R3 ASK THE DOCTOR Dr. Rick Blackhart
BELIEVE IT OR?
I was shredding a paved gully with a
couple of Newport Beach guys, and they
said that skateparks were outlawed in
Arizona. Is it true? I am doomed to this fate
Is there no end to the destruction of this
sport True skate punks will skate forever.
but this really sucks if it's true.
Matt Anutta
Lake Havasu City, AZ
See. There you go. You say you were
having fun shredding a paved gully and
you're worried about skateparks being
outlawed? Even if they were outlawed.
I'm sure you would be able to resort to
your skater instincts and go find some
other hot spot to ride. I'm not positive
but I don't think that Arizona in particu-
lar has outlawed skateparks. They prob-
ably just met with the inevitable de-
struction that many other parks have
suffered. As a result, it sends the skater
back into the streets, and drums up the
ever-so-needed guerilla tactics one
must have to survive in the parkless
skate world. Indeed, this parkless scene
might suck from your point of view but!
But! the truth is, if you allow yourself to
believe that there is no end to this skate
destruction, then it will go on. If you do
something about it like you are by
finding other spots, then the destruc-
tion will be just another media skate
rumor. So go ahead and skate forever
and remember, "Skating will be around
for longer than any park."
TO OIL OR NOT TO OIL?
Hey Dr. B. I wanna know what to oil my
bearings with (NMB's) Everyone says
don't use W-D-40 because it fucks 'em up
and makes them narly. What do you rec-
ommend and how should I do it?
Dan B.
San Francisco, CA
The best way to have your bearings last
long and spin fast is to clean them as
much as possible. Depending on wheth-
er you need them to be extremely fast or
just fair. If I'm using my downhill bear-
ings, I usually clean them after two or
three runs in a race and about a week or
two for just every day riding. If you don't
bother to clean your bearings, which is
almost more trouble than it's worth,
using W-D 40 or another such oil will
make your bearings go faster for a while
but will ruin them in the long run. NMB's
are pretty good bearings and are usu-
ally what I ride. If and when I use oil, I
clean the bearings and then add one or
two drops of "Magic Charley" oil every
few runs and the increase in speed is
the best I've found yet. The truth is any
hardcore skater isn't even about to
clean any bearings and I usually don't
either. I mean your board is likely to dis-
integrate before your bearings even
need to be changed. So just ride 'em till
they seize up, then chuck 'em.
WANTS A BOARD
I just recently moved from Boston and
my problem lies. My eyeballs and my skat
ing have trouble correlating. There's a lot of
places to look such as the transition, your
board, the cute girl on the roll-out platform
etc. but damn it, these spells have got to
go!! I could understand if we had no flat bot
tom on our ramp but we got 12 feet of that
crap, so I don't know, do you think my blood
pressure is too low or otherwise please)
remedize my situation.
Skate or have a funeral.
John Dettman
Santa Barbara, CA
I think that if you're having trouble
focusing and get dizzy, then you should
see a doctor or something. If you're talk-
spot while skating, then I think your
problem is just that. It seems to me that
if I tried to focus on one thing. I'd never
be able to pull off a move. I realize you
have to see the point of contact, but by
the time you get there, you'd better be
looking a step ahead of you or you'll
lose your concentration. So instead of
looking and focusing on one spot, try to
take it all in, you know. It's like driving.
get the whole picture, remember?
now I live in Brunswick, Maine. In Boston Iing specifically about focusing on one
was able to have a job and I could afford to
buy and replace my skateboard. So when I
moved to Maine I took all the money I had
saved and built a halfpipe. One day I was
trying to do a channel plant and the board
flipped out of my hand and came down on
the driveway and I fell on the ramp. I got up
and the board was cracked down the
center and the nose was smashed in. The
board was practically brand new. I had to
trash it. And also my 3-month-old trucks
had a snapped axle. The only thing that
survived were my mini-cubics and my bear-
ings. My parents are making me take down
the ramp because I don't have a board to
ride it with and my dad is going to use the
ramp for firewood. I went out looking for a
job but I'm only 14 and that's too young
How do you guys at THRASHER think I can
get a new board? I don't want to stop skat-
ing. I love to skate.
Tom Harper
Brunswick, ME
When we started skating, we had to-
tally cheap boards and equipment
which broke down all the time. But when
we had a place to ride, it sure didn't stop
us from getting those boards back in
shape. I mean, even if you have to sell
aluminum cans (or perhaps the broken
truck), there's definitely some way to
get new equipment. I've never seen a
board self-destruct in one nose slam,
but I understand your dilemma.
FOCUS ON SKATING
Hear this Doc. I was pondering last night
over the problem of focusing while vertical
skating Maybe others don't have this prob
lem such as I, but this dreaded dizziness
while skateboarding can get nervewrack-
ing. It also seems to be prevalent that the
area or item you happen to be staring at
midst a maneuver will be a crucial factor in
the execution of that trick. For example.
during an invert it seems the best place to
look is at the transition or your hand on the
coping: as opposed to looking up at your
board or something But yet, this is where
RAMP SKATER...
A) What do you do when all your skate-
mates are lame and don't want to help
building ramps? I mean how do you shake
'm up? How can you become a good
skateramp builder?
B) What do you do when you're a very rad-
ical rollerskater?
Michiel Oosterveld
Rotterdam Holland
A-Awright finally some questions that
really relate to what's happening. This
first question is especially good be-
cause right now I seem to have the exact
same problem. When you decide the
only way to have a good and challeng-
ing place to ride is to build it yourself,
how do you squeeze the energy out of
your friends? This can be quite a task.
Though once they realize how ripping
it'll be when it's done, you can believe
they'll come in droves to skate. The way
to become a good ramp builder is very
similar to becoming a good skater. You
just have to get out and do it. First get
the wood. I mean hey if you got the
wood how much more can you ask for.
You might as well ask someone to skate
for you. Just kidding, actually just start
building it yourself and sooner or later
your friends will probably break down
and help. If not, you'll just have to do it
yourself if you want to skate. It's tough
but skating don't come easy.
B-The same thing you do when you
are a very radical skateboarder, get
rad!!
DRB
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