… in reality, about to take a tumble.

Gotten the getting up part done. Lot more to go to get back to where I was before winter set in…

The whole winter, I did not even get on the skateboard once. Now, with the longer days and warmer temperatures, figured might as well take a few more tumbles…

Was able to get up and stay up for a few yards…

Took the skateboard to the school behind our property to practice on the sidewalk. I was hoping nobody would be there. And other than two middle schoolers, nobody was there indeed! Except, both of them had their shortboards and were doing all sorts of tricks.

They even showed be some tricks and told me the names for those tricks. For the curious, I am nowhere near those tricks. If they were doing BC calculus, I was trying to arrange two numbers one over the other so I could add them!!!

Turns out I had not positioned the camera properly. Did not catch the mount – but here is a small snippet of the rest…

Not sure whether it was because of the driveway versus skateboard park surface, today’s was not that confident…

After taking the tumble, cursory testing by pressing and prodding ruled out any possibility of broken bones. Just that the right hand was a little painful. I was more afraid that if I packed up and went home, I will have an insurmountable fear of coming back.

After a couple of minutes of rest, went back to the spot and kept trying. Obviously I was inordinately afraid and focused on not falling again. The first three attempts, I aborted before re-mounting. Succeeded with the fourth one eventually.

Here is the first successful re-mount.

Let this be a warning to all 54 year olds trying to learn how to skateboard!
Tried practicing how to mount off, push with left leg and mount on again (and keep repeating). Within five minutes took a fall. Front foot was too far forward – the board pivoted on front wheels and swung – throwing me off the board.

Scraped some skin and the right palm and middle finger hurt for some time (the right arm hit the concrete first) – but after a few hours, I was okay.

Fortunately, I had chosen a time when nobody was there to laugh at me.

Need to go back there soon and try again…

There were too many kids waltzing around. I need to go there early morning when nobody is there to laugh at me. Came back home and practiced on our driveway and road…

Ventured out for the first time in Fowler Skate Park. Molly and Bill went back to the trail for more miles and I took advantage of the fact that no kids had shown up yet at the skate park. Compared to my driveway, the surface was far smoother – so, needed some adjustment. Eventually, the kids started showing up and I high tailed it before they could have too much fun at my expense…