CPP / Beckenham / Bromley Bezooom

[Big Dad]

Hey Folks,

Just joined this forum. Did my introductory post then found the longboard space. I've recently discovered longboards after having a daddy scooter and bez'ing around the local parks with the kids. Scooting got dull, saw some lads on longboards and thought - I gotta give that a go!

I'm really getting into longboarding - take the kids up to Crystal Palace Park most weekends and do a few loops of the concert bowl paths. This is great for carving and my bairns can go at a fair pace on their scooters, but what I really need is some like minded folks to either learn from, or crash burn and learn together What I really need to learn is how to stop - can do a foot break but really want to learn how to slide. Got some knee pads recently but lowering the Big Dad girth for a coleman at 44 needs some dedicated time, so I have been attempting stand up slides and have fallen on my aris a couple of times.

Anyways, if anyone is like minded and in the area - let's hook up with or without the scooter sprogs, and go for a bezooom in CPP / Bromley / Beckenham area.

BD

[bazza5070]

Hey Big Dad, just getting into longboard ing myself, foot braking is ok but sliding is damn scary. Find yourself a gentle slope and practise in the wet, makes it easier to slide the back end and learn the basics. Lots of good advice over on Silverfish too


Sent from my iPhone in the distant future.... I am still stuck in 1976

[micke]

Pad up dat ass.

[HarryR]

Hey Big Dad, just getting into longboard ing myself, foot braking is ok but sliding is damn scary. Find yourself a gentle slope and practise in the wet, makes it easier to slide the back end and learn the basics. Lots of good advice over on Silverfish too


Sent from my iPhone in the distant future.... I am still stuck in 1976

I find that running of the front of the board and discovering I'm going faster than I can run, feeling my legs give way, collapsing, rolling over, smacking my head on the ground grazing my shoulder and ripping my shirt is an effective way to dismount from a long board.

[bazza5070]

Hey Big Dad, just getting into longboard ing myself, foot braking is ok but sliding is damn scary. Find yourself a gentle slope and practise in the wet, makes it easier to slide the back end and learn the basics. Lots of good advice over on Silverfish too


Sent from my iPhone in the distant future.... I am still stuck in 1976

I find that running of the front of the board and discovering I'm going faster than I can run, feeling my legs give way, collapsing, rolling over, smacking my head on the ground grazing my shoulder and ripping my shirt is an effective way to dismount from a long board.

Been there, done that that's what lead to my pulled hamstring and sitting out most of the summer! However, I agree, it is a very effective way of dismounting


Sent from my iPhone in the distant future.... I am still stuck in 1976

[Big Dad]

Ah the novel ways of getting off of a moving object at speed...

My first attempts at foot braking could be better described as stomp breaking - I would put my back foot down too hard and absorb the forward energy in my leg as a series of stomps rather than continuous friction between my foot and the road. This got quite tiring and it took a while to get the finer points of the classic foot brake - when the sole of my foot rapidly heats up I know I'm doing it right! Also having the right footwear helps - just ordered some skate shoes for which I'm hoping the heavier flat sole will work better than my gym reeboks...

As for the sliding - I've read the posts and seen the videos on PooTube for technique, its just putting it into practice that is taking time. There is a group called London Longboards from FacePlant who can be seen at CPP. Nice chap called Alex gave some advice in Dec. Reckon my real problem is only going up their with the kids - need some me time in order to get my colemans down and my skin scraped.. Would be cool to practice with a like minded old git though rather than the hip crowd and dance brigade..

Pad my Ass? Ha, already onto that one! I've ordered a sheet of Cordura 1000 and some high impact foam - gonna make some pads for hips and aris to sew onto a pair of mtb shorts. Will post the result next week.

BD.

[bertslide]

Welcome on board the good ship MAS
Have you got/made some slide gloves yet, if you're getting into colemans etc you need some gloves..

[Big Dad]

Aye, got myself some slide gloves.

Also use my old mtb arm armour underneath a hoody - this is lower profile than your standard skate elbow protection, and if it was good enough to race DH and 4X then its good enough for longboarding

I've also considered cannibalizing the shoulder armour and spine proctector from some other mtb gear, but this runs the risk of looking like an overweight power ranger with all the gear and no idea...

BD.

[bertslide]

As an ex DHer as well, I had all the body armour etc. but just sold it.
I think I'm in a minority here, in that I rarely wear pads, and don't really like them, or helmets.

The following comment is not directed at you personally, however there seems to be a lot of injuries from people trying too much too quickly.
Too many on here seem to want to run before they can walk. Build up your confidence/skills slowly by just skating around, you wouldn't expect someone to ride a DH course a week after learning to ride a bike

[Big Dad]

Hey Bertslide, completely agree with you there!

I've been bezzing around with the kids and have slowly been getting the speed up and trying steeper gradients. The one time I wasn't wearing arm protection, I skidded out on a fast carve and came up with a bruised elbow.. I had two horrific injuries which ended my DHing days - last one was a fractured humerus with detatached rotator cuff and split suprinatus tendon - this was on a day when I really should have been wearing my full suit of armour. Suffice to say I couldn't pick up my 1 year old daughter for 4 months and The Doris quite rightly said that if I do that again she'd leave.

So I have no inclination to do too much too soon and get injured! Saying that, I do want to learn how to slide to kill off speed There are some really nice corners at CPP that just need a slide to setup correctly for the next run

[bertslide]

Ouch, I was lucky, only had a few knockouts and concussions with the obligatory pizzas, and trashed cartlidges in both knees and and and

Back to sliding, loosen up your trucks and try carving to scrub off speed, as you carve harder and you get more comfortable with it the wheels start to slide in a nice controlled manner, just straighten out of the turn/slide to continue.

[Big Dad]

Yes that is what I am currently working on - I really enjoy the carving and I have been trying to carve by crouching into it and standing into the turn like on a snowboard. I still go at quite a fair pace though - or at least it feels like it!! - but it does curb the speed somewhat

From all the talk on sliding, I understand you have to "kick out" the edge of the board with you backfoot whilst having your weight mostly on the front. This is what I'm struggling with...

[shy ted]

begginer slide meeting most saturday mornings at crystal palace park just up from the concert bowl run by alex ireton . age no object helmet and slide gloves are a necessity . good natured way of learning with like minded people . don't go if it''s wet as it is normally called off . once you start your sliding it can get very addictive , me and my mates have ridden from the very top down to the maze and finished with a slide on frost under the trees . give it a go and report back .