Skateboarding and Ukuleles

I used to skate for transportation and to work a fair bit when I lived in Oakland and Berkeley. It was easy to do multi-modal commuting with a skateboard and the riding down hill after work was fun. I have no skills to speak of other than I rarely fall off the board unaided by cars. After that last incident I have not skated, but maybe I should skate to work this year. My commute is not too bad for that. I can take some shortcuts on foot through the woods to cut out the crappy bits. It would be a bit easier on a longboard, but I think I can hack it pretty well on my regular board with the fat wheels. I did more than a few 5 mile plus long hauls on it in the past.

Anyhow, check out these guys longboarding through peru and bolivia. All sorts of silly. I would do it on a bike, but I really enjoyed this. I also am pleased that they brought a uke along.

Via the cleanest line

Speaking of Ukes. Here is some holiday ukulele singing with Aida and my Nephew. We are singing some rube waddell.





Finally, check out this:


Wooo! Thems are skills. Great shooting and editing to go along with this. I sent Brett Novak a few bucks to keep good stuff like this coming. Check out the rest of the his excellent stuff on vimeo and on his website

Via super relax

Some Japanese Videos

I don't particularly care for motorcycles, but this guy makes some really nice ones, really well done video to boot.

via the sweetpea blog


The grindies! Ridiculous all around.

Via the mastastico

Faster than on my bike

Via the Pfister



Adam Kimmel presents: Claremont HD from adam kimmel on Vimeo.




So these younguns are bombing claremont in oakland on their longboards at speed while passing a HD camera between the two of them. Yikes. Having ridden this road more or less weekly for about 5 years, I can say that the first couple turns are actually much tighter than they appear on the video. Secondly, they are most likely descending faster than I could on my bike. Thirdly, the road they are on probably is lousy with eucalyptus nuts and detritus, firebellied newt carcasses, mid lane reflectors and the like. I am pretty sure I have almost died on my bike over cooking the big bend on this road.

So thats starting at grizzly peak and claremont (A) and heading downhill which is to the left.

View Larger Map

Maybe it is because I know this road pretty well that it really struck a chord with me, but the drama keeps on building as they keep on getting to the bottom with the auto traffic, residential parking and side roads increasing in frequency. When I lived in the east bay, I would often see downhill long boarders dropping off the ridge to oakland, but they were power sliding every corner to keep their speed under control. These guys are barely checking their speed except for the two big bends at the top.

I don't think I am even of the same species.

Elsewheres on the intertubes

A tour of the inntertubes:

Via JimG who found it via tony P and excellent NYT video on Biking and bike building in portland. It is pretty well done. I agree with Jim on his analysis of the video, mutton chops yea, sweetpea disarming. I will also add, whats with the ginormous chain ring on the bike at minute 2:17 or so. And how about the city council suit that is all pro bike? And is it not lovely that they have relatively few riders wearing a helmet in their video? So deliciously unPC. Finally it was cool to see videos of Tony Pereira's, Natalie SweetPea's and Andy Newlands (strawberry's) shops. Great stuff all around.


Also from the new york times via One speed Brian an excellent video on an insanely huge skateboard ramp in Bob Burnquist's back yard. Sweet. Suck it tow in surfers this is much more betterer. Also doesn't bob resemble the city council suit from the portland video?

Vaguely related (wait for it I will bring it back around) is Kent Peterson's tale of spacing out on his bike and getting a big ticket. Kent is a good writer and a humble fellow and makes subtle points nicely worth a read.

Also relevant, via the enter freekin internet, is the test of awareness from some UK cycle advocacy group that they apparently horked from some dude. It still is pretty effective, take it if you have not.

This all reminds me of last time I spaced out while riding, it was when I was on my skateboard (see it is coming around) and got a ticket myself officially for "skateboarding". I think that was the last time I skateboarded. Maybe sheila is reading and she will sell me her longboard cheap?

