John cardiel photo from Slap Magazine
Now I am a family man with a job, mortgage, car payments etc. getting ever closer to that middle class, middle age bliss we are all supposed to aspire to, I find myself breaking some of my once golden rules in order to get my kicks in.
Rule #1 used to be no skateboarding before noon. I woke up this morning with my usual stiff back and muscle pain, sat down on the toilet and waited for all my joints and muscles to settle and then decided on going skateboarding before work. Skateboarding at 9am would have been unthinkable to me a few years ago and its outright dangerous when your back is a wrecked as mine is. However, a few weeks of acupuncture and chiropractic adjustments have given me a bit more confidence to hop in the bowl in the early AM. And with #2 of Portland's soon to be 19 skateparks only a 10 minute drive, I had no excuse.
It really is all too easy. I didn't have to scope out any spots, run from security guards, drive two hours to the closest decent bowl. So convenient, it was like going for a game of squash before work. La di da... Back home by noon, twenty minute bike ride to work and here I am. You have to love Portland in the summer.
Whenever I worry about my back, I think of John Cardiel (pictured above) one of the most explosive skateboarders ever, who can barely walk after a car accident. The man was told he'd never walk again but was doing nose wheelies a year or so after his accident.
Rule #2 used to be, no beer before noon but that's a whole other story...
