Longboarders want acceptance, understanding
As longboarders weave in and out of campus crowds and traffic, onlookers – many of them pedestrians commuting to and from class – often have a question in mind.
“People usually ask me ‘How do you guys even stop?'” said Sean Nielsen, a longboarder and sophomore studying engineering. “I get all sorts of weird looks, but we really are a pretty inventive bunch. Sure, accidents happen, but we try to avoid them at all costs.”
The sport of longboarding has been growing in popularity at USU, Nielsen said, but it’s still largely misunderstood by the student body. Because there are truly no brakes on this type of transportation, individuals riding the boards have to be creative when it comes to slowing down and stopping.
“There are lots of different ways to stop,” Nielsen said. “Some methods are better than others, but it’s really up to the rider’s personal tastes.”
Nielsen said methods for stopping include “carving,” dragging a foot, bailing, riding into a grass patch or the less-desirable crashing.
Aggie alumnus Blake Heiner said there is a new take on how to stop a longboard.
“When you force your board perpendicular to your direction of travel, much like when you pull the emergency brake in your car and you drift,” Heiner said. “Or for snowboarders, it is like when you come to a stop on the mountain.”
But because asphalt is much less forgiving than snow, Heiner said, a lot of people are nervous to try the technique.
“Sliding is a very necessary skill that all longboarders should learn so that you can you can ride in control and safely come to a stop,” Heiner said. “Not to mention, it is really fun.”
Certain board designs and wheels can make the sliding process easier.
“If you were planning on taking a bicycle and entering the LoToJa race, you wouldn’t want to have a BMX or mountain bike,” Nielsen said. “You wouldn’t take a road bike with skinny tires down a mountain trail. Longboarders know that different decks and different wheels have different purposes.”
Korby Beckstead, a sophomore studying public health, shared his thoughts on equipment types.
“In the longboarding world, there are decks made for different things,” Beckstead said. “Some are for carving, some for the standard cruising and then, of course, those for sliding. Sliding decks are designed for riders to achieve maximum performance. For example, they have specific length, shape and for some, a concave foot hold. Just as there are different decks, there are also different wheels that are designed for similar purposes. I have actually seen many students on campus who may not even realize they have a board designed for sliding.”
Most experienced sliding-style longboarders wear special gloves thought to be an essential element to the process.
“Those gloves help support the rider’s weight during the maneuver,” Nielsen said. “You can really mess yourself up without them – everything from a skinned knee to a busted arm. You can really take a tumble without the gloves, because they’re designed to help you stop.”
Glove design can vary, but often centers around a strong, often leather glove with a plastic puck sewn into the palm. Many designs also implement some sort of protection for the rider’s fingerprints. These gloves can be homemade or purchased from online vendors.
“Again, it’s really up to personal taste,” Nielsen said. “Some like to know exactly what they’ve got, so they make their own. Others like to have a bunch of experts backing them, so they go with a professionally made product.”
Safety is an important aspect of longboarding culture. According longboarding company Sector 9, the three most important elements of riding safety include personal safety, getting a good overview of the target road and traffic laws for the area, always riding with a friend and knowing personal limits.
With so many precautions and warnings, some participants might decide the sport isn’t something they’re willing to risk. But Beckstead said there is nothing quite like longboarding once the rider gets past the initial fear.
“The first few months of getting my first longboard, I was extremely nervous to go down hills because it was uncomfortable for me to be immediately out of control,” he said. “Learning how to slide was a little hard and scary, but through practice I have come to enjoy the assurance of knowing how to stop. On top of that, it’s impossible to snowboard during the summer and longboarding has given me the satisfactory adrenaline that I lacked previous to learning how to slide.”
Regardless of technique, longboarding is a way many students choose to travel on the USU campus. Many longboarders just want to be accepted.
“We know it’s our responsibility to ride safe and keep ourselves in control around campus,” Nielsen said. “Nobody likes the guy who is always cutting off fellow students. After all, we are all just trying to get to class on time.”