10th Anniversary Skateboard Challenge - Woodinville, WA

A few weeks back I learned of a local skateboard competition, via a flyer the family picked up while shopping for a skateboard helmet.  My kids dabble with skateboarding and I recently purchased a new board for my son, hence the matching helmet.

We also have a Sector 9 longboard in the garage that we've all messed around with for years.  Way back in the '70s, I skateboarded some, along with reading the pages of Skateboarder magazine; mesmerized by Tony Alva and crew, empty pools, Rector pads and tube socks.  So while I wouldn't call us, or me, official skateboarders - I do have some background knowledge of it.

So with that history lesson - we headed over to check out the competition - held at the local skateboard park in Woodinville.  As in Woodinville, Washington.  I got a kick outta watching the kids skate and me playing photographer.  Skateboarder magazine somewhat responsible for putting the photography bug in my forming brain, so now a mere 35+ years later - I finally try shooting people who can actually skate.  It was a fun afternoon.

The kids just wanna rock...

This event and skate park tied to the Woodinville Rotary Club, this being the 10th anniversary of the park.  Being around active kids - and at 52 years old and counting - consider 20 somethings kids also - an awesome thing to do.  The energy, vibe, the act of doing something, is great to be around.  Movement is movement.  Flow is flow.  Doesn't what kind of wheels - skateboards, bicycles, motorcycles - all good.

While running around with a camera and attempting to not get in the way and/or clocked in the head with a board, wound up chatting with two 20 something kids also shooting the event - along with a woman from the Woodinville Rotary.  Exchanged contact info and later pooled our pics for a multi-media presentation of the event.  Two of the "kids" with media experience will create something, hopefully with some of my pics included.  Awesome to stumble into getting involved with something positive for young folks.

I took a crazy amount of photos, narrowed 'em down some for the media project selection process.  If interested, slideshow of 'em to ponder...

Dogtown and Z-Boys - Birth of Modern Skateboarding

While doing some Christmas shopping today, scored a copy of Dogtown and Z-Boys for $9.  Merry Christmas to me.  I've only seen this documentary once, a few years ago, so popped it into the DVD player tonight for another look.  As remembered, a fantastic film, even if you're not a skateboarder.

I wouldn't call myself an actual skateboarder, but did dabble with skating back in the '70s as a teenager.  Neighborhood cruising and general goofing around, including one broken wrist as proof.  I also read Skateboarder magazine at the time, so knew a bit about the Dogtown crew and influence on the scene.  That scene being Southern California, my scene a universe away in suburban New Jersey.

Those Skateboarder magazine articles and photos - especially the photos - made an impression on me.  Some of those images of Tony Alva, Jay Adams and others, burned into my teenaged brain.  I recognized many shots in the film, as it shows plenty of photo and video archive from that era.  Seeing the archived video was especially cool, since all my memories revolved around still shots.  Watching how they skated, you can really see how it formed modern skateboarding, pushing it from the stand up tricks from the '60s, into vertical moves that changed the entire sport.  Modern day interviews though out the documentary puts it all in perspective.  

Being a kid from the '70s, the look of the archive footage - long hair, tube socks, t-shirts - and the soundtrack, pushes all my memory lane buttons.  The look and feel of the old film and still shots, combined with the very stylish skating - fantastic to witness.  There's also a bit of surfing history and footage laced into the film, since early skateboarding was very tied to the surfing scene.

If you've never skateboarded in your life, still an interesting documentary.  Especially if you ski, mountain bike, surf, snowboard, BMX, motocross - anything involving movement, style and flow - you'll get it.  Highly recommended.

This is Flow

After my last post, the longboard skateboarding deal is still on my mind. Check out this nicely edited video of a long, fast, stylish cruise. No death metal soundtrack or jumping tricks required. Make no mistake though, this dude is flying. Notice the sliding technique for corning. Man, that's cool.

Alright, we'll return to our normal bicycle programing tomorrow.....

Longboard Commute

Riding to work yesterday morning on the Burke-Gilman trail, I caught up to this skateboarder dude I've chatted with before - but it's been awhile. I slowed down and said hello once again as we cruised down the trail together. I asked him a few questions about his board, a longboard, since it was different then the previous board I've spotted him on. Super friendly guy, and you can see the passion and hear the enthusiasm as he describes his equipment and what he's doing.

And what exactly is he doing? Commuting to work via skateboard, 13 miles each way. That's right, 26 mile round trip. He's also not just paddling along, he's pumping the board side to side to generate movement. Pretty damn cool. Most cyclists just blow by the guy, without batting an eye. Not me, I can't help but to get a buzz just watching him do his thing.

If you think pumping a skateboard 13 miles to work is a little nuts, he also does the STP bike ride every year on a longboard. That's Seattle to Portland for you non Pacific Northwest types. That's 200 miles, pumping a skateboard for 12 hours a day, for 2 days. Crazy, but awesome. Before you shake your head wondering why, plenty of people also wonder why you'd ride a bike for 200 miles, or to work for that matter. Different strokes for different folks.

The dude's name is James Peters and he's also 40+ years old. Being, uh, 40+ myself, I get a big kick out of people "my age" still doing their thing - cycling, skating, skiing, running, surfing - whatever. There's something cool and very inspiring about that, 'cause as anybody in that age bracket knows - it's really easy to let other aspects of life squeeze that out of the picture, but we don't let that happen - 'cause it's part of who we are.

James also has a website, called Pavedwave, that focuses on the longboard and pumping scene. Interesting Seattle Times article on him posted there, along with some great videos. Even if you don't skate, check it out. If you catch him on the Burke-Gilman trail, slow down and say hello, then watch his technique up close.

Part of my interest in what he's doing is from my own dabbling with skateboards. As a kid in the '70s I skateboarded a bit, along with some friends. These were the days of Tony Alva and the Dogtown crew. The images of them skating pools in tube socks and Rector pads are burned into my brain, from the pages of Skateboarder magazine. For an excellent documentary on that era, check out Dogtown and Z Boys. Well worth the couch time.

Later, like 30 years later, I picked up a Sector 9 Longboard and occasionally goof around on it - as do my kids. Nothing serious, skater I'm not. Still, it's fun to play around on it.

In any case, whatever your "thing" is, people like James Peters keep it alive - and that energy spills over to keeping cycling alive for me - my "thing". As I pedaled away from James that morning, I felt even more psyched about riding to work then usual, just from our little chat session. And that kind of energy is priceless.