too old for skateboards?

when is too old for skateboards/skate books/shoes/clothes etc.

feel under pressure to give up my days of combats, skatey tee’s and emerica trainers. Don’t skate anymore but kinda follow the culture (god i hate that word)

33’s not too old is it?

under pressure from who? your mum? leave home! 😛

Never too old!!!

Well, regarding the clothes – its all about girls innit? If the ones you like are into that sort of style then its fine.

i wear combats n skate shoes……………………..cos they are well comfy.
**** riding a skateboard tho, it hurt like hell when i was 10 when i fell off one.

Really wish I’d learned to board as a youth…

Well, this silly woman certainly thinks 30-something men shouldn’t ride skateboards! Or middle-aged women ride tricycles!!

35 here – still do the odd bit – although nowhere near as good as the “yoofs” at the skatepark.I can still 50/50 grind almost anything though,old school style 😀

good grief guys, i’m 43 and started out in 75/76 and still skate – downhill carving, sliding, bowls, slalom: i do it all except street because thats an element that did pass me by.

p.s. sat here now in a z-flex t, vans shorts and vans hi-tops.

My wife keeps giving me funny looks when I threaten to get a new skateboard. I am 37.

41. don’t plan on stopping any time soon

There’s a big difference between being too old to skate and too old to learn to skate. Forty six was too old for me to learn.

I’m hopeless on a skateboard. But have fun riding one down the Cormet de Roselend, escorted by wife in car. Oh, yes, 49 now, would have been well in 40s when did that

Grow up 😉

you can learn at any age, there was/is a guy in the states who learnt at 60. it all depends what you want/expect to do on a board.

the problem with ‘modern’ skating is that it has a very narrow focus, i.e. ride in a straight line, ollie up/down/onto something and do an impossibly hard trick. i admire the technical ability of these guys, but i could go on long and hard about the ollie being a terrible thing to happen to skateboarding.

that said, the beauty of skating in the last 10 years has been the resurgence of older guys and it has led to a massive increase of choice.

the point of my ramble is that you do not have to ollie, nor ride a generic board that you can’t tell back from front, has tiny rock hard wheels and cannot turn for toffee.

if i want to cruise hills (on my doorstep are two 2 mile downhills) i pull out a 42 or maybe 36 fibreflex set up with carvey trucks and soft sticky wheels. they are like riding a snowboard, you compress the deck into the turn and ride the rebound energy out. if its a park or bowls then a 36 park board. some times we get out the cones and run slalom. there’s just so much choice.

if anyone wants some info on what is around these days, drop me an email and i’ll send you some links. its a great time to be an old git on a board, and as sports goes its dirt cheap!

If thats what you’ve been wearing for the last 20years, why bother changing. Possibly avoid the skin tight jeans though if you’re on the large size.

I dont feel any pressure to change the way i look at 39 and wouldn’t anyway, its no one elses business. Do tend to sport a little less sag in the jean department these days, dont want to show the world my pants quite as much as i used to.

yes,brown Y fronts with yellow trim aint smart.

ive still got a few boards but havent been on them for ages. i

t

d fall over all the time! anyone got back on one after 5-6 years off? fast/slow twitch muscles are all to pot lol. its like you never did it in the first place!

argh. i want to go out on it now……

I thought 36 was fine. Started doing it because my son started and I wanted to join in with him. Riding along was fine. Doing ramps and things was harder. I got a bit better. Started doing dropins. Learnt how to manual. Even manged a few ollies. The dropins I was trying got bigger. We spent time at some skateparks. There was a ramp. About 2 foot high which lead onto a thin strip then a drop of about a foot.

Weee, down the ramp, along the strip. Off the drop…. SNAP!!!! A kid even came across and said he heard something crack. I staggered back to the car leaning on my son. Drove home in agony. Spent the night in serious pain. Took my son to a football match the next morning and sweated through it. Decided it might be worth nipping to the hospital. While the doctor was playing with my knee I passed out. Woke up on a bed with a temporary cast. Knee broke they reckoned. Lots of tests, xrays and that big machine that zooms round in a circle. Broken knee confirmed.

Yep, taking up skateboarding was a great idea.

3 months later I finally got the cast off. Never again.

Had a major house clearance a year or two ago.
Actually took my board to the tip but couldn’t bring myself to throw it away.

Glad I didn’t:
I’ll skate again someday, the board brings back happy memories and it cost a bloody fortune!
H-Street Colby Carter, purple(?)Indys, Spitfires btw. Tasteless, me?
Haven’t skated in about 10 years, but still a nice thing to own.

i stopped freestyling 2 years ago when i left Switzerland and moved to Norway. i gave my board to a young kid on the street. i still have my longboard though. my missus aint impressed mind. last injury was a broken ankle in 2003.

Indys, Spitfires

FTW!

*runs to loft

my mates still skate . one is a pro vert skater too (dave allen)

I know this is specifically about style but Gavtheoldskater hit the nail on the head for me saying:

you can learn at any age, there was/is a guy in the states who learnt at 60. it all depends what you want/expect to do on a board.

