I wrote in an earlier post that I spent part of the summer before my first year, skateboarding. I must now clarify that my definition of skateboarding was doing my best to push myself along city streets filled with potholes, occasionally tripping, tumbling, and perhaps overall not succeeding very much at doing the whole skateboarding thing.
Did I mention that I have a fear of heights? I’m not sure why I thought it was a good idea to start an activity where I’d practice repeatedly leaving the ground for any period of time, unless of course I wanted to engage in a sort of exposure therapy. Looking back, however, it did not really help. When I did work on very basic tricks, I did so with two wheels firmly planted in a crack, on carpet inside my family’s home, or on the grass. The skateboard I own is made for tricks, and looks like a human-sized version of those miniature Tech Decks, the finger boards you can find in most toy sections of stores. My board is meant to be used at skateparks to drop in, pop ollies, do kickflips, and grind rails, not transport me to and from places on leisurely rides.
When I got to Oberlin, I knew that I didn’t have the right kind of board to commute around campus. I saw people using the type of board I owned to do tricks in front of Finney Chapel, but not to navigate through Tappan Square or over the cracks in the sidewalks. In the past, I’ve used my bike as one of my methods of transportation, but even though I love my bike, it squeaks embarrassingly loudly everytime I brake, and I have yet to figure out how to remedy that. Although I have admittedly not taken much time to figure it out.
But I also have to carry my lock around and remember to lock up and unlock my bike whenever I ride it somewhere. And, if I want to talk to someone walking back from an event or class, it may be a bit unwieldy to walk my bike alongside us on the sidewalk.
So I thought I’d return to my interest in skateboarding, but perhaps check out the boards available for riding rather than the ones for doing tricks. I’ve seen people carrying around longboards that are suitable for cruising. However, being a short person, I am a bit worried about the board being about as tall as me. Carrying that around would be more unwieldy than wheeling along a bike. So I did a little bit of research on different kinds of skateboards and learned about mini cruisers.
They’re small, like me, and thus easier and more convenient to carry around. The wheels are large too, meant for dealing with cracks and rougher terrain. I just ordered a mini cruiser online and it’s being shipped to Oberlin at this moment. Here’s hoping I reclaim my love of attempting to skateboard. I’ll make a part 2 about the actual experience!
