YONDER BREAKS

I haven't been skating much lately, as I've been spending much of that time rebuilding my backyard mini-ramp . I've also been trying to get into surfing more lately so I don't feel like such a poser, having written  a book about surfing  and all... Anyway, after getting home from a bike ride and then a surf, my friend Shawn asked if I wanted to skate that day. Three sports? Why not, and so I headed out the door for a noon session. Here is Shawn doing a sweet layback from an earlier session. It was pretty relaxed, cruising around the bowl with him and another middle-aged skater. I don't think any of us was feeling particularly gnarly that day, though I did learn to roll-in to the mini-bowl frontside (I usually go backside ), which is kind of scary. But as we skated, I threw a few flip tricks ( kickflips , varial flips , etc.), and they were working. Now, this is fairly rare, as the energy it takes to flip your board over from flat ground far outweighs the ener...

I used to be a pretty determined guy on a skateboard. I would try tricks for hours, endless attempts, over and over. Usually my friends would stand on, watching, often video taping the tries . As I've scanned those old clips, I've apologized for making them do that; but at the time, all I wanted was to land that trick. Even though I probably took it too far, I look back on that time as character-developing -- it's good to be persistent, and skateboarding was where I learned that. Now, an older Rick who still skateboards has chilled out a bi t. I've learned that beating my body and getting frustrated over a skateboard trick isn't as important as it used to be. It makes my sessions more relaxing, but sometimes I lament the fervor with which I used to skate. But sometimes this relaxed approach to boardsports goes a little too far. Sometimes you need  to push yourself, and today was one such day. Glove box fix for a broken toe. I broke my toe about a month ago ...