after 21 years, finally Skatepark!! (pic link)

[thorn]

ok, no there are no pics of me skating (yet) - gimme about a year for that, i am way not good at all anymore , never was really that great.

i was WaAAAy into skateboarding when i was 11-16 , back in NY. besides being there, everwhere at that time the skateparks were all closed down - they used to be private, liabilites went nuts from lawsuits and any parks that survived the lull in poularity of skating of the early 80s were shut by high insurance.

in NY we made a good but totally lacking 1/4 pipe - nothing compared to a pool or 1/2 pipe. but we always saw pics of the giant bowls and concrete wonderlands that were out there in a few places, all that stuff. forever i just wanted to cruise in a sweet bowl (pool specially made for skateboarding).

in the 90s laws were changed so cities could make public parks, and people got hurt at their own risk= bye bye liabilites, skating is hugely popular here in CA, cities start having parks. so a couple years ago they started work on a MEGA SWEET park in Berkeley- then of course it was delayed over and over form toxic sludge in the ground that seeped up thru the drains in the bowls.
finally they got enough of it out, and in the dry season it is open, FREE , and unsupervised except the occasional police helmet check (sometimes a ticket for no helmet).

It took me another year to put together a board , but recently i really had been seeing too much skateboarding= i got a board together and today finally after 21 years of dreaming , i got to hit some of the smoothest concrete transitions every. granted it was laughable, a bunch of kids so young , so so much better, pulling tricks and air like mad, i cant even "drop in" on the pools (start at top, not bottom) .

ha- even the young girl was putting me to shame, but bonus, there was another 30+ guy there trying it out same as me.

i already got some pads , need to go get a helmet to avoid tickets, but i am gonna hit those walls all summer for sure. this is so rad
http://www.caliskatz.com/v4/skatepar..._skatepark.asp

you can see the park details and videos of good skaters there

[Obiwanjacoby]

I noticed how close the park is in relation to the other playing fields.

So, what happens when a soccer/foot/baseball goes into the bowl???


-PJ

[NightViperOne]

Speaking as a former thrasher myself (no way would I even try that stuff anymore!!), I have to agree with the Jedi there. I mean, I been in that exact situation. Better get a face guard while you're gathering your gear, mano. Yikes!

-Jim

[thorn]

So, what happens when a soccer/foot/baseball goes into the bowl???

ha! no, theyre not as close as they look, and those are only practice fields so i dont think it is a major concern.
me and the other older burnout were laughing at the lacrosse team= man they were working out hard! - heheh- we got better things to do, like sit down. ha ha.
i think theres a baseball field close, but it faces away from the park.

my big concern is how many kids will be there once school lets out, but people are cool about taking turns, and its far enough on the edge of town, there is a lot of empty time there.

already a 13 year old was joking with me cuz the deck i have- i found discarded in a park- it was kid's friend's old board.

Speaking as a former thrasher myself (no way would I even try that stuff anymore!!),

i refuse to get old. im in good shape, i just need to stretch out a bit and i am gonna do it.

[Alison Chains]

Hey I know that's where it is. I'm from Modesto CA, so that's not that far off from where I am from! I used to Skate on and off but was never good at it. I totally bailed on a 50-50 and cut my self up nice and good on the fall. I often think about buying a new deck (or atleast new trucks and bearings as that's all I really need) and picking it up again.

(A GI Joe Deck would be Sweet!)

[thorn]

hA! my big thing to get over is a bailed HARD on a fakie years ago so now i dont go as high as i should, but im getting over it.

heh= im a long way from hitting a 50/50.

[Alison Chains]

heh= im a long way from hitting a 50/50.

Me too
But I sure tried anyway

[thunt4]

Thats good to see things like this finally happening. I skated for 10 years took a 5 year break and I just started to skate again. I guess it was just too much a part of my life and I missed it when i quit for a while. I have built 3 parks in my town only to have the city back out after being built and all there usual bs.I still have it though. It took me about 2 hours before I was landing flip tricks again and it came back pretty quick. I may actually have to check this out. 2 of my friends moved to cali and one is actually an amateur skatboarded for a company. It looks really fun . Good luck with starting out again and it does take some time for your balance to come back