Life is about what you want / expect from it. For the past 12 months I’ve been learning to ride BMX while getting a serious amount of ridicule from friends and family. But for me it has been amazing – learnt so much about myself, made some good friends, had some seriously good times and learnt not to give a crapola about what others think which has been really liberating in itself. Oh, and I’ve also learnt some mental skills which have helped me enjoy my other riding so much more (which is the original reason for doing it)

Don’t worry about what other people think as its your life and when you get to your grave are you going to look back and think – “I’m glad I did as everyone else expected rather than pushing my limits and / or doing what I wanted” – Doubt it. Enjoy your life, you only get one chance.

<high 5’s> bushwacked

You know it!

I started skating at 16, I’m now 38 and still session the local concrete skatepark every other week. I’ve never really stopped, but will occasionally go 6 months to a year when I don’t skate.
Skateboarding will always have a place in my life.

Me:

http://www.pinkbike.com/video/48798/

My wife keeps giving me funny looks when I threaten to get a new skateboard. I am 37.

So which do you think is the problem, the skateboard or the wife?

My entire family thinks Im too old for skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding….and Im only 26.

There was a distinct groan of distaste from them last year when I bought a Lush Kilima longboard and spent the summer riding it.

I dont think we ever get too old for anything, especially after watching a video on Youtube of a guy in his 70s who learnt to kitesurf. As long as you enjoy it its all that matters

Sorry – I didn’t get my copy of the rule book – can someone lend me theirs?

Everyone seems so hung up on what other people are doing or thinking rather than just enjoying themselves…

http://www.middle-age-shred.com/%5B/url%5D

Gullwings, 100mm Bullets and a Gonz deck… losing a board to the trains under the Westway at Meanwhile.. Bedminster skatepark.. finally realising the knees couldn’t hack it and buying an mtb…

nah, my friends danny wainwright and co are still riding at 34. although theyve taken to fixies….ill get them on dirt one day.

Girlwings

😉

Im 37 and just had my 2nd kid, plan on using the time to go to the local mini ramp with my 661s under my jeans. Knees ands ankles dont hold up to much but I dont ride jump ramps or wallrides to flat and can walk the next day.
Hoping the local comcrete park comes to fruition.

jedi, Ive skated vert with dickie a few times back in the day.

I just bought a bmx and building it up now (WTP Pony) at the age of 33, used to ride flatland and street about 10 years ago and miss it, so I thought I give it another try. Whiplash to steamroller to funky chicken anyone? 🙂
Can’t wait!!

As far as clothes go I can’t stand trainers and don’t own shoes, skate shoes rock!

never too old. a few years ago i went bodyboarding at durness on new years day.. two guys were in the water bodyboarding not long after i went in and they would have been around 55. I felt young!

scruff, i took dave to chciksands ebery saturday for 2yrs to recouperate his knees .

skates vert still(in atlanta at teh mo)

the problem with ‘modern’ skating is that it has a very narrow focus, i.e. ride in a straight line, ollie up/down/onto something and do an impossibly hard trick. i admire the technical ability of these guys, but i could go on long and hard about the ollie being a terrible thing to happen to skateboarding.

Jesus what a load of old toss Gav. I’m 38 started with slash grinds and throw on handrails and then started skating tech, Ollies were invented BTW on vert by Alan “ollie” gelfland ( that may or may not be his correct surname) Modern street makes vert and all that old school stuff seem – well shit really ;] People put together amazing lines in street as well.

I don’t skate very often anymore, in fact only once last year and now i’m on crutches again it may be another year but I still get a buzz seeing what people are doing on skateboards particularly “new”street. ;]

Hmm did loads in london in the 70’s.
Then had a brief dabble with it again a few years back, I would have been in my mid forties.
I was just about to order a Lush longboard after spending some time with a very attractive boarder.
However it turned out that the long legged, blonde, tanned ‘so cal’ babe was in fact a dude.
I decided that perhaps I was too old for that game.

PS we only ever ‘boarded’ I am a married man after all.

I was annoyed that my mum had chucked out my old stuff, in the garage I did have a Hobbie? oak twin kick tail deck, big old Gulwings I know the last wheels I had on it were OJ’s but I had Bones as well.

the problem with ‘modern’ skating is that it has a very narrow focus, i.e. ride in a straight line, ollie up/down/onto something and do an impossibly hard trick. i admire the technical ability of these guys, but i could go on long and hard about the ollie being a terrible thing to happen to skateboarding.

Jesus what a load of old toss Gav. I’m 38 started with slash grinds and throw on handrails and then started skating tech, Ollies were invented BTW on vert by Alan “ollie” gelfland ( that may or may not be his correct surname) Modern street makes vert and all that old school stuff seem – well shit really ;] People put together amazing lines in street as well.

I don’t skate very often anymore, in fact only once last year and now i’m on crutches again it may be another year but I still get a buzz seeing what people are doing on skateboards particularly “new”street. ;]

All skating is good, being able to skate all the disciplines makes for a much smoother, better, open minded skater.

I started as a “tech” skater, but over the years moved back to more flowing stuff now that there are loads of really cool concrete parks everywhere.

The new generation of skaters have never had it so good when it comes to skateparks, its a shame they don’t actually make proper use of them either, by learning to skate the transitions rather than just the steps in the street area!!!