While a lazy Sunday afternoon for
most means a little R&R (rest and
relaxation), to the garage specialist it
means hours of uninterrupted D&D
(downhill dicing).
The only equipment needed is a
skate (from any of the aforementioned
categories), gloves and pads (where
applicable), and an aggressive
stance. In this game someone is
always going to get out front and the
object is catch him. Equipment
selection for garage skating comes
into play only after you've separated
the men from the boys. The more you
do it, the more you adapt your board
and person to the conditions. Choice
of wheels becomes important when
you're trying to hold the inside line on
the last turn before the finish. Board
and truck combinations vary with the
style and preference of technique.
Layers of clothing are shed as the
night wears on to achieve streamlining
effects. Another case of, as the night
gets colder, the skating gets hotter.
Gloves and pads are retained as
some "Rollerball" tactics are employed
on the way down. You don't become
"King of the Lot" without dishing out
and receiving a few blows.
In a closely packed race the lead changes hands in almost every turn. D.P., C.
Cook, Don Fisher and Timmy freight training through a tight turn at a famous S.F.
garage.
THE NATURE OF THE TERRAIN
Along with pools, pipes and drain-
age ditches, parking lots also add to
the basic irony of skateboarding. You,
as a skater, are faced with perfect
skate terrain at your disposal, if you
choose to take the risk involved. The
average joe kicking around in his
swimming pool will never realize the
untapped energy contained in the
basin over which he floats, just like
the window shopping housewife
never dreams of what goes on in the
10-story parking garage in which she
parks.
Enter the skateboarder. It is always
the skater who appreciates the
perfection of modern architecture. A
perfection that the craftsmen who
constructed such structures didn't
even know they were achieving. The
skater realizes and utilizes the
potential energy hidden away in these
stagnant forms.
In a photo finish, Chris Cook barely edges out
Duane Peters. Notice how D.P.'s outside line
has brought him precariously close to the toll
booth. Even at 25 mph a slip here could mean
a heavy sprawl
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