Why I skate and how I started**

It would probably appear to the groms that when I fart there would a plume of dust, due to my age but I got started in skateboarding in 1968 when I was about 7. My first board was a Warwick Bullet which was made in the UK. I asked for a skatey for Critmas because my neighbour had a board made from an old expandable roller skate which had been split in two and nailed to the deck; I wanted one. The old Bullet had black rubber wheels and odd rubber trucks, well they seem odd now but it did turn really well for those days. Following that was the Surfer Sam experience - plenty of board but really skinny trucks, black rubber wheels and no turn...tic tac'ing was the way we turned those big angry bad boys. With the advent of urethane wheels and the Ultimate Flex Machine movie our hero was a yank called Russ Howell. He was big on handstands and 360's and came out for the 1975 Coca Cola Skateboard contest at French's Forest. I was there and it was a fantastic event...the footage from Forever Young is from that era. This was also the Bahne era - but who had parents who could afford them. My dad knew a guy who knew a guy who was selling wheels and truck sets so my brother and I ended up with Apolloflex Stoker wheels on Chicago trucks...loose bearings were fun (not) and there were no decks that we could get our hands on so we made our own out of three ply and a bit of fibreglass matting and resin. Most of the time we spent riding through the streets of Forestville and the playground at the Forest High School. In the fullness of time I transferred my wheels to a 'spastic plastic'. It was a formed plastic deck with a little kick tail at the back. My neighbour, a fitter and turner, made me a stall pad from cast iron and it got bolted to the rear of the board...it was how we slowed down.If you were belting down a hill you just brought the front wheels up and dragged the back. I could always be guaranteed for a light show throwing sparks up. As we went from early teens to mid and late teens we had more cash from returning bottles to the milk bars for refund and from paper runs. We also had more of an idea about what was what. So it came to pass that I got my hands on a Saurus deck with the Edwards, the first of the wide trucks and transferred the Stoker wheels to that bad boy. My brother had a DHD (David Hill Designs) board and we would ride the sandstone flagging banked walls outside the school hall doing radical re-entries from the top. The skatey was our primary means of transport. I'd skate from home to Warringah Rd, Frenchs Forest and then hitch to Narraweena where my surfboard was kept at a mates place and then go to Dee Why point for waves. When I got my P's we were driving but the skatey was always in the car because there was never any guarantee of waves at Macaha, Longie or Little Narra, in which case we'd skate Long Reef headland or around Beacon Hill, Collaroy or Cromer. I mucked around with the bushings in the Saurus and eventually worked out that the urethane bushings in the front coupled with my uncle's old thongs cut to size in the back gave me amazing turning .....so now the old Saurus hangs in the HopShop, the power pivot is also too somewhere along with my 70's skateboarding book. You can still see the original thong rubber still in place along with the sealed bearings which have never been changed or cleaned from the 70's and still roll well. I live in Naremburn which is documented in Willoughby Council archives as being called "Dogtown" back in the 1890's....irrelevant but interesting. I bought a Dervish from the HopShop a couple of years ago and then a little later I picked up a Demonseed for racing downhill.


I am actually indebted to a young 19 year old upstart named Jackson Shapeira who told me that I should get a helmet. I told him I was old school and it was unnecessary.I survived the 70's with no helmet no shoes....he simply outlined that there was no excuse for preventable brain injury, so I picked up a Triple 8. A couple of months later I tried to slide on a narrow section of footpath; slide I did not - turn sharply I did...forehead first into a handrail. Dazed yes - hurt NO. Thank you young Mr Shapeira.


I have 2 daughters who skateboard as well and we did our first ever organised downhill event at MOTH 2011. I was never going to trouble Benbro, Leeso, Jacko and the gang but had some fun...my girls got podiums (2nd and 3rd) so we were very pleased with the outing. Brit has a Loaded Vanguard and is currently in Europe on a Rayne Hustler. Belle rides a Norfin Manta, Norfin Pintail, Norfin Manta Foam Core with PanelVan paintjob and a Fibretec Flying Pan.


Why do we skateboard? Because we hate jogging.


We like the way the longboard community rolls - take the Matti Rae incident for example. If there is a man down then the community rallies. Couple this with the immensely dedicated souls that are the backbone of ASRA and why would you not live your life by it....when guys like Gabe, Cam and Jacko along with the rest of the gang are putting on Grom days, Schools of Speed and Slide Schools in Sydney and Merrick doing the same in Queensland then this community is tight. At Mt Annan School of Speed recently, Luca Coleman asked what it felt like to be skateboarding, he was respectful not to finish the question with 'at your age' and I thought for a moment and replied that when I jump on a skateboard the years fall away and I am back in my teens...and so it is...


I have the power to be happy or unhappy. I choose which. Yesterday is gone, tomorrow's not here. I have today, and I'm going skateboarding because that's what I like to do.


I would like to see a Masters category in the ASRA events..something for the Over 50's. Womens, Groms, Open and Masters. Seriously though, there should be more dads skateboarding with their kids because nothing pulls the family together than doing things together. I'd also like to skate with punters my age as well as skating with young people.


