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Skateparks

KyleKyle
edited July 2015 in Powell-Peralta®
As I get older (42) I am becoming less interested in skateparks. I love a good bowl session, but lately skateparks are becoming a daycare. Young kids with no interest in skateboarding are sliding on the transitions, using it as a remote control car track, riding scooters, etc... When I show up with an hour to skate, I want to make the most of it. When I add in the 20 minute commute each way it's close to a 2 hour investment and I only really get to skate for 30 minutes. I think I might just go back to the days of no skateparks and enjoy my time skating my driveway, curb, banks, parking blocks.
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Comments

  • ghostbusterghostbuster
    edited July 2015
    I lived about 10 mins from a park for a while, and I went very infrequently, because of the factors you mentioned, plus BMX kids and people who thought that the ledges were benches, just sat there and gossiped or smoked up with their buddies, and didn't even skate.  I would often wind up going to a street spot right next to the park instead of the park.  When I did show up there, I found the key was to time it right.  Kids don't like to get up early, so if you can motivate to get there in the AM, you might even have most of that hour to yourself.   
  • _III__III_
    edited July 2015
    The WORST are the dumb ass parents who bring their little bastards to the Skatepark with Razor Scooters and think it's cute that they are in YOUR way but then curse you out when you run them over.
  • JB77JB77
    Thought I'd get an hour in at my local this morning.  Got there at 9:30, pulled in, said "nope" and went street skating.  Fucking place was just crawling with assholes.  I actually saw a minivan pull up and drop off two kids this morning and one of them had a longboard.  A legit, fucking longboard!  Like the funny shaped ones where the trucks mount drop-through style and everything.  What the fuck are you going to do with that thing here??  You're absolutely right.  Weekends are a lost cause at my park.  Weekday mornings are the only time to go.  It's quiet then and you can actually skate and enjoy yourself.  Jeff Grosso calls it The Abortion Clinic because that's where moms go to get rid of their kids.
  • ppk187ppk187
    Used to ride parks a lot. Can't stand em anymore. My wife doesn't understand why I'd rather go to a parking lot than a park... Lol
  • pulse8pulse8
    I agree the best time to go is on a weekday morning, especially when school is in! I rarely go, but if I do I have a quick look around to make sure nobody's watching how crap I am!
  • ghostbusterghostbuster
    Weekday AMs are great because you can start alone, spend most of the session with 3 or 4 other geezers, and after an hour or so, the place is filling up, and you can just fade out.  If you stick around, in my experience, the kids will ignore you if you look like you're at least trying, and if you do some trick from the 80s they don't know, they might even cheer.  I got cheered for doing a boneless fingerflip and couldn't believe it, I had to look around to see who they were cheering at.  
  • KyleKyle
    edited July 2015
    They need to have Old Guy Skate Park Warehouses that are membership only and open 24/7. I could get the wife and kids to sleep and go shred from 10pm to midnight.
  • JB77JB77
    That's a great idea, 30 and up ha ha. Don't get me wrong, I totally get it. I don't blame them for wanting to be there. I would have loved to have a facility like my local skatepark to skate when I was 10 or 11 or whatever. We didn't have anything like that growing up. But, as a jaded, bitter old man it's hard to deal with. I just want to carve and grind and whatnot and not dodge kids on scooters, you know? Is that too much to ask, lol? I'm so glad you posted that @Kyle because I almost posted the same sentiments this morning. Cheers, old farts.
  • WakeInFrightWakeInFright
    Totally agree guys, weekday school time skating is the best to avoid the little monsters, and since I work shift work, I can normally get some free skating. I covet ppk187's situation, if I had a ramp and driveway that would appease me. The bad thing I find about the skateparks is the other parents....if you don't rock up with your own kids, they look at you as if you are a kiddie-fiddler or something :-(
  • JB77JB77
    I had a sick quarter pipe as a kid. 8' wide by about 4' tall with a small platform and metal coping. Might be time to build another one. Or heck, maybe a mini with those dimensions. 8-12' of flat? Hmmm...
  • WakeInFrightWakeInFright
    I'm thinking about building a quarter jb, about 6' wide and 3' high with steel coping. Hmmmm
  • JB77JB77
    edited July 2015
    Why 6' wide? A sheet of plywood is already 4' x 8'. Why cut it down and lose two feet?

    http://www.xtremeskater.com/ramp-plans/quarter-pipe/
  • WakeInFrightWakeInFright
    Portability and cost. First layer of sheets across is the whole then the 1/2. Top layer of sheets is 1/2 then the whole, that way the seam is staggered eliminating a weak point jb
  • JB77JB77
    You can still stagger the seams using four sheets. On the top layer, cut one sheet down the middle. The four foot wide uncut sheet goes in the middle right on top of the first layer's seam. Then, the two 2' wide pieces go on either side. You're only using one less sheet by making it 6 feet wide and the cost difference in the rest of the materials is minimal.
  • ppk187ppk187
    My mini started out as just building a quarter. Then I said F it, built another and added flat bottom
  • JB77JB77
    What are the dimensions on your ramp @ppk187?
  • ppk187ppk187
    8' wide, 2 1/2 tall, with a tiny bit less than 8' of flat. It's the perfect size to fit in my garage; though I wish it were wider
  • ppk187ppk187
    Actually it's closer to 3' tall..
  • PtownPtown
    I did 2 quarter pipes 4x8 under my carport use the concrete for my flat works good even has lights for at night
  • JB77JB77
    Nice.
  • CastpolymerCastpolymer
    I ask their parents nicely once to remove their kids from the bowls if they are not skating. If they do not comply, I bomb the children until they run from the bowl in fear.
  • JB77JB77
    Ha ha... No shit I'd pay $250 annually for a membership only, 30 & up skatepark. Maybe more.
  • myrenmyren
    _III_  No joke with the Razor Scooter kids. They are the worst session killers. They are like that turd that just will not flush. I have to show up super early in the morning to skate at any of my local parks. It is funny, cause all the old guys also show up. Just like getting up for work, but go skate. The bad thing is with summer time here, the mini vans full of kids are starting to show up earlier. But I can still get a few hours before things get crazy. But it does just take 1 (ONE) scooter kid to kill the whole session at the park. Everyone leave and it is just the scooter kids and the kids that can not drive are left, the park empties out. 
  • CastpolymerCastpolymer
    edited July 2015
    I simply refuse to let the scooter kids kill a session. Once one of them falls and starts crying, the parent packs the whole group of them up and leaves. You should see the look on the parents faces when they see my 5'10", 200 pound old ass drop in on one of their precious little monsters. It is hilarious.
  • BackInActionBackInAction
    The best pool park near me (Sisters Oregon) is dead most of the time.  I like to schedule my sessions for when people ARE actually going to be there. 

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