was the only type of lift they had at Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

You haven't lived until you've skateboarded down cobblestone streets. But my biggest shock came in 1984. I went to the Scorpions/Joan Jett concert at Stuttgart. Right next to the concert arena was this homemade skate-ramp that these kids had built. I couldn't believe my eyes! As we were heaing into the venue, I begged off, telling my buddies I was gonna hit the ramp and I'd catch up with them later. I went to the ramp, borrowed some kid's board and had such a blast I nearly missed the start of the concert.

From that point on, I always made sure to bring my board to Stuttgart.

As the 80's wore on and turned into the 90's, I became more and more immersed into the rock n roll party life and I started keeping vampire hours. I boarded less and less.

I've tried to get my nieces and godson interested in skateboarding, but they're more interested in video games.

TypeO, you and I disagree widely on politics, but you're a brother of the board, so you're ok with me.

Z

[Jahfin]

I'm a man out of time when it comes to current boards which my nephew (who's in his early 40s) refers to as "popsicle" boards. Thankfully, there's a market out there for older skaters such as myself or else those would be the only option.

[TypeO]

At the ripe old age of 48, I'm guessing my renewed interest in skateboarding is my mid-life crisis. The way I look at it, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a Ferrari. Funny thing is, it all started when someone tried to discourage me from getting back into it. All it took was one ride on my old G & S slalom board. After about 20 minutes of gliding around a parking lot without busting my ass I had skating fever, again. It hasn't let up since.

Awesome TypeO! I remember Bahne boards, though I never rode one. I was a Hobie kid in the early going. I'm old enough to remember the cheap boards with metal roller-skate wheels you could get at Sears.

TypeO, you and I disagree widely on politics, but you're a brother of the board, so you're ok with me.

Z

I'm at work right now where, #1, the connection is near dial-up speed due to the filters and security, and #2, I actually need to get shit done (who'd have thought?).

But when I get home I will be posting some stuff you both will get a kick out of.

[dazedcat]

My poor kid tried and tried to teach me to skateboard but I never could. I was lucky I didn't break something actually. I don't know why I never could get the hang of it, just never did. I could never get up on water skis either, that used to be the annual joke among my friends and family actually..........."I have 20.00 saying he'll try a minimum twelve times and not even come close". I made my brother in law a lot of money back in the day.

I see the younguns today boarding and I always stop and watch them. It's a marvel to me what they do, really is.

[TypeO]

Couldn't dig up as much old stuff as I imagined, at least not without momma raisin' hell at meh.

Still, here's a typical sampling of my high school notebookage.

The second photo is Chris Yandall.

The guy in the first photo was (I think) Steve somebody (not Caballero), but he was one of the ones (along with Stacy Peralta, Jay Adams, et al) that pioneered that low squat/knees-forward turning style.

We constantly mimicked all those moves - they were so fluid.

Around '76 or so the built the Paved Wave in Cocoa Beach, but we only went a few times.

I once got up to 40 mph on a Bahne skateboard with really stiff trucks - a friend's dad pulled us with his Bonneville, since there were very few hills in Orlando (as in NONE).

We told him to wave his arm out the window when he hit 40.

Funniest part was, he was a lawyer! lulz

But he was always half-drunk and didn't give a shit.

Growing up in Orlando (45 minutes from the beach), most of my friends surfed, as well, but I never got surfing - could never get up.

Yet to this day I can watch surfing (movies, documentaries, etc.) forever.

And I absolutely LOVE The Lords of Dogtown - I had that issue of Skateboarder that's referenced in Dogtown and The Z-Boys.

All that was DIRECTLY during the time we were growing up and skateboarding.

Y'all have gotten me seriously stoked, I really want to get into shape and start riding again.

And finally, for everyone's viewing (and laughing) pleasure... this is from about a year and a half ago when - as previously mentioned - I got on my daughter's skateboard and scared the whole family.

Look at the fat guy on the skateboard! lulz

[Jahfin]

On the Lords of Dogtown vs. Dogtown and the Z Boys tip, I preferred the documentary. Lords of Dogtown wasn't all that bad but it had a certain "Movie of the Week" sort of quality.

[TypeO]

On the Lords of Dogtown vs. Dogtown and the Z Boys tip, I preferred the documentary. Lords of Dogtown wasn't all that bad but it had a certain "Movie of the Week" sort of quality.

I agree.

I think they did an excellent job in the casting, though.

Oddly enough (because I don't pay a lot of attention to every single actor), it wasn't until after he died that I realized Heath Ledger played Skip Engblom.

Also was unaware until about the same time that Mitch Hedberg had the bit part as the urethane wheels guy.

[Jahfin]

I agree.

I think they did an excellent job in the casting, though.

Oddly enough (because I don't pay a lot of attention to every single actor), it wasn't until after he died that I realized Heath Ledger played Skip Engblom.

Also was unaware until about the same time that Mitch Hedberg had the bit part as the urethane wheels guy.

