pavedwave longboarding

pavedwave · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 1120 Location: seattle wa usa

"Bruthadood" just completed a cross country US skate on Flexdexes and using the Kahuna BigStick!!

http://bruthadood.livejournal.com/

http://www.ktka.com/news/2008/aug/08/long_boarding_across_country/

Wicked.

Rest up and enjoy the accomplishment fellas.

camel · Posted: Mon Sep 01, 2008 6:46 am Post subject:

That's like having Bill and Ted for representatives of a Cancer Research Foundation.

pavedwave · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 1120 Location: seattle wa usa

Hehe... I think the cancer tie-in was an afterthought, judging from the timing with their postings on Silverfish. The ride for XXXXX charity has become a bit cliche, and I think as this distance scene matures we'll finally see more people who make it clear their purpose is simply to ride -- do we need any other reason?! I think not.

Proactively driving charity donations is a whole separate effort from doing the event itself. It's more like a put on your wingtips, shirt and tie, with a skater resume under your arm, and wheel and deal behind big oak desks type of thing. Skating the event is the fun, romantic part, and it doesn't really drive that many more donations on its own. Being 'networked' to the right people, and if not already, making those connections, really takes some practice and patience. And making "cold calls." Which is just one reason why our next Ultraskate is only implicitly tied to charity donations.

One thing I still cannot comprehend is how they managed this on Flexdex and I'm curious how much they actually used the BigStick. As much as I do love the Flexdex as a carving board on hills, I've never found it efficient for flatland pushing-- rather more of an energy eater. My guess is for flat and uphill cruising they'd have to stand directly over the trucks. The one huge benefit is that it would absorb almost ALL the nasty vibrations of the bad chipseal roads they'd encounter. And with my brief testing of the BigStick I found it to be kind of fun for an upper body workout, but not efficient in terms of distance. I would like to hear more details on their impressions of the ride.