Skateboarding

@ad441, okay cool, I see what you mean now, we usually view from the wall by the crossing that leads you down to the academy, so have never really looked at/ viewed that section, will pop along tomorrow and have a better view.

See what you mean re: clapham layout, gonna head down there with a skater mate end of this week and check it out for myself, and see. Got a month or two before summer holidays so plenty of time to make a decision.

Folkestone Gardens near Bermondsey is pretty good for beginners, if you're down that way. Quieter in the mornings on weekends.

Took jnr back to Clapham skate park today, after ice cream and some skating in a private residential place round the corner from Clapham old town which has some weird angled paving, eventually got told there was no skating there after we’d been skating around for 10-15mins. Assume the concierge/security allowed it as it was a middle aged man and their child rather than some teens looking to (insert colloquial words for skating hard here) …
Anyway took them over to skate park which wasn’t as busy as I expected, some skate teachers and their kids practicing, some older men and a couple of older teens/early 20s.
Jnr took to it really quickly, but fuck me the fear I got from rolling down some of the smaller ramps/banks, was immense, and jnr was off wanting to skate down steeper and steeper inclines. Hadn’t brought any pads with us as I didn’t think they would get as into it as they did.
Finally had to drag them out after about 45mins of them wanting to try more lines/ramps, which I was unsure they’d have the skills/balance to do.
Anyways got home tried on the pads they’ve had for a while and the knee ones are too small whilst the arm ones still fit, ( they are tall but relatively skinny), and just brought the next size up for a cheap price off eBay.

As you mentioned clapham park when it starts to fill up becomes a bit difficult to navigate as everyone bombshell the same couple of lines. So when pads arrive I think we’ll make an early morning trip to Brixton and try those bowls there.
And I’m definitely going to have to get myself some pads if I’m going to keep up with them..

The fear is real. I really need to get some pads on and break through that myself.

Yeah been looking on eBay for some, but they don’t seem that pricey new, so may just head to a shop and get some.

Question are 187 killer pads that much better that I should contemplate the extra 30 quid over some rekd ones?
Let me know..

I bought the gf some Rekd (I think), but an unrelated knee injury means she’s not used them all year. They fitted relatively well. Would recommend trying on for size though.

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I have some killer 187 adult knee pads in good barely used nick…DM me for a deal

interested if @cornelius_blackfoot passes and in XL. I have some practically unused L 187s, meanwhile…

Excellent - again Stockwell's great for practising the feel of rolling different gradient/height banks as there's so much variety there and it's easy to gradually step up the speed, etc.
Can't advise on pads ... I got my daughter to wear her cycle helmet when she was sitting on her board rolling through the big bowl at stockwell, but other than that have generally just lent towards assuming a few grazes won't do any harm and she's probably more likely to hurt herself climbing trees, etc, where I've never considered pads necessary. But this is almost certainly terrible advice.

Wish I’d seen this yesterday just pulled the trigger on a 6pad set of the 187s. Rollersnakea has a deal on..

Yeah speaking to them this morning on the skate to school, they mentioned wanting to go back to Clapham next weekend and I said maybe we could do Brixton instead and then they were like can we do Clapham after as they already knew they liked it there.
So fingers crossed they like Brixton as much.
They’ll definitely need pads, the transition from just seeing what it’s about, to trying things after seeing what other kids with more experience were doing was frighteningly fast.

And though they bounce back from the odd fall off their bike or trip over in the playground, they do tend to produce screams and big tears when it happens and I’d rather they had a bit of padding so each session isn’t punctuated with massive tears and cajoling to get back at it.

I can (virtually) guarantee they'll like Brixton even more.

Yes, totally sensible with pads, etc. I wouldn't recommend my approach to anyone else. Plus it's all very well for me to say it didn't do me any harm grinding off half my skin falling on gravel as a child. I'd have probably been a better/less over cautious skater if I'd not hurt myself quite as much. I always had a really good ability to visualise exactly how I was likely to injure myself, which consequently made me not keen to throw myself at handrails, etc.

9 years old

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8Uy8e1uFKS/?igsh=enN4NWw2aGRjZ2lq

Been meaning to do another rollersnakes order. Should add pads to it when I can.

You are correct they had much more fun at Brixton, more time skating and generally getting used to being around more skaters doing skate things.
Interesting to see the range of ages and ability there, and the ebb and flow of busy times, emptyish times. Really good day for it today. And they already want to go back.
Have mentioned going in the mornings of the summer holidays, but not everyday.
I even got a chance to skate round and see what I need to practice and improve, and the new pads (elbow and wrist) weren’t too annoying either..

Put some handles on it (courtesy of AliEx, not as tall as proper skate brands) makes it a bit easier to grab.

The NoLogo AWOL were a great shout. I tried a few smaller wheels and these seem the ideal without being full-longboard size and soft.

Just need to find the time to ride it. Should really dedicate midweek early’s at the skate park before kids and heat.

Forgot to order pads from Rollersnakes when I bought some tees. Oh no. Time to order more crap.

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First time at a skatepark in 24 years. Went from, “I wonder if I’ll still be able to drop in” to “if I drop in on that I think I might die”. Was a slightly harsh unforgiving park with few easy cruising lines. Would have loved it when I was 18/19, mind. Loads of steps and rails.

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On the plus side, bones remain in tact despite stacking it twice.

I never understand why they build parks so advanced. Everyone can have fun at a mellow park. Only a few can advance to use bigger/ gnarlier stuff. Why build a bowl when you could build a forgiving mini ramp. why build a Hubba when you could build a small block/ Manny pad.

Same as MTB parks. If it’s mellow all the proper downhill runners complain it’s weak. Anything more than easy and kids suffer.

well, you can go AROUND a bowl too, no need to lift your front wheels there.

Yep 100%. There was literally one line around the whole park which didn’t require tackling some steps and it was a really, really bad line (especially as it seems I now cannot turn backside on any kind of ramp).

You are correct they had much more fun at Brixton

Glad to hear it. It really is a great park. Plus has something to offer almost everyone in terms of ability. Have a self-imposed ban on doing anything where my wheels leave the ground and it's still enjoyable to carve round at speed in a way that most parks aren't.