What looked to be a week of rain turned into a beautiful spring week full of sunshine. I've added some new tricks to my bag, but most of them aren't appropriate for a freestyle run. While I don't hold the "foot down doesn't count" statement as freestyle gospel, I wouldn't do a ghost ride trick in a freestyle contest. I've been doing ghost ride kickflips and ghost ride shove-its quite a bit lately. They're fun, very easy, and I think they look good on a longboard. The one "foot down" trick that I will do in a run is a 360 push. Basically, it is a skog to rolling backwards then a second push back to forward. Barely a trick, I think it fits in fine for a freestyle run. 

I've been trying to get a little more analytical about the run. While I new that I wanted it to convey a certain feeling, I wasn't sure how I should attack the run. It struck me that the run is all about circles. Whether I'm carving in a circle, turning my board 360 degrees, or turning a circle on my board, the run is about 360 degree turns.

I've started thinking about the turns I'm making in the run. In truth, I haven't figured it all out yet. And constantly turning does make things more difficult. It is easier to do footwork in a straight line. However, the arcs made carving make the slower motions of the longboard more interesting. So much of current freestyle and longboard dance is about doing tricks as fast as possible. You watch videos of people moving so quickly you can't exactly tell what is going on. For this run, I want to move slowly, deliberately. I want each step to count.

Another week of skating is in the books. Rain and vehicle issues threw off my normal skating so I moved to the garage at the begining of the week. My garage, which is great for stationary work on a traditional (small) freestyle setup is terrible for any type of work on a longboard. First, the sheer size of the longboard makes tricks difficult in a small space. Even working on 360s becomes difficult in a confined space. Add in that the longboard really wants to roll and sessions lose a lot of productivity.

Luckily, I fixed my truck on Tuesday afternoon and the rain was gone by Wednesday. I was able to move back to the local park. While most parks in the area are closed due to Covid-19, the park closest to my house is still open. I live in a very rural area outside of a larger town. So few people come to the park near me that it has been allowed to remain open. Generally, I stop here and skate on an afternoon, and if other people show up to the park, I just go home. 

I have the first 40 seconds of my run mapped out. I've added walk the dogs, a spin shove it, and what I call pivot walk the dogs to my run as I begin to add more freestyle moves to it. Things are coming together. I am also working on the other tricks I want to do later in the run quite a bit. G-turns, 360 variations, turn-ins, backwards walk the dogs, and toe spins will all be included in the run. 

Here is a g-turn:

First, let me say that it is official. I have finally registered for the World Round-Up Online Showdown! I'm very excited to have entered my first contest in over twenty years. 

Wow. I feel uglier than ever! That pic of me is rough! Ha! When you submit your application you also send them a picture of yourself standing in front of a white wall. They take the background out and insert your country's flag behind you. I realized the only white wall in our house is a very small bathroom, so I'm actually standing in front of the toilet for the picture and my wife snapped the shot.

Anyway, I am very happy with the progress this week. I've been focusing on the first 15 seconds of my run which is all longboard dance footwork into skogging. As I told Bob on our Frontside 360 podcast, I want this run to be everything I love about flat ground skating. At first I wanted it to be freestyle done on a longboard, then I was going to do some dance and freestyle, but I love skogging, pumping, dancing, and traditional freestyle footwork. So, I am doing a little bit of everything in my run and trying to make it seamless like it all always fit together.

Last weekend was very wet so I spent my days practicing  dance footwork on an upside down board in my living room. Doing this seems to have helped my Peter Pans, and toe spins (called pirouettes in longboarding) are my newest trick because of this inside skating. Thanks to Tony Gale's trick tips website (and YouTube videos) I've been able to get them dialed in pretty well. I'm not sure where in my run I'll do any, but I'm sure I will. The weather cleared up during the week and I started rolling again.

The music on this clip is currently my choice for the Round Up. I want to skate fairly slowly and smoothly, and I feel like this song will compliment the feel of the skating well.

I enjoy cross country travel books. I've read (and listened to) books about ultra-marathoners and cyclists crossing the U.S. on two feet and two wheels, so a book about someone skating a longboard down the west coast into Mexico and through all of Central America was a must read.

In World on Board, Adrian Oh, a Singaporean who has become a central figure in the world of distance skating, chronicles a portion of his world travels. He rides a bracket longboard with Orangatang wheels while pushing a running stroller that, instead of carrying a child, carries his camping gear and water down the west side of the US and into Latin America.  As both a longboard distance skater (although I've not done anything like Adrian) and as a camping enthusiast, it is a very interesting book. I've often wondered what it would be like to take off on my longboard with a pack on my back not to return for days and weeks. I imagine sleeping in my backpacking tent or in my hammock only to get up, pack up, and resume skating. Adrian has taken my imaginings and made them his reality. He has skated through Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and Costa Rica. He has detailed his journey through each country and how each country differs. I must admit, however, pushing a stroller and so many heavy items seems like it would take a lot of the joy and freedom of skating away. There's not much fun carving or surf style antics when you're simply trying to make it to the next host's house or campsite on item.

It must be said that Adrian's first language is not English and this is, basically,  a journal printed in book form. The editing, done by Asnah Ahmed, could use a lot more work to turn this book into a finished piece. Sentence structure is often off, and I'd love to see certain parts fleshed out with more show and less tell. All of that said, however, I recommend anyone who is interested in long distance skating or any touring sport activity. His rides make my 15 to 20 mile pushes seem silly. 

I believe a kindle version has just been released for anyone wanting a good deal and not being picky about having a paper copy.