“These are some shots I took in spring of 2009 and re-edited. Don’t ask me for the exact location of the roads,” says Longboard Mike on the blog http://longboardnow.com
“Skateboarding in the Asheville, North Carolina area takes on a new dimension with endless miles of winding mountain roads, Longboard Mike writes. “All of the riders in this video are expert riders with boards and equipment that IS NOT for sale in local stores. DO NOT grab your cheap … and head to the top of your nearest hill in flip-flops and boardshorts. You might survive a few times but sooner or later you WILL pay the price in flesh and blood,” he adds.
The video and more comments are posted here: http://longboardnow.com/longboard-asheville-mellow-downhill-run/
8 thoughts on “Longboard Asheville: Mellow downhill runs”
I’d say mellow music, SKETCHY FAST downhill runs. Road rash HURTS, ya’ll! As does colliding with trees or (shudder) cars. Even yappy little dogs hurt when you’re riding two-inch wheels at 25 m.p.h.
Love it! We should have a downhill time trial!
Kind of like the old Chimney Rock Hill Climb but go down the hill instead. These guys are way cool!
I’m an old motorcyclist. The guy in the black in the back appears to be (a) able to control his trajectory and (b) wearing sensible protective gear. The other guys remind me (in terms of gear) of many of the bicycle riders I see running 40+ MPH downhill on the parkway in their short shorts and styrofoam helmets. High speed slides on rough dry asphalt can flat grind your flesh down to your bone. A friend of mine found this out the “hard way”. Her loss of flesh was a good testament to ATGATT. Fortunately she was wearing a full converage helmet because she ended up sliding FACE DOWN. The helmet was destroyed but her face was uninjured. The griding down of flesh to bone took place on knees and toes.
Be careful out there.
Re: T100C-1970
You must be a Triumph rider! Only they worry as much about losing a little flesh. Smart folk, they are. I agree with T100C,
TBS-T3 vroom vroom
Just laid down my GS the other night going 50. Thank goodness for gloves, helmets, and armored jackets!
Devon, true indeed. I bought the T100C new in ’70 and still have it.. Nowdays it works about as well as my body does — so I log most miles on the DR650 and some on the newer TU250 and a few on the T100C just to verify that it (like me) is still alive.
I produced this video. Thanks for the interest and comments. I would like to say that we only ride on open roads when appropriate safety measures have been taken. We scout the road, communicate with established signals, wear helmets rated for high-speed impacts, etc. Our equipment is designed for rough roads and high speeds. We’re running 70mm-90mm wheels and wide trucks with special bushings or spherical bearings. Some of these set-ups cost upwards of $500. Most importantly we practice our skills on closed pavement. We use two different methods of braking- the foot-brake and pendulum slide. We can come to a complete stop in a very short distance in a controlled manner.
Downhill longboard is the type of longboard that is usually chosen by professionals, those who would love to cruise through hills and even flatlands. This type of longboard is usually very fast and it can be too fast for some people who are just beginners.