Conquer Fear

I've taken a few small hills lately with the longboard and to be brutally honest - sometimes I'm terrified. I yell at myself and say "I got this" and lean forward and make sure my body is correctly in line with the board. A magical thing happens: I stop wobbling, the board goes straight, and I enjoy the ride down hill.

Now I did have to bail off the board today, but it wasn't that bad, I ended up running into the grass and quickly got on the board. I couldn't make the right turn, if I tried I would have hit some people walking on the paths.

I also lost my left wrist brace somehow. I believe I accidentally boxed it up when I shipped some tablets to a remote site in Saskatchewan. I'll find out if I really did that next week when it arrives. In the mean time, I  ordered a set of 888's wrist guards for $17 from amazon. I can't risk that shit.

The bearings were getting squeaky today, mainly because I was riding through water the past few weeks. I took my wheels out tonight and used 0W20 synthetic oil to clear them up. Works like a charm now. 

This is all iphone photography. I don't yet trust my skateboarding skills to take my Ricoh GR2 out on the road. Maybe when the boosted arrives I'll take a shot or two. I'm finding my cardio is getting far, far better now. I can skate 4 k's and not be out of breath anymore. I use that Strava app to track my distance, time, and average speed. 

People still give you strange looks when you blast down the sidewalk on a longboard. So far I've managed to get around downtown pretty well. It's far more fun on a skateboard than boring walking. The only negative is I can't use my headphones when I skate. It's not safe and my headphones won't fit over my helmet.

I'm also thinking of buying a moto helmet to protect my jaw in case I fall. We'll see. So far I'm only $200 into my skateboarding budget, not including the $100 deposit for the boosted board.