NEVER
2009
D
Wasy
ROLL
Goo
VAZ
Outside looking in. Ron Cameron lofting off
of one rainy day solution, an indoor ramp.
Photo by Michael Blanchard.
Sisko
THERM ANY
FAMO
FORGET
Skater's Edge
by Bonnie Blouin
My eyes crack open as a dismal light
seeps through the blinds into my room. I can
hear the pitter-patter of rain falling on the roof
above. My hand gropes for the blind to reveal
the foreboding scene before me. I groan in
dismay as puddles grow in the streets below.
I fall back to my pillow with a disheartened
thump, flick on the radio and doze off in a
restless slumber. I awake again, hours later.
The radio is bleating bubble gum music that
makes my stomach turn. How can people.
enjoy that stuff? I walk downstairs to view the
torrential downpour. I'm really sick of this
rain. Saturday finally comes and what
happens?...God pees on me.
Farmers pray that it rains, skaters pray that
it doesn't. We are probably the only people
in the world who are stoked when there's a
drought. Lack of rain means unhindered.
skating, the wood on the ramp lasts twice as
long, the ditch stays dry and you don't have
to bail the pool out every other day. An all-
out rain can turn your world into a soggy,
mushy, boring and depressing state...if you
let it.
THE SKATER'S EDGE FORMULA FOR
THE RAINY DAZE:
First of all, since it's raining, you may as
well sleep late. There's nothing to get worked
up about anyway, so relax. When you finally
pry yourself from the pillow, turn on the tube
or crank the stereo real loud. Proceed to the
fridge and fix a massive breakfast or lunch,
whatever you're into. Don't worry about
cleaning up, 'cause you have all day.
Since you're too full now to do much of
anything, drag out your old mags and zines.
Grab a pen, make a few facial changes and
add a few captions of your own, especially
to the bogus ads. Rip out a few pages for your
wall collection...you know the deal. You now
have magazines all over your room. Just shut
the door so no one notices and proceed to
another room. (The idea here is to have fun
since you can't skate, and cleaning your
room is not fun, unless you are weird and
enjoy it.)
By now you should be able to cruise
around the house without feeling like a brick
and you may even want a snack. Feel free
to indulge on rainy days; they aren't good for
much else. Since you've looked through your
mags, you're jonesing pretty hard to skate.
The next best thing is a little physical contact
with your equipment. The carpet is a decent
place to try flat ground moves: ollies,
shove-its, freestyle tricks and the like. Then
there's always a little off-ramp tweaking you
can do. Bed airs and coffee table grinds, the
usual session.
While you have your equipment out, you
may as well tune it up. More than likely you'll
either find that you should have rotated your
wheels fifty slides ago, your bushings are
splitting, your grip tape is shot or two of your
bearings don't spin. It's not that you're slack,
you'd just rather skate than sit in the middle
of the living room with your board
disemboweled.
While you're at it, beef up your pads and
tennis shoes. Grab a little Shoe Goo, duct
tape and a plastic detergent bottle for
fashionable recaps and toe guards.
Whatever you do, do not put Shoe Goo on
the outside of your recaps. It'll stop you dead
on your first knee slide..
Unfortunately, you'll have to clean this
mess up. Mom won't be too stoked to have
grease, dirt and Shoe Goo on her carpet,
so it's best to remove all eveidence before
the sentence is decreed. Funny how when
you start this project you have maybe five
objects you can carry in one hand, and by
the time you finish you have to make five
trips to the trash can. What is this?
Since you probably need to pick up some
hardware at the skate shop, you may as well
go down and check out the latest video.
You've already seen it 100 times, so you
won't have any problem fast forwarding to
the part you like. This will at least get your
out of the house, and, if you're lucky, maybe
you can convince your mom that you need
some new stuff.
I
Then, when you really get bored, break
out your sticker box. Sticker everything: your
dog, your little brother. The fridge requires
stickers. Anything that looks like it needs a
sticker, does. There's always your board, but
figure, if it has too many stickers on it you
look like a skating billboard and a walking
contradiction. "Well, what do you ride?"
Take a stand on the equipment you ride and
put all those "other" stickers in "other"
places.
If you're lucky, maybe it's stopped raining.
Forget going to the ramp unless you're
fortunate enough to live near Houston,
Chesapeake, Ocean City or Cedar Crest.
Wet pavement is cool for slides and stuff.
If you're worried about your bearings, I
guess you'll have to stay inside. Really,
though, if you clean 'em out afterwards you
should be okay, unless you live by the
beach. Salt and sand make for rust, but
what are you gonna do?
Don't forget parking garages. Many a
crappy day has been spent cruising around
and around under cover. Besides, they offer
everything from slappy, horse shoe-shaped.
rock-and-roll slide curbs to drops and walls.
When the downpour strikes and the rainy
daze begins, there is always something you
can do. It won't be the most exciting
adventure, but it doesn't have to be a
completely beat situation. A little imagina-
tion and creativity go a long way. Do
whatcha can with whatcha got and make
the best of it.