I grew up in Halifax, West Yorkshire and started riding boards made from planks with steel wheel roller skate trucks screwed on the bottom. This was around 1976. I used to nick SkateBoarder mag from the newsagents where I had a paper route and was always amazed at the shots from the skateparks in california with the blue sky, white concrete and guys wearing shorts. That they actually had weather most of the year where you could wear shorts was almost as amazing as the stunts they were pulling. Dog Town, Alva, Jay Adams, Stacy Peralta and the gang were my heros. It was a dream seeing those shots. I remember seeing an ad for a G&S Fiberflex board with Gullwing trucks and Sims Pure Juice Bowlrider wheels on it in a full page ad in the mag and it was the most awesome piece of equipment I'd ever seen. I ended up ordering a set of ACS trucks and Belair Bolts wheels from one of the vendors in the mag, which I screwed onto my homemade deck, complete with wedge kicktail and a 3" strip of black sandpaper glued on it. I got nailed for customs duty on the package, which was a pisser, but I got my money's worth.
We'd lay a sheet of plywood up against the park bench. I remember snapping a set of trucks on the 1/2" lip at the bottom. We hadn't figured out to put something thinner like sheet metal on it at that point. Between doing slides, bench/ramp riding and the hitting little 3' slope over at the nursery school across the street we had a good time.
Halifax built an indoor park that was cool. It had a vert wall with about 8' of vert and I remember you'd win something if you could hit the ceiling. Only one or two guys I knew were mad enough to try it.
It fizzled out once I left school in 1979 and got a job.
About 21 years ago, after a few years of travelling, I moved to California and was surprised to see that skating had never relly disappeared here. It was used as a mode of transportation, people going to work, school, or their mates' house. San Francisco was, and still is, one of the major street skating focal points and I watched the sport evolve into it's latest incarnation. Guys riding rails, ledges, curbs. Ollies, flips and all sorts of tricks that I would have never imagined back in my youth.
About 7 years ago I moved out to Tracy, an hour east of SF. After I moved here they built a skatepark in town. Seeing the clean concrete and blue sky I was transported back to Halifax and the grey skies and steel wheels, nursery school ramps and memories of the shots from the magazines. Here was the opportunity to reclaim a little of that in the State that gave birth to extreme skating. I went to the local boardshop and ordered up a board, an Element with Indy's and Spitfire wheels. It was a street board and a little small for me. At 6'1" and 190 lbs (you can figure out how many stone that is) I needed something meatier. I gave away the deck and ordered a bigger, fatter one, and then another. I hit the park and realised I could still do a decent kick turn in a small bank. I graduated up to the 1/4 pipe and almost shat the first time my trucks hit the coping. I bailed. I ended up making it and found some nice lines to cruise around. It's a pretty shitty park but it was white and the sky was blue.
I recently started looking around the area and there are a ton of parks. I hit Ripon a few times. It's about 20 minutes away andone of the best parks on california. There's a write up here:http://www.caliskatz.com/v4/skateparks/ripon_skatepark.asp
I do realise how lucky I am to be here. As a kid this was al a dream and I'll never take for granted what I have. I skate with my son. Whereas my friend think I'm nuts, his friends think it's cool that his Dad skates. Their dad's (most of whom are younger than me) are sat at home watching football.
I'll be 44 this year and don't plan on stopping. The exercise is great, the parks are deserted at 9 in the morning so I have them all to myself while the kids are in school. I went to Ripon this week and a couple of kids were skating. When I got out of my truck they bailed. I figure they thought I was from the school board and checking to see if any kids were skipping school to hit the park. I had the place for an hour until my shirt was soaked with sweat (85 degrees) and I figured I'd better get some work done. I went home happy.
So, dreams do come true. This one did. Keep dreaming. teachyour kids to dream. It sometimes works, with a little effort.
Cheers,
Michael G Ex-Pat loving the blue skies and white concrete and, yes, I wear shorts when I skate. Year round.