In the early years, there was street. It's truly the only thing I knew. Living just outside of a small town, there were really only two options: the driveway and
street (used here of course to mean local schools, parks, offices, parking garages, government buildings, etc.).
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| Here is a picture of some lovely driveway skating. |
As one saying goes, "if your city doesn't have a skatepark, then your city is a skatepark." That being said, I believe that street has its definite advantages and I miss some aspects of it very much now that I rarely skate private property (or public property deemed off limits) anymore. Actually, some of my greatest memories stem from the everyday experiences associated with getting kicked off of someone's stairs or out of a "public" park for that matter.
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I once recieved four stitches in the chin when trying
to drop into this half pipe right here. A great
example of being a novice to ramp skating. |
Parks were few and far between when I started skating. It was either 1 hour drive South or 1 hour drive North. This meant very little park time of course. One park I was able to skate at occasionally was the one pictured to the right (and now out of business of course). It was called Ramp and Roll. I had nearly no experience with ramps, so parks could prove to be quite difficult to manage at times. Eventually, I moved away from Georgia and discovered that in the uber red state of Idaho they had quite a few "public" (and when I say public what I really mean is free) skateparks. Who would have thought that Idaho would introduce me to the idea of a public skatepark? Odd, I know.
This is also where much of my progression began to dwindle. Upon returning to Georgia from Idaho I realized that I had become "washed up." This was bittersweet. I wasn't sure what to do. On the one hand I could try to progress and learn new tricks and sort of follow the trends of the sport, on the other hand why not just stick to what I truly love... 50-50s and boardslides? So, as many washed up skateboarders do, I decided to just enjoy what I had and learn what tricks
I felt like
when I felt like learning them. This inevitably led to frustration at first.
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Here is some of my early 'washed up' frustration
as I found myself unable to ollie a seven stair. Yikes. |
After all the frustrations however, I was able to embrace a new way of approaching skateboarding. I took a step away from an outward looking approach fueled by competition and towards a more introspective position fueled by enjoyment and leisure. This then, has been the general transition of my style and outlook on skateboarding over the past 15 years. I now enter into the world of the present. A world filled with mini ramps, bowls, a little street, and an occasional small handrail just to show homage to my roots.
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| Warning! This inward looking approach inevitably leads to skating like this. |
