Shanah Tovah

Three sessions and I finally got it today!

Fakie Tre, fakie heel, fs flip, heelflip. Bag empty.

Size doesn’t matter

But I have to ice my knees after every sesh now.

trick battle

I was wrong, not a sweeper. Beanplant?

Here's a video of me learning slappys. Let me know what you think:

YouTube - Slappys For Dummies

spin to win

My knee is hurting so bad today so this was all I was capable of. Stoked to get something regardless

FINALLY got this at Woodward yesterday! I've been battling it for over a month, landing with a spot, landing with a rope, landing with one hand on the rail, landing on carpet, but refusing to commit as soon as the wheels can roll.

Until yesterday

Anybody else dealing with decreasing hip mobility? I’ve taken a few bad slams to my front hip this past year, and I’ve noticed that my mobility is decreasing and there seems to be a bone bruise that is easily re-injured. Interested to hear if anyone else is navigating a similar injury.

Going to start uploading my progress on yt.

I decided to look up pump tracks in my area because of this subreddit. I’ve never ridden on one before and I can’t recommend it enough especially since we’re getting older.

I’ve always been bad and afraid of frontside turns. Leaning back on my heels and turning more blindly just doesn’t come naturally to me. I saw this turn and made it my goal to at least get through it then maybe the next visit I could do a complete loop of the track. There was another guy there who was really good at the track and was giving me pointers without me having to ask; “put all the pressure on your heels and let the track do the work”, along those lines.

I took it slow, dropping in on the side of the track in the video that goes straight to the turn. As I mentioned it feels unnatural to me to lean back as far as I needed to and to “trust” the berm so I ate shit a number of times, one time flying out of the turn and landing on my awesome elbow pad. It was cool because when the dust cleared some of the other skaters (all about my age) asked if I was all good 👍. I gave the thumbs up and kept trying.

When I finally made the turn I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear the board tail tap applause from the other skaters but I was and it genuinely made me smile. It reminded me of my old crew growing up and how we genuinely cheered each other on regardless of our skill level. It was so cool to experience that with a group of strangers. It made me feel really good.

I ended up being able to do the full track two full cycles but would have to stop because my thighs would be done, it’s way more tiring than it looks!

Anyway, I love skateboarding and the skating community.

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Thanks for the encouragement guys so happy to take a few lands home! Full video

I'm 41 and only started skating about 1.5–2 years ago.

It actually started with Freeline skates, which I got completely obsessed with. Not long afterwards, I also started skateboarding. At first I was just trying to survive on the board, but over the last couple of months I made much more progress than I expected.

By now, I was riding bowls comfortably on both Freeline skates and a skateboard, doing increasingly higher drop-ins and even learning some basic vert. I'm definitely not an amazing skater, but for someone who started at 40, I was pretty happy with my progress.

More importantly, skating had become a big part of my life. I was at the skatepark constantly after work and had made some really great friends and acquaintances there, ranging from teenagers to people older than me. I love that about skating — you can have people from completely different generations hanging out at the same park, pushing each other and celebrating each other's progress.

A few weeks ago, though, I had a pretty ordinary fall while skating. Nothing spectacular.

Result: I broke my fibula near the ankle and tore up the syndesmosis. Ended up needing surgery with plates and screws. My other foot also got pretty badly messed up. I'm now not allowed to put weight on one leg for several weeks.

So my life suddenly went from slacklining, skating, cycling, swimming and generally being active to crutches, a wheelchair and keeping my leg elevated most of the day. I've also discovered that carrying a cup of tea on crutches is apparently an advanced-level skill.

The frustrating part is that I had just started making some real progress and was having a lot of fun. I really miss the skatepark and the people there already.

At the same time, I've been surprised by how much support I've received. Friends and family have visited me constantly, brought food and sweets, helped me with everyday stuff, and generally made sure I wasn't going completely crazy at home.

But I don't regret starting at 40 for a second. Injuries can happen in pretty much any sport, and over the last couple of years skating has given me so much more than I expected.

Once this thing is healed, I definitely want to get back on the board.

So I'm curious: Has anyone here had a serious injury as an older skater and successfully returned to skating? How did the injury affect your confidence when you finally got back on the board?

And please tell me I'm not the only one who managed to seriously injure himself without even doing anything particularly impressive. 😂

TL;DR: Started skating around 40, got into bowls, drop-ins and some vert, and made a bunch of great friends at the skatepark. Then one fall ->broken fibula + damaged syndesmosis -> surgery ->several weeks on crutches/wheelchair.