SCENIC
DRIVE
EON LOY
HOSO
SOWLDY
"It's either me or that skateboard. You're
going to have to make a choice RIGHT
NOW!" she said to me. I picked up my
brand new deck. It was already somewhat
thrashed after only two days. I blew some
curb dust off of the track and spun a wheel,
its whir was comforting.
"I won't quit skating for no one. In fact, I'll
skate until I can't physically skate any
more. Even then, I still try."
Her only reply was the pounding of her
heels on the sidewalk as she walked out of
my life. Freedom once again, I thought to
myself and I ran towards the street.
Grabbing hold of a street pole, I swung
myself around in a gesture of joy, since my
board was still in my hand, I placed it under
my feet, landing on it and rolled down the
sidewalk. Half a block later, I halted and
realized what I had done. I've never done
anything like that before. I tried it again and
again, more height was attempted. Now and
then, the tail of my board would scrape
the roof of a parked car.
Pole plants. I never would've dreamed of
'em. It just sort of happened.
Skating family in S.F., Ca. MoFoto
Yeah, I skate. I may be a little girl, but I
still skate. My mom and dad skate too.
We're a skating family. Dad's skated for
years and mom's been at it quite awhile.
Sometimes she rides in a dress sometimes
Night blur, Steve Herring. Photo: Jeff Hartsell
even barefoot, she's so rad. We do our
grocery shopping on skates or sometimes
we skate around Golden Gate Park on
sunny Sunday afternoons. Skateboarding
plays a large part of our life.
My mom and dad said that if I didn't get
better grades this time around, they would
take away my skateboard for a month.
Well, my grades got worse and they took
away my stick and put me on restriction.
That means don't leave the house. I could
see this coming for a long time so I planned
ahead. Heck, if I didn't have skateboarding
in my life, I'd probably die. I'm serious.
Anyway, like I said, I planned ahead. I fixed
up the screen on my bedroom window so it
was easily removable and underneath a
stack of wood behind the garage, I've
stashed a spare street stick that my
parents don't know exists.
Late at night, hours after I know my folks
are asleep, I sneak out and meet up with a
friend. There's not many hills or nothin'
special around to skate except for some
well lit curbs over in front of this department
store. The curb's about five inches tall and
is as smooth as heck. We skate for hours,
doin' the gnarly curb grinds and rock-n-roll
sliders and ollie pop-up grinder rollouts.
As the sky begins to light up, we head
back for home, with mom and dad none the
wiser. I'm glad I'm so cunning or else I'd be
bored to death.
Don Fisher swings a pole plant.
Skater Steve Herring, dock jumping in New York City. Photo: Jeff Hartsell
F
56
The cops tore down my halfpipe
because they said it was too dangerous for
me, that I'd kill myself on it. Up until then,
the ramp was figuratively, the only thing I
had. I thought that without that kind of
radical skating, I would surely become a
lost soul.
Well, after a week of mourning, I realized
I was forced to seek some sort of alterna-
tive terrain. "But what?" I would repeatedly
repeat to myself. I ride down the street and
the cops hassle me. I built my own ramp
and the cops tore it down. To me, without
skating, there would be absolutely no
happiness in life. I can't see myself hangin'
around in Pac Man Parlors with all those
vidiots. I have the need to be physical, to
get radical.
Anyway, one day as I pushed down the
sidewalk wishin' I could ride some chal-
lengeable terrain, I came upon some old
loading docks behind this factory that used.
to make fighter plane parts during the war.
Hopping up onto the three foot high
platform, I pushed my board toward the
edge and flew to the sidewalk below.
Landing one footed, I almost ate it but
somehow managed to pull it off. It was
such a rush that I tried it again and again.
Soon I was ollieing into the air once I
reached the edge, so I could get higher
and more radical. Having so much of a
gas, I didn't even realize that a few hours
had passed by uninterrupted. I was even
further gassed when I realized that the
cops could never see me when I skated
here in the back of the factory.
33