Chapter 1: Skate the Distance
I’ve had this idea stuck in my head for a while to write about longboarding. I feel like I often stand in my own way on this (and many other projects).
Who would want to hear from me? Do I know enough to be helpful or entertaining to anyone? What’s the point?
Well, I figure the world is big enough where there’s probably some reader out there interested in what I write about. And if there’s not, at least it’s cathartic (and just kind of fun) for me, as well as a useful tool to record my progress as a skater.
For months, I’ve been dreaming about an idea to go on a long distance skateboard ride. As I began doing research into this, I found that this is actually a budding sport with a tight knit community and events/races around the world.
I’ve also come across a lot of super long, paved trails in Minnesota that I’d love to skate. There’s one called the Paul Bunyan State Trail, and it’s about 115 miles long. That’s my target. That’s my goal. I want to to ride the whole thing on a skateboard in one day.
Writing here on Medium will by my progress diary. I’ll share what I’m doing, what I’m learning, issues I’m facing, or just fun stories as I prepare my mind and body to tackle this challenge.
As of now, I’m planning to just skate this trail on my own and have family or friends meet me at checkpoints and pick me up at the end. So, this isn’t (currently) affiliated with an official or sanctioned event or race. That said, I still want to do some good and use this personal challenge as an opportunity to give back and raise awareness for a good cause, so I’m planning to turn it into a sort of fundraising campaign for a charity.
I also found out that Skate IDSA hosts several long distance skateboarding races around the world every year, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to make it to any yet. However, I’m not going to let that stand in my way and wait around for an event to come to me. Why not just make my own challenge and go for it?
For now, I’m just trying to get into the habit of boarding again. I rode traditional skateboards in my adolescent years, and then in college I got into longboarding. I fell in love with the smooth cruising around campus and carving hills with my friends, often on a daily basis.
That was over ten years ago though (yikes), and now in my 30s, I’ve found myself boarding just a couple times a month.
This is the first thing I need to change. I need to get back into the habit of riding more often. I’ve been doing shorter rides (3–7 miles) but I’ll really have to ramp this up in the coming months to be able to tackle 100+ miles in a single day.
I’ll need a whole lot of conditioning and physical training. Plus, I need to work on technique, balance, pushing switch foot, and learning new tricks (purely because it’s fun; I don’t think that will help me conquer the Paul Bunyan Trail any sooner).
In addition to all this, I’ll also have to build some mental resilience and sharpen my mind for endurance training. Lastly, I need to optimize my board setup and pick out a deck and all the hardware that will suit my long distance riding goals.
I’ll track all this in my skating “diary” here on Medium within the Tales from the Pavement publication. So if you want more skate content, stick around!
Longboarding is such a great way to get outside, enjoy the fresh air, get some exercise, and challenge oneself. I’m delighted to share my journey with you as I learn and grow as a skater over the coming months.
