Get outside! Intro to longboading and why I do it

Forgive me if my writing is terrible, I don't do it often. First attempt at a "blog" I normally just share pictures etc. But I enjoy longboarding so I thought I'd blog/share with steemit. The pictures I often share are taken when I am out longboarding.

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Today, I am going to talk about longboarding and also share some pictures of my board and some video of longboarders. This is a brief intro to longbaording. There is so much information to get into including technique, choosing the right board and gear, and safety etc. This blog is just meant to be an introduction. You can scroll over pictures and videos if you just want to read then view them after/later.

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(Crunchie - Longboarding: Carving Up Cars)

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I recently got into longboarding just to get out and enjoy the weather and get some exercise. I used to skateboard but quit when I got out of school due to lots of injuries over time. I broke both my wrists, landed straight on my face from a 3.5 ledge and chipped teeth, had many sprained ankles etc, but in the end it was my knees that stopped me. After so much abuse my knees would really hurt sometimes, at least the other injuries the pain went away and wouldn't come back, but the knees would only heal if I wasn't doing drops/jumps/tricks. So, before picking up longboarding I had been away from skateboarding for over 10 years. I missed the feeling.

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Longboarding started around 1965, the idea of longboarding came from surfers in Hawaii that wanted to take their surfing hobby to land when the waves were too small to surf. It is kind of the same for me, I started longboarding because I missed the feeling of the road and the board, but didn't miss the injuries.

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(Sector 9 - Fogger)

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Longboarding can still be super dangerous though too. Some longboarders can reach speeds above 80mph... There are many different styles/uses for longboards though. For it is about chilling out. But I do like going fast when I can. The main use of a longboard is simple, its transportation or cruising. If you want to do tricks it is called Freeriding, Freeriding can involve sliding and other tricks such as Early Grabs, and Pop-Shove-Its etc. The most dangerous and exciting longboarding is Downhill Longboarding. It is done on steep somewhat straight mountains/hills and long windy mountains/hills. You need to be wearing a good helmet and special gloves and pads for your knees and elbows, if you crash at 80mph on a board it could be fatal. Another very entertaining form of longboarding is Dancing. Dancing involves a variety of walking and spinning moves on and off the board while it is moving.

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(Dancing) Longboard Girls: ODESZA - Sun Models

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Longboards come in many shapes and sizes. In this blog I have shared pictures of my board. It is a custom design/shape not mass produced and is hand shaped. Downhill boards and freeride boards are often used interchangeably. The main difference is that downhill boards are usually directional, with a defined front and rear, while freeride boards are symmetrical front to back with no front or back, ride free. Dancing boards are around 45+ inches long and can be up to 12 inches wide. Their bigger size of surface/platform is used to dance on, obviously. Cruisers boards are usually around the same length of a typical skateboard only much wider and have bigger softer wheels and bigger trucks.

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(Longboarder soars down Colorado hill at 70mph!)

(Men Use Longboards to Go Down Mountain)

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Anyways, as I said at the start of this blog this was introduction to longboarding and why I started. I hope you enjoyed it and I recommend going back and watching the videos. Here is one last picture of my board. I love the wood pattern on the bottom :)

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Video credits: Crunchie, Sector 9, Looking For Passion, Rumble Viral, and DailyPicksandFlicks