Speaking of facial hair (see muttonchops above and sometimes kent has one, related, see?), I am proud to have mine featured as a part of Stevil's excellent mustaches in cycling post on HTATBL. I also belatedly realize that Steve inadvertently reunited me, sgugliag and hurl, three of the four members of the second place winning beeralap stingray relay from Sea Otter circa 2001. I think steve cheated his way to the winning team.

Finally, pretty unrelated, I have a photo essay on crested butte snow cruisers on bicycle fixation. Check it.

No skate, no die

Excellent.

I got hit by a car while on my skateboard tonight. No major injuries, small hematoma happening on my calf (yeah, ma, I am fine, really), not too bad. I came up to a stop sign 4 way intersection, saw a kid in a car coming out of the HS parking lot across from me. I rolled straight through the intersection, she rolled left and hit me. She clearly never saw me coming or when she turned. I saw her and avoided getting pummeled. HS kid was crying and upset. I was OK with a sore calf. She goes home, I get a ticket. Lovely.

If this happened on my bike I would have been apoplectic. But for some reason I am not as mad, but she just as easily could have hit me while I was running or walking or biking. If I had stopped, I would have had the right of way, and she still would have cut me off/hit me. Ah well, excuses excuses, it was pretty dumb on my part.

I am calm about it though. I think this is should have been a both get tickets or no one gets tickets. She obviously rolled through the stop sign and did not see me at all. I slowed down and then rolled through the stop sign as it looked like she was going to yield, but I mistook eye contact for actually seeing me. Crap. I turned hard and got off the board and almost made it scott free, she caught me on my calf just below and behing my knee, flipped me up on the hood and then off on the ground.

Concerened citizen called police and EMT, two fire trucks and three police cars showed up. EMT guys checked me out, police talked to me and then gave me a ticket for running a stop sign on a skate board, I wish I could scan the ticket and put it next to the "bicycle parking ticket" I got in Emeryville when I was a messenger, however my copy of the ticket is almost completely illegible. Court date with no preset fine.

Bah. I am pretty sure I would not have gotten hit on my bike, but it probably would have been close stop or no.

Lesson learned: Stop at stop signs (you idiot), do not trust damn kids or anyone else in cars, watch out at intersections.

Stupidly I know all these lessons well from years and years of urban cycling, but dammit I forgot to my detriment tonight.

The ultimate irony is that I was riding earlier with my friend Sheila who just got a new longboard and I was "teaching" her how to ride safely and comfortably. Even worse is that sheila happened upon the exciting 5 emergency vehicles post crash scene learning the "do as I say, not as I do" lesson quite well.

Crap crap crap.

Nothing a millionth time encore of the incredibles plus a few organic stouts and some icing (the elevate, ice, rest kind) can't fix.

I still can't get over how good the incredible's soundtrackis.

Well, to quote edna mode, "Luck favors the prepared". Careful out there all you human poweredinos.

Day 31 of chinese bikes, going downhill

click for big

These are 2 of the 3 mountianbikes I saw in china. Not the cheap walmart looking MTB/commuters that are pervasive, but bikes that are off road capable.

This was in Lijiang. I am guessing that the two guys riding them where from Hong Kong and on vacation, but it was just a guess, I also guess these bikes never saw a lick of downhill action or any dirt, but there you are a pair of duallies riding around the old city of Lijang, slowly often with girlfriends on the bars.

I saw one other guy on a Kona hardtail rocketing through a side street in ChengDu, he had some pretty excellent bike handling skills, bunny hoppnig curbs, riding wheelies for blocks, etc. I think he was chinese. I almost fell over as he was by far the fastest rider I saw in all of China, and he was the only person other than me I saw go from street to sidewalk without dismounting and lifting the bike over the curb. Riding down stairs, up and down curbs and the like just did not happen in china.

I saw the Kona feller right near my favorite graffiti in china. "No skate no live". I think they meant "Skate or Die", but its the thought that counts. Rock on invisible skater brothers. I never saw anyone on a board.