Hey everyone!
I’m really stoked to share with you one of my current long term Golden Year projects “Ollie Oop!” Unlike Canada, Chicago, rock climbing, shooting and skiing where they are destination or “one time experiences” this one is going to take a lot of study and practice. Lots of practice. 🙂 It is my goal to learn to ollie, but in order to learn to ollie, one must be able to roll first – which is where I’m at.
When I was a teen, my guy cousins would come by every day in the summer and I’d chill with them. We’d talk guitars, music, snowboards and skateboards and they’d show me tricks on theirs. We’d pour over catalogs and discuss brands. When I suddenly found myself with $50, I had my mom take me up to Dunham’s and bought my first skateboard. Lol! All I remember about it is that the brand had good reviews and the graphic wasn’t offensive. My cousins were on the spot to show me some board basics. I tried my best and was practicing everyday – but school started and my tutors were no longer available. The sidewalks around my house were really crappy and I didn’t have enough knowledge or resources to ask how to handle the rough terrain. Despite this, the day came when I had my brother take me and my board to the Metropark. I ended up taking my board down a notable incline and was able to carve enough to not plow into grass until the bottom and when I did – I didn’t fall off. I was in my glory! Life ended up happening and I haven’t touched a board since – until early this month that is. 😉
After randomly watching some basic skateboarding videos – my faves being with Spencer Nuzzi (He’s so cute! x3) – I was like ohhhhh… the tips my cousins gave were on point – I just needed more mentorship and practice. So I picked up a Dukes board at Dunham’s.
It was inexpensive, cheaply made and is a really poor roller. I’m lucky if it rolls two feet before I have to push again!Because of the snowy outdoors, I practiced rolling down the hallway at home and tic-tacking in my bedroom. Not dangerous at all… 0:)
After a couple wipe-outs (indoors AND outdoors) I realized that it was time to invest in protection because I decided that I am going to learn to learn tricks which are even more dangerous than just cruising.
I asked my friend for his opinion on learning to ollie and sorta got shut down. >:\ Due to my age he recommended not learning tricks and to take up cruising with a long board. I bucked that one right away, so the advice I ended up receiving was get comfortable with cruising on a wide variety of terrain before learning to ollie. Cool.
Today I went to Dunham’s and was referred to Anime to Skateboards in Southgate for specialty gear.
Super geeked! I didn’t think that I would end up at a skateboard shop so soon and never thought to look for a local store. XD
I monopolized the clerk for an hour, but got hooked up with an interesting color array of pads, guards and helmets. (public eyesore… lol)
I was there for so long I even got to watch her scrape grip tape off a kid’s board and replace it with Grizzly brand tape. I’ve only seen this done on Youtube before – so cool! XD I eventually asked her about my board’s rolling issue and agreed to take it in later this week for an assessment. Apparently cheap boards don’t have real bearings even though they look like they do. Ohhh… We’ll determine then if I can just replace the wheels and bearings or if I should ditch the board entirely and get one of theirs.
While I was waiting to check out, a teen girl was buying a longboard. I chatted with her about boards for a minute. She already owned one but really fell in love with one with an epic planets graphic on it. When I asked about her skating, she said she likes cruising and wasn’t interested in doing tricks and was in awe that I was! I found the difference in mindset rather puzzling. What’s the point of skating if you’re never going to do tricks? My brother theorized that she probably has a boyfriend who skates and wants a common interest. In regards to me he stated, “You are doing it for yourself and not to impress someone else.” Which is true. I am doing it because I want to do it, not to gain anyone else’s approval. 🙂
So yeah, I’m still super super stoked and can’t wait to go back!
Thanks for reading!
-Anna San♥
My amazing vegetarian lunch 🙂
Everything Anna 
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