I skateboard because I am proud to be a part of such a great pursuit; I am pleased that I am still able to do it; and while I am my age I do not have to act my age....res firma mitescere nescit (L).


Something else that is really cool is that when I'm carrying or riding my skateboard and another guy is doing the same there is a nod or an eyebrow lift...a small, barely noticeable but mutual sign of respect. Any dude on a skateboard is my brother from another mother. Respect.

Skateboarding President and Philip

North Shore Times Wed 8th June 2011

Philip is afflicted with Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy
 so we got him a new chair to get him around

Carpark Capers

On a rainy day there is not much to do so so it's off to the carpark. We have this wonderful little carpark very close by with 5 levels of toeside downhill. Hit the bottom and it's into the fire stairs to get back up there. It has an up and a down ramp in the 'double helix' pattern. The ramps are 15 metre wide and we just love it. Undercover means rainy days - we are still skatin'.

Sydney City Bomb Squad - Respect

Belle and I took off at 5pm last night to head off for our first ever foray with the Sydney City Bomb Squad. We aimed to meet with everyone at Central by 6:30pm. We parked down near the Quay and skated to Central. Being school holidays there were about 30 riders so it was a great turn out and a great vibe. We took off down through Haymarket heading for the Entertainment Centre carpark...there was an event on so we kept going. We rolled along past the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre. It certainly is some spectacle to see 30 or so riders all in a vague formation skating along the Sydney Harbour Foreshore. We were busy dodging pedestrian traffic but by and large I think the tourists thought it was pretty cool. First stop was Maritime Museum driveway. There is a sensational grade for the team to slide and bomb. There was the odd bus parked in front of the museum but that did not stop the team. A lot of the riders are seriously outstanding at sliding and I can see why their wheels don't last too long. I was told that security would turn up but they did a 'No Show'. We thought to call them to see if they were OK. After some considerable time at Maritimo we rolled along through Pyrmont towardthe Anzac Bridge. There was a run which was pretty quick where the guys could get a tuck going. Belle and I were unfamiliar so we were doing a lot of foot braking. I am sure that the next time it will be different. We left at around 8pm and headed back for a bite to eat at the M's, before skating back to the car. What a blast. Sydney City Bomb Squad - enormous respect.

 

Belle likes Norfin and Norfin likes Belle

Since we went to the MOTH event in January people have been more than a little bit impressed with the fact that Belle got a podium finish on the Norfin Manta. I flicked the Norfin people a quick mail outlining that they should be proud that their chariot, with Belle aboard, did so creditably.

A big surprise came when a month later there is an offer from Norfin to make Belle a custom Longboard. She can even get involved in the advertising and distribution of boards among her friends. This could be a good arrangement for both. Call it sponsorship....so at 13 years old Belle has her first sponsorship deal, albeit unofficial.  

Shameless exploitation of the Media**

I did not write this but hey, it's good press....some of the detail is a bit sketchy. Like.....I got my first skateboard in 1960...very resourceful procuring a board before I was born.

We managed to cover some stuff off:

1. Safety aspect - helmets...check
2. Advertising sponsors....we did our best to sticker up
3. Publicity for Skateboarding and Downhill, particularly Girls on Longboards
4. Good press for Mt Panorama
5. Notification to the public at large that the aging porn star look is BACK!

In addition, I think we showed it is a family pursuit which we can all enjoy together. That's how we roll.






MOTH aka Master of the Hill 2011

At 6am on Saturday 29th January 2011 we had piled into the car to get to our first ever downhill skateboard racing event. The Master of the Hill event was being run at the pump Station in the Blue Mountains.Belle had her trusty Norfin and a full face helmet borrowed from Robbo. Brittany had the Loaded Vanguard which, we discovered, was not going to be able to do the downhill job. I had my Demonseed and an old motorcycle full face helmet from years ago. As it happened Brittany and I had to share equipment which was a nuisance, but now we know.

When we got there we found a locked gate and a lot of young people making their way down to the campsite. The hill is around 800m of beautiful hotmix, a few catseyes, a couple of fast corners and a lot of fun. This was going to be a day where we would get some fitness because what flies downhill has no choice and must walk back up it.

I encouraged the girls to get some practice, but got none myself. In the qualifying I pushed off very fast down the hill not knowing what to expect at the big corner...short story, I met the gravel. I lost my dignity, my pants were wrecked, bleeding from my arm, hip and knee but got back on board to do the honourable 'Cool Runnings' thing and finished the race before getting patched up.

Belle and Brittany were in a group of 5 women and were learning very fast and they continued to get better and better. In the Grand Final of the womens I was at the half way point when Lea Robbo came around the bend with Belle on her tail, Brittany behind her with Imogen and Deanne in pursuit. I was so pleased for them. They took podium spots 2 and 3 in their first ever event. What an absolute blast.

It was a wonderful day with the entire skateboarding fraternity making it like a big friendly family day. The top World Cup riders were engaging the grommets and the girls to make them feel welcome and the mood relaxed and friendly. Thanks Bugs, Haggy, Robbo and ASRA and to Benbro and Steve Daddow for keeping the girls stoked. What a buzz, what a great sport - we'll be doing more of this.

Belle in Second

Britt 3rd

Brittany stylin'

Aussie Podium