Coming Clean

Since my original post about my new toy there have been a few questions about the picture of the board. Why the weird photo? Was there something special about the wheels? Was I going for an artistic shot? Well yes, actually, there is a story behind the picture. Sadly, it's more a story of shame (for me at least).

Buying a new skateboard is pretty fun. You get to pick a bunch of new pieces, put them together and make your own, one-of-a-kind ride. The first step is picking the deck (the piece of wood you actually stand on). Most skateboards are aimed at the teenage market, so they designs on the deck are not quite my taste (skulls, crossbones, graffiti text, all that good stuff). I finally found one that I kind of liked, with a cool yellow and black star pattern on the bottom. Going along with the theme of bright colors I went with some sharp red wheels. Everything looked good together and I was happy. Did I feel kind of weird, basing my choices on aesthetic value? Not really, I know that looking good is like nine-tenths of skateboarding.

Anyway, the guy at the shop is putting the board together for me. The final step is to stick some grip tape onto the top of the deck. Grip tape is basically like sandpaper, it helps keep your feet stuck on the board. The standard color is black. You can get other colors, but you have to pay extra. I felt that my yellow, red and black pattern was loud enough; a solid black top was really my only option. However, they were out of black tape! "Lucky you," the dude says, "I can upgrade you to a different color for free!" That sounds great in theory, but the only tape they had was camouflage. Camouflage! Could that go any worse with the rest of the board? I think not. I've spent the last two days trying to convince myself that the camouflage tape somehow looks good, but it's a losing battle. I'm not happy with it and at some point it'll have to be replaced.

But for now I'll make do with what I've got. Two days of boarding so far and only one fall (one fall down at least, I've fallen off a ton). As a professional instructor do I feel like I should be wearing some protective gear? Absolutely. But as a beginner trying to look cool I know that an oversized helmet and ungainly body armor just looks lame. And I won't be looking lame.