I’ve mentioned before the nice skatepark that was built here in Memphis a little over a year ago. It has one of those nice polished concrete surfaces that seems forbidding at first, but is really nice to skate on. But I just got back from a trip out to the Pacific Northwest, and where there’s that much snow, you do your skating indoors during the winter. It’s been a lot of years since I tried skating indoors. The last indoor park I went to much at all, I was taking a BMX bike after a few skateboard falls. Let me tell ya… I was worried more about skating an unfamiliar board than I was an unfamiliar park. I figured I had a really nice kickturn, so I could find some area where I could while away a lot of time just skating round and round. Maybe, I thought, I’ll work on riding fakey if I get tired of kickturns.
Well, not so much. Turns out that concrete is very forgiving when it comes to your balance point and the amount of friction it affords your wheels.
I fell down a lot indoors, and the kickturns in which I was so confident in were not right for a roomful of high-quality masonite, steel edges and slick concrete. The board slid sideways out from under me over and over again. I hate to admit it, but I lost my temper and my good mood quick. I’d like to think I could get used to masonite and all. I’d be a better skater for it- the finesse and control needed are exemplary. So… who’s got the money and the business plan to come into Memphis and build another indoor park? I warn you… we’ve had the low-end park (the Dark Side) that did everything on a shoestring, and we’ve had the high-end park (Cordova) and a couple of others, I guess, and they’re all gone now. I imagine that the profit margins on such a business are slim, and the insurance pushes the ledger toward the red.
Revolution Snow and Skate is the indoor skatepark in Wenatchee, WA (there’s an outdoor park, too. Not much play this time of year is my guess) An employee there pointed out that the skatepark is NOT how that business stays afloat- the storefront supports it, though I’m sure the store benefits from having an onsite skatepark.
Visit ’em if you get the chance. Skate a little. Buy something. Tell ’em we says “Hey.” Nice folks.
Just so you don’t think I didn’t enjoy my time there- When I couldn’t fall back on my routine skills, I learned to drop in, finally. It was a great day. Very exhilarating.
But I still can’t ride fakey worth a poot on masonite.
