alternative hippopotamus

progressive cyberdadaism from our nation’s capital

October 3, 2007

NY Observer on the Skateboarding Zeitgeist

by AltHippo @ 2:10 pm. Filed under skateboarding

Commuter Dudes Mount Skateboards:

Fred Mahe, a 36-year-old software salesman, twists his tie into a neat knot while riding his skateboard up Madison Avenue from his home in the Financial District to his office at 42nd Street and 3rd Avenue. “It’s like a magic carpet,” he said of his trusty transport. “You just kind of stand on it and it goes.”

Mr. Mahe doesn’t ride to work every day (“Some days it’s all you can do to find your way to the train,” he said), but he has joined a contingent of late–20-something and 30-year-old skateboarders who are riding the concrete waves of New York and Brooklyn on planks of wood atop polyurethane wheels.

These aren’t the young skate punks of Union Square, grinding on railings and clattering down concrete steps at bone-breaking speed. These are guys with mortgages, iPhone bills and maybe wives and children, who find time to skateboard to and from work or cruise through Central Park on the weekends. They’re indulging in nostalgia for a childhood pastime (Hello, Peter Pan? It’s Wendy calling!) while convincing themselves it counts as cardio.

Yes, the tone is a bit snarky. But the line about riding a magic carpet is right on. The article also makes a distinction between longboard riders (older) and shortboard riders (annoying kids). I have a long board, but it’s use is limited to long bombing runs in Montgomery College. (If you’re reading this and are in the FBI, “bombing” refers to a run where you’re picking up as much speed as possible, preferable on a hill where you can turn back against gravity to slow down, instead of crashing at 35 mph into the nearest dense object. No WMD are involved, whatsoever.) My board of choice is a shortboard with the softer longboard wheels. The tail gives you options for maneuvering that you just don’t have on a standard longboard.

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4 Responses to “NY Observer on the Skateboarding Zeitgeist”

  1. xadness Says:
    October 4th, 2007 at 12:51 am

    what about the women?

    I doubt that I am the only 30- something female that rides a skateboard!

  2. AltHippo Says:
    October 4th, 2007 at 9:47 am

    I notice more of a skateboarding gender balance in NYC than DC. Still, that’s a good comment for the author of the Observer piece.

    My question is how come there aren’t more 30 and 40 somethings out there on a board?

  3. ollie Says:
    October 6th, 2007 at 2:50 pm

    Out here in San diego almost everyone owns a skateboard. You see guys in their mid 30s…me…riding into work on a hot summer day :)

  4. omelas Says:
    October 7th, 2007 at 10:31 am

    I had noticed more of you around these days… gotta say, whatever that outclip says… it’s more than a tad sexy.

    Cheers!!

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