experience

My name is Josh and I have been longboarding for around 7 years now. This is my experience with longboarding.

I first started longboarding when I 10 or early 11. The reason why I started longboarding was because of my dad. He bought a giant longboard and it was amazing. I was and still am a small person and having a giant longboard would not fit me that great so I got a small one for my birthday. It was nothing great, it was just a cheap one from the shop, but it worked for me. I used that longboard for 5 years and then I started to upgrade it when I began to earn money. I love that board just because it’s so long and nice to cruise on.

It was on this board I met one of my now best friends. This is one of the main things I love about longboarding. The people. The community of longboarders is a great one, but I have always noticed that there are “fake” longboarders. These are the people who use longboards for fashion instead of fun. I don’t mind it, but it can be very annoying when you see people with about £200 worth of longboard and not using for its designed purpose. The board I have at the moment is worth a bit more than that, but I use my board every day for fun, transportation and social meets.

Besides the social side of longboarding there is of course the physical side of it. I have had a few close calls in my longboarding life, but I have also had a few crashes. The first time I crashed was because a car turned without indicating and I panicked and fell off my board. Nothing majorly painful happened, but I was angry about the irresponsible driver. My second crash was my fault. I used to have big chunky shoes which I could not walk properly in because I am small. I was going to work on my longboard and I went to push, but my foot stopped my board and came straight off my board. This has happened to me quite a few times, but I never ended up face planting the floor and getting “road rash”. It’s also my fault that I was not wearing any protective gear.

Longboarding is great fun. All you need to do is stay well protected and you won’t get hurt if you fall off. I learnt that the hard way. Protection is key to staying safe when on a longboard. I personally don’t wear protective gear all the time because I don’t need it some cases like transport. I use it when I am trying to go fast or when I am trying to do tricks. It may not look cool (I think it does), but in the end it will save you the trouble of breaking an ankle or giving yourself a concussion. Just need to keep in mind that you should be protected.