Getting It Down - Skateboarding, Land Paddling

I have been skateboarding with my longboard skateboard for about a year now.  I had never tried to skateboard before, except for occasionally hoping on my little brothers board when I was younger and pushing a few times.  That being said, I feel I am the poster child for 'it's never too late'.  I am currently in my mid 30's and have bad knees but I have still managed to get relatively comfortable on my Loaded Tan Tien longboard.  My roommate and I will occasionally go for a ride down at our local park.  At first I was very unsteady on the board.  I started off by using the Kahuna Big Stick to push because I didn't think my knees would hold up pumping with my foot.

After a few months of using the Kahuna Big Stick, I was still not very comfortable on the board.  I would basically plant my feet on the deck and hope I didn't have to move them around too much.  One day, I decided to give pumping a try.  My knees were definitely sore after every session but I could feel my legs getting stronger.  In addition to gained leg strength, I was getting much more comfortable with shifting my feet around on the board.  This gave me more confidence with skating in crowded areas, a scenario I would have avoided in the past.  Once I got better at foot breaking, I was able to slow myself down without needing something like the Big Stick.

Yesterday I hit another milestone with skating.  My roommate is better than I am at the moment.  He skated when he was younger so his progress, comfort, and flow are beyond my level.  He is able to carve and take sharp corners.  I was still having trouble with these concepts, until yesterday.  I have always kept my trucks very tight because I did not want a lot of wobble.  I wanted the deck to be as stable as possible.  This was great for learning but has hindered me from carving and taking sharp corners up until now.  I loosened up my trucks and took it for a spin.  It was like a completely different board!  The fact that I was able to skate on a board with trucks that loose and still feel comfortable definitely told me that I have reached another level with my skating.  I look forward to going out again soon.

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Busy Day At The Park - Skateboarding

I took out my new Tan Tien flex 2 with gold Paris 180 trucks out to a VERY busy park yesterday.  I went with skateboarding instead of surfing yesterday because the water was absolutely crowded and I didn’t feel like fighting for a wave.  I had a great time skateboarding though and got a great workout in the process.  I am still new to skateboarding so going to a busy park with people everywhere and kamikaze children running in front of you was not the ideal place for a beginner to skate but I wanted to see how I would do.

I was happy with how I did though, I recently learned how to foot break so that saved me on countless occasions yesterday.  I am getting much better on the board and starting to feel much more comfortable pushing with my foot.  I enjoy pushing with my foot much more than using the Kahuna Big Stick.  When I got back to my car I was covered in sweat, I didn’t even notice until I stopped skating.  All in all it was a good day and I got some exercise without even noticing, so much for scheduled movement time at the gym.  Below is a pic I just took of my Tan Tien.

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Cruising On The Tan Tien - Skateboarding

Just as I had started to get going with an awesome routine and was making great progress with surfing I got sick a few days ago.  It was some sort of head cold that pretty much knocked me out of commission for the past three days.  I was still feeling it a little yesterday but I felt well enough to get out so I decided to go for a ride on my Tan Tien.  I stayed away from surfing because the water temp here in San Diego is right about 64 degrees so I figured it wasn't a good idea to sit in cold water when you are just getting over a cold.

My roommate and I grabbed our boards and headed down to the bay to skateboard around.  I usually use the Kahuna Big Stick when I longboard skateboard because of my knee issues but I decided not to use it this time and try to focus on learning how to pump with my foot.  One of the things that I noticed is that when I am using the big stick to land paddle around I feel like my feet are locked into place and anytime I need to shift my feet on the deck of the board I feel unstable.  After pumping with my foot for about an hour I got way more comfortable with the board.  This was great and I kind of wish I had of payed my dues and started pushing with my foot first because it gives you a good foundation and better stability on the board.

After about an hour of pumping with my foot my knee was definitely yelling at me.  I need to be careful and not push it too hard too fast because if I really injure my knee I will be out of all of these sport for a while until I can get my knee fixed.  I learned a lot yesterday and got a great workout too.  I passed by a bunch of people doing their scheduled movement time.  There was one group of women that were jumping up and down, I am assuming doing some kind of jumping squats, all together.  It looked so incredibly boring and I bet all they could think about was how long until they were done.  For me, I was getting just as good of a workout and I didn't even notice until I stopped and my muscles for tired.  Skateboarding is so much fun and a great workout too.

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Turning Nothing Into Something - Skateboarding, Basketball, Land Paddling

I was really unmotivated to do anything today but my roommate Zak convinced me to get out and do something, I am glad he did.  I had a lot of options to choose from for an activity today and we couldn’t decided so we loaded Zak’s Bronco up with everything lol.  I am not even kidding either, we stuffed two surfboards, two skateboards, a Kahuna Big Stick, basketball shoes, a basketball, two wetsuits, skate shoes, and some towels in his truck and just went out looking for whatever might look good today.

We drove down to our surf break in San Diego only to discover it was completely blown out and too small and mushy for the short boards we threw in the Bronco.  After seeing the surf conditions and deciding not to even attempt to throw on our wetsuits, we went down to Mission Bay to play some basketball and skateboard around.

We started with Skateboarding.  Zak just went old school and pushed his Tan Tien with his foot and I went with the Kahuna Big Stick and my Sector 9 Carbonite.  I prefer to use the big stick because it makes me feel more stable when I am riding, I am still a beginner.  I am glad I went with the big stick; I forgot how much of a workout it is to push yourself along on that thing.  After about 2 miles I was covered in sweat.  I haven’t had the skateboard out in at least a month.  It felt great to ride around again.

After skateboarding we did some sunset basketball.  Man it was a great day to ride and play some ball.

This is a pic I took of our basketball spot today

Below is a short video of our sweet basketball spot

Here is a short video I took today of the Loaded – Tan Tien that Zak rides… I wish I got that board instead

All in all it was a pretty good day of exercising and not one minute of it felt like I was exercising, so mission accomplished!

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Loaded Tan Tien - Gear, Skateboarding

The Loaded Tan Tien is a longboard skateboard that has become very popular among longboarders all around the world in the past year.  The Tan Tien dimensions are 39'' long, a 27'' wheelbase, and 8.75'' wide.  There are three different decks you can choose from that have three different weight thresholds.

1. Flex 1 – Up to 279lbs
2. Flex 2 – 130lbs to 210lbs
3. Flex 3 – 80lbs to 170lbs

The most popular deck of these three options is the Flex 2, which is quite flexible yet still very strong. One of the reasons for this strength is that fact that the deck itself is made of bamboo making it very strong and giving it lots of spring.  The trucks are mounted with a drop-thru design which gives it a lower profile.

Loaded Tan Tien Top View

I ride a Sector 9 Carbonite that is 41’’ long.  I went out and bought my board without doing much research and really wish I hadn’t.  I am happy with my board when it comes to just cruising around with the Big Stick and for straight line runs down by the beach but it isn’t as stable and maneuverable as the Tan Tien.  My roommate did some research online and found the Tan Tien.  He bought it to use with the Kahuna Big stick as well as some simple downhill riding.  The board just turns sharper because of the shorter wheelbase but is still stable enough to retain the longboard feel.  I think it is a great board and I will probably end up picking one up eventually.

Loaded Tan Tien Top And Bottom View

Here is a video from the Loaded YouTube channel.  It’s a video for the launch of this board last year and has Adam Colton, Kyle Chin, P-Below Castro and the Bandyman riding around the streets of SoCal.

I seem to watch this video at least once a week.  I know I will never be able to power slide like this but it is always nice to dream.

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