Skate Dad

I grew up skating at the SkatePark of Houston with these guys. Kelly Bird and David Mills are legends of the Houston skateboarding scene. At the time I didn't realize how great these guys where, I was busy skating the amazing 7' ramp and trying to be a vert dude. Enjoy some early 90's street skate ripping:

It happens to all of us as we get older, that gut keeps creeping out. Maybe it is too much beer or too much ice cream or if your ike me just too much all around. When I started to skate again after a 3 year break, at the age of 38 I was 5' 10" and 208 pounds. 38 waist pants where a little snug. I skated that way for about a year and it was frustrating as hell. I didn't have the energy or balance I once had. I had lost that "pop" for sure. Slams hurt a lot more than then used to.

For a while I just thought I was getting old, then I woke up and looked around. There are a lot of old guys skating now. Steve Cabalero, Chris Miller, Steve Steadham and many many others. These guys had not really lost much since they stop being pro. Then it hit me, those guys where in pretty great shape, some of them where ripped. Hmm...

So I got serious about losing weight, I starting doing Weight Watchers, mostly because they have a great iPhone app that makes it easy to keep track of how much I eat during the day. I dropped over 20lbs in about a month and a half. I now am skating better than I have even 3 years ago. I have pop, energy and I can actually bend down and touch my board now! Imagine that!

So my tip for you dad, shape up! It really helps, you don't feel bad because you are old, you feel bad because you are fat! I still have about 10 lbs to go before I get down to my goal weight. Those 10 lbs will be super easy because I now how much they will help my skating. Do it man, don't be that fat old skater, be that old skater that still rips!

Being a parent usually does not leave a lot of free time to get out and ride very often. You can maybe carve out one weekend morning but face it, at our age we need to skate a lot just to keep in shape. I have been skating at least 4 days a week for the past 3 weeks for at least 30 minutes. The result, I dropped 10 pounds and my stamina is way up. Here are the 5 things I do to make it happen:

1. Have your board with you at all times. I keep my board in my car all the time, that way you always know where it is and never forget it at home. You can't skate without your skate.
2. Find some skate buddies at work. This can be tough but there is usually at least one other person that either skates now or has skated before that you can convince to skate again. The more people you get involved the better so you always have someone to go skate with.
3. Scope out spots close to your office. Street is the easiest thing to skate during the lunch skate but of course parks will do just fine if they are close. I don't want to spend my half my lunch hour in the car, I want to ride! One benefit to this economy is that a lot of office buildings are sitting empty so they are totally skateable during the day. Also the spots don't have to be epic, a nice red curb is a lot of fun for a mellow lunch session.
4. Bring a change of cloths. No matter how cold it is you are hopefully going to work up a sweat skating. Either change into skate clothes before you go skate or have something to change into once you get back. Socks are key, you don't want to walk around for the rest of the day in wet socks. That is how you get things like athletes foot.
5. Get creative with scheduling. I block as much time off around lunch as possible, you want to avoid having to go straight from skating into a meeting, your are going to be hot a sweaty and people are going to look at you funny. No meetings before 2PM is my rule and no meetings start after 11. Depending on your work you can be flexible here but just try to avoid the right after skate meeting.

Now go out and skate at lunch tomorrow!

Sorry for the huge delay here. Working, skating and raising 2 kids leaves like 0 free time these days but I am back in the saddle and posting again so stay tuned for some good stuff!

One thing that is really hard to do when you are starting to skate after a long break is taking it slow. Once you decide to start skating again you start remembering all the stuff you used to be able to do and you remember how fun it was. Your mind thinks you are 18 years old again and ripping it up. Here are 5 tips, in no particular order, to help you ease back into skating without killing yourself.

1. Take it slow. After a multi-year layoff you are not going to jump back on your board and rip it up day one. Your body has forgotten all the things that you used to do. Remember how you could do a smith grind on anything anywhere at anytime? Not anymore, at least not right away. Sure try it day one but don't do anything you are not feeling good about, the time to push yourself is not now, wait a while until you get your skate legs back.

2. Helmets and pads are your friends. Even if you didn't wear them before you should wear them now. Maybe not street skating but on any transition and especially on concrete. There are lots of really fun parks around but the concrete is really hard and your knees are really soft. Face it all you got going in your advanced age is your brain and you don't want that leaking out of your skull. Remember all those tricks you forgot? One of them was how to fall properly.

3. Get new gear. That Steve Caballero Powell deck with Gullwing trucks you rode back in 1989 ain't going to cut it anymore. Take the trucks off, hang the deck on the wall in the garage to remind you of the good ole days and go out and get some new stuff. Make it exciting and get a new school shaped deck, good news they make some wide ones these days.

4. Find some skate buddies. Ones that are your age if you can, if not maybe some kids that are just learning. If you try to ride with the rippers right away you are probably going to get frustrated and/or just stare at them on awe. One great site to find old time rippers is Old Man Army.

5. Watch some skate videos. New stuff or old stuff it doesn't really matter it will help you get and stay stoked. The things kids are doing today are mindblowing and are inspirational as long as you keep things in perspective, like you are not going to do a switch kickflip back lip down a 10 stair rail. I get stoked just knowing someone can do that. Better yet get Fuel TV and watch stuff like the Vans' Bowl-A-Rama contest and watch old guys like Chris Miller and Steve Caballero still rip it up.

Bonus tip!! - You need to stretch! Yeah you do, you are old and stiff from sitting in an office on your ass for 8 hours a day. Pulled muscles and sore ligaments can really slow you down. Stretching is a great way to avoid some of those little nagging injuries. Just do it!

I hope those help you get out and keep skating!