In 1975 every kid on the block wanted a skateboard. "Let's go surfing..." The skateboard was the answer for the landlocked hodad. Popularity soared but, it soon became obvious, sidewalk-surfing hurts. Injury, death and liability were not groovy. Skateboards, like the boomerang, clackers, and Jarts, were a parents' worst nightmare. It was a dangerous menace to society that should be outlawed. This toy was a killer.

The first skateboard I rode was owned by the older kid next door. It was a 24” solid oak plank with clay wheels and super surfer trucks. I was 10 years old. I would sit on it and drag pine cones with my hands to control the speed which left long, brown streaks all over the hill. The kid got bummed with me taking his board all the time and he eventually moved away. But, by then, It was too late. I was “stoked"! Boards changed thru time with Pro-line, Trick Ray, Free Former, and Big Banana. We would skate on the FSU Campus where there were wide cement sidewalks. If your wheel nut loosened, your ball-bearings would fly out everywhere. Then, in 1976, I went to the bike shop in Tallahassee "Great Bicycle Shop" and I got a Jaguar fiber-glass and wood board with ACS 500 trucks and Sims "Competition" wheels.

By 1978 I learned frontside grinds on vert. We put cement pool blocks on our quarter pipe and got radical. Skateboarder Magazine was the operating guide. The Dogtown influence. It had reached a cult status following the stories told by Craig Stycek. Cynical and un-apologetic, his articles were food for thought that would change our lives forever.

Skateboarding has always been an outlet for individual self expression and pent-up, youthful aggression. But, it can also be an escape from the Landlocked Zombie Apocalypse. A mode of transportation to some a lifestyle for others. Over the years, skateboarding has gone through a lot of changes in popularity and main-stream acceptance. Through out the years we just skated, not caring what anyone else thought about it. In fact, a lot of the time it was kinda like a secret we knew something that everyday pedestrians didn't. We were onto something that was so fun that it somehow made you cooler. Riding with a casual style while flying down the sidewalk brused and bloody... there were times when it was all I thought about. Ripping. And then, a week later, skateboarding would raise the bar, challenging me to keep up, mocking me and laughing at my pain. Sometimes, I think it really just wanted to kill me. Other times, It was my best friend. My partner in crimes against gravity. It personified itself like a "painfully real" imaginary friend. A sort of Eddie Haskell like character that was constantly trying to con me into doing things that put me in danger. And, usually, leaving me to find my way out of the situation. Perhaps that's why I like Eddie, for the challenge. I went through a lot of boards in my life, all different sizes, shapes and materials; plastic, oak, fiberglass, plywood, narow, wide, flat, concave, tri-tail, kicknose, slick bottom, and together, they all had the same persona. Always there for you, but, would kick your ass sometimes. And, all of them had secrets that they might let you in on if you were willing to pay the price. I like to think that each of these boards taught me some sort of twisted lesson in life. Maybe, maybe not. But, during all of the major events of my life, there was a skateboard close by. And, yes, they have all tried to kill me...

After a while, it became less about learning the latest trick and more about skating with your friends. Now, it is all about just getting out and rolling around. At the skatepark, I'm the dinosaur with a peer group of 8 year olds! Time changes your perspective on things and I wonder how many young skaters today will still be rolling at the age of 61.

Like many of my friends, I'm just some guy who skated his life away, and this is my story.

My first skateboard was from a toy store called The Little Folks Store. My Mom took me there to buy one and they were sold out. The guy that worked there sold his old board to me for five dollars. It was the same clay wheeled oak style like my neighbor's and I was glad to have my own board to ride. It had Super Surfer Trucks on it and I thought that was bitchin'. A month or so later I realized that there was something better. All of the kids used to skate on the elementary school's basketball court and a few of them had boards with urethane wheels. The grip and speed of the new wheels was a whole new level. So, I cashed in the $25 U.S. savings bond that I got from my Grammy and I went to Sears. In 1975 your skateboard options were limited to Yellow plastic Super Surfer "Big Banana", Gren-tec, Roller Derby, Pro-line, and Trickray Motoboard, which, was the one I got. The Trickray was fiberglass with Hawaiian cloth print on the top. It had plastic, mag wheel hub caps inserted in all of the urethane wheels. I remember riding our neighborhood hills with my friend and on the walk back up the hill playing kamakazi, which was a game that involved taking turns shooting your board into the other guys board. The Trickray's fiberglass would chip off with every hit. The hills that we rode those sketchy little boards down, It was crazy. I sold my old claywheeled board to a kid that lived down the street. There was a split in the wood that ran the length of it and I rubbed some parafin wax into the crack to hid it. I felt bad about that for awhile. On the week-ends, we skated the basket ball courts at the elementary school. I remember one time a kid on a bike thought it would be funny to pop a wheelie on his bike and come down on my board with his front wheel, I guess he was trying to break it. Well, the board shot out and the kid slammed so hard that he went home crying. Instant justice.

....

...It was 1977, and I was skating a lot and The Great Bicycle Shop was going to have a contest at a newly paved hill called Barrie avenue.

Email: Largecementcoping@hotmail.com

Chris Baucom, Jeff Farnum, Harry Wilson, Shawn Peddie, Rodney Mullen

1984 East Coast Skimboarding Championships Dewey Beach, Delaware.

Email: Largecementcoping@hotmail.com