Thanks, I may have to watch it again someday but as always, I'm more prone to watch the documentary.

I also think Dogtown and the Z Boys goes a long way towards a stand alone skateboarding documentary. I was a huge fan of most of those guys growing up as well but the doc is not without it's bias. Perhaps a more balanced one will be made someday. In the meantime, it makes for a great introduction to the history of skateboarding.

[Virginia]

Glad to see you guys going for it

Do be careful though; please wear your helmets!

[Jahfin]

Glad to see you guys going for it

Do be careful though; please wear your helmets!

Probably the best invention ever made when it comes to skateboarding safety. I never skate without them. When I first got back into it, I dug up my old Hobie wrist guards but they were obviously too well worn to still be functional.

[Jahfin]

[TypeO]

That makes my knees weak just looking at the still.

I think I saw this on TV the other night.

Was this from that X-Games documentary?

[Jahfin]

That makes my knees weak just looking at the still.

I think I saw this on TV the other night.

Was this from that X-Games documentary?

Not sure where it's from (I found it on the Imgur site) but I'd say the X-Games is a pretty good guess.

[Strider]

This was in the paper July 4th, but I'm only now getting the chance to post it...sadly, another Dogtown Z-Boy bites the dust.

Chris Cahill dies at 54; skater with Dogtown Z-Boys

He joined up with the trailblazing skateboarding group at the Zephyr surf shop in Santa Monica in the 1970s.

Chris Cahill at the 1975 Del Mar Nationals competition, where he and the Z-Boys first competed against more traditional skateboarders. (Craig Stecyk / Z-Boy archives)

July 04, 2011|By Keith Thursby, Los Angeles Times

Chris Cahill, one of the original Dogtown Z-Boys who brought seismic changes to skateboarding with their style and attitude, has died. He was 54.

Cahill was found June 24 at his Los Angeles home, said Larry Dietz of the Los Angeles County coroner's office. A cause of death has not been determined and tests are ongoing, Dietz said.

The Z-Boys came together in the 1970s at the Zephyr surf shop in Santa Monica. Dogtown referred to a coastal area of south Santa Monica and Venice.

"Skateboarding was always kind of about surfing," said Keith Hamm, who wrote "Scarred for Life," which he called a cultural history of skateboarding. "The Zephyr team skated like they surfed," Hamm said, so as surfboards got shorter and more maneuverable the Z-Boys brought a "sharp-turning, faster, aggressive style" to skateboarding.

The Z-Boys, originally 11 boys and a girl, were the subject of the 2001 documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys" and their story was fictionalized in the 2005 film "Lords of Dogtown." The documentary, co-written and directed by Z-Boy Stacy Peralta, only briefly mentions Cahill, saying he had been last seen in Mexico.

Cahill was an accomplished kneeboarder and "at one point was the best in the world," said Nathan Pratt, another original Z-Boy.

"Chris was kind of the super feisty guy on the team. He definitely had the most spit and vinegar," said Pratt, who has curated exhibits about skateboarding and surfing including one opening this month at the California Heritage Museum in Santa Monica.

Cahill was born Dec. 5, 1956, according to the coroner's office. In an interview with Juice magazine, Cahill said he had lived in Santa Monica since the third grade. He said he was airbrushing surfboards at the Zephyr shop in the 1970s and talked his way onto the skateboarding team.

He was with the Z-Boys at the Del Mar Nationals in 1975 where they first competed against conventional skateboarders. "The Z-Boys, they didn't really go with trick-based contest runs. It was very hard for people, especially the judges, to figure it out," Hamm said. "They definitely represented a shift in the way skateboarding was performed and the attitude that went along with it."

Cahill told Juice that his "competitive nature wasn't that strong in skating." He later worked for Pratt at Horizons West surf shop in Santa Monica before starting his own store. Cahill also lived in Hawaii, Brazil and Mexico and "was an accomplished fine artist," Pratt said.

Bob Biniak, another original Z-Boy, died last year.

A complete list of Cahill's survivors was not available.

keith.thursby@latimes.com

[Jahfin]

Just discovered this wonderful old skate doc that was shot in '78.

[Jahfin]

Great old clip from 1966:

[Jahfin]

[Strider]

Photoshop, yes? Clever all the same.

On the topic of skateboarding, there is an insanely good book that came out in 2010 called "Locals Only: California Skateboarding 1975-1978", that is a collection of photographs that Hugh Holland took around the California skate spots of the time...the Dog Bowl, Kemper Elementary, the drainage pipes along Laurel Canyon, Redondo Beach, etc.

If you want to know what part of my childhood was like, this book is a good starting point. Especially the time I lived close to the beach...it was harder to skateboard in the fields and dirt of Woodcrest.

The book is huge, with large format photos that you just want to fall into. A definite must for anyone interested in skateboarding history and photography.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1934429473/ref=aw_d_iv_books?is=l