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Longboarding

LONGBOARDING IS ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING SPORTSmany kids have caught onto this growing sport in the past year.

learn how to longboard to correct

way!

cant slide? check out pg.2

Sliding can be one of the most enjoyable facets of downhill skateboarding. Few things simulate the feeling of slashing a wave or throwing an edge into deep powder like sliding can. Besides the fun, there’s utility: a well-placed slide in a moment of danger can save your life. One of the best things about sliding is that so much can be done with a simple deck, some hard wheels and bearings that can take a beating. From a technical standpoint, there are some basics for tuning your board setup that I’ll cover here. So, get your deck, we’ll do a few tweakers and it’ll be time to screech on the street.The primary issue is your basic ride. Take a look at what you feel comfortable skating and work from there. Fact of the matter is, you can slide any deck and any setup but your deck should allow you a comfortable, shoulder-width stance. With the variety of longboard-style slide decks out there, it should be easy to find something that not only conforms to your height but agrees with you as a ride.For real manipulation of your board in slides, you’ll want a deck with some concave, good pockets, and comfortably accessible nose and tail kicks.

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Different styles of boards.

There are many different styles of boards. What kind you choose usually determines the kinds of boarding you will do. If you have a very long board usually that is for cruising and going down hills. Shorter boards are used for more urban settings, like carving downtown or on campus. Also the shorter boards are better and easier for doing tricks.

Loaded

The brand Loaded is a higher quality board that is made out of bamboo. All of their boards are made out of bamboo which makes their brand unique from other brands. Using a bamboo board prevents your board from breaking. Bamboo is a very flexy material and is very hard to break. Other brands have bamboo boards but they are not they same as Loaded. All of Loaded’s boards are handcrafted from California and made to perfection. If a board is not perfect after production then it will not be sold.

Longboarding Is the term used for skateboarding with boards larger than the usual short board trick-oriented skateboards that you see in skateboarding competitions. Longboarding is closer to sidewalk surfing. A lot of longboarders use their boards to actually get places, since longboards are more stable and heavy than skateboards. Longboarding is perfect for people who want a comfortable ride, but also for those who want to carve down a

steep hill at high speed! All this, and plenty more, is longboarding. Just like short board skateboarding, there is no right or wrong way to longboard.

Why I ride...

I ride for many different reasons.

The main reason why I ride is because

I feel a sense of freedom. When i step

onto my board and am prepared to

bomb a huge hill I receive a rush of

freedom. I feel free because my feet

are not locked in like snowboarding or

skiing. There is a great chance of injury

when flying down a hill around 30

mph. Another reason why I ride is

because of the rush. There is nothing

better than carving down a hill and

having to avoid danger at the last

moment in the dark. The rush is just

unexplainable. A great advantage that

longboarding has unlike any other

sport is you can board where ever and

when ever. If doesn’t matter if it is dark

out or if it is the top of the morning.

This is why I ride.

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General Knowledge

Longboarding is a sport that anyone is able to enjoy. For fun or competition, longboarding is can be found all around the world. Longboards come in various shapes, lengths and thicknesses. All of these factors affect the ride that the board gives the rider. It is up to the rider to determine the style that they like to ride. The board is not the only component though, wheels and trucks, may also affect the rider in such ways. For beginning rider’s, it is never a bad idea to start off with some advice from a local board shop, or to go to the store and purchase a cheap complete setup board.

Wheel Selection

Wheels are the second most important component of a longboard setup. They control the ride as well as the carve. Wheels are set up through a system of thickness and are measured by millimeters. The hardness of the wheel is measured by the durometer. Companies that make longboarding wheels usually have a selection of wheels with different durometers, ranging from 70a to 90a. 90a would be the hardest wheel, which is great for sliding. Companies also have unique colors for the size and name of their wheel’s. Depending on how many types of riding you like to do, you may have one or more types of wheels.

Tricks

A more popular style of longboarding now-a-days would be freeride or developing tricks while riding. These tricks can include slide, jump, and grab tricks. Freeride has gotten more popular over the year especially from professionals. Younger generation riders are developing a new style and is being taken over by many new longboarders. I would say that it is the style that attracts most new riders more recently.

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Why we ride?

It may not seem much of a sweat, but longboarding is actually a work-out. The trill of going down a hill gets a rider’s adrenaline pumping. Nothing is like taking a ride along a lake or river when the sun is going down. It makes the view ten times better. Feeling the breeze in your face on a hot summer day cannot not be compared to. Most of all we ride because it’s fun. Other people find fun in hockey or basketball, we find a unique thrill. It’s a feeling that you can only get longboarding.

At night

Believe it or not, longboarding at night has actually gotten quite popular. Big city streets, such as Minneapolis, are being rode during the night. There are a couple reasons to why riders ride at night: There usually is no traffic in the middle of the night, and the big city sight is amazing at night with the street lights. Not to mention some of the stuff you may come across like empty parking ramps, which are still huge attractions for longboarder’s. They give a nice pump-free ride from the top all the way to the bottom.