Got on a skateboard for effectively the first time today. (a few minutes here and there as a kid don’t count). My goal is to get comfy enough longboarding to transform my boring/aggravating car commute in a fun healthy board/bus commute. Work on my core, sweat more often, improve balance, inhale a bit more of the world. That’s my goal. So today I took my new board over to an empty lot across the street for my lunchbreak for some mutual abuse. Here are my observations:
-Right is easy, left is scary, but I’ll get over it
-Debris sucks
-I only fell once
-I was wearing cross-trainers. I understand skater shoes now: it’s not about good traction. Grip tape takes care of that. It’s about easily repositioning your feet. Hence the flat-footed slipper design.
-Everything from knees to nipple has a lot of loosening up to do.
More training to come before I start commuting.
BONUS! First time on a board, and I got stopped by a cop. Turns out the vacant lot isn’t open for play. No issues: I’m a little old for knee-jerk disregard of authority. Lunch break was over, so I picked up my board and left. But still, do I get extra points for attracting the fuzz?
First practice, and I’m not dead. Hopefully I’ll be cruising easy by summer!
Eric Landreneau 
Such a great idea – and even better you had a run-in with the man! Good luck!
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Thanks! Hope it works out. Next step is getting confident and comfy on the thing. Taking it out again at lunch today – there are walking/riding trails near work, paved and better maintained than the empty lot. I’m comfy enough from yesterday’s practice to run the risk of having to interact with pedestrians. And the man can’t say nothing!
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