Yes, Marion "North Carolina Longboarder" Karr skates, has a groove on and is stoked on slalom. Our session today at Exit 46 was very cool, although it was about close to being hot. When NCL started slather his shaved head with sun screen, I got concerned. Personally, I always found January sun impossible to burn me, but he seemed to think it was sunny and hot enough to warrant such efforts. Hey, dude, whatever is cool with you is cool with me!
We skated pretty steady for about three hours in 75-degree weather with a cloud now and then. I got there an hour before NCL and had the course ready and I was trying to find a line I could live with. Hey, 66, thought you'd like to know my hill is back to "normal": I think the lumber trucks are done and the street was clean as I've ever known it. Although it was still a little "stained" from red clay, the asphalt was dirt, tree bark and sand free. Marion and I both brought brooms and a blower, but all were unnecessary. All I had to do was set the course, chalk it and we were good to skate.
I set a pretty mild offset hybrid at a steady 6-foot spacing with a long straight stinger at the end. 50 cones made for a good workout. I kept it simple but not too easy as Marion is just learning. He had never run 6-foot spacing before. By the end of the day he was running 20-25 cones clean. Neither of us ever did run all 50 clean. He's a novice and I suck. But we're both getting a little better. By the 3:00 I felt like I had found a better groove and was starting to push a little. Unfortunately, by 3:00 I had been skating since 11:00 and was pretty well whipped in the mild heat. We gave it up and packed it in.
I think Marion was mildly surprised he did a little better than he thought he would. All he had ridden previously was some wide open longboard slalom with cones at 15-feet or more, so seeing something close to a hybrid was a little intimidating. After a little work, though, he did start finding a groove and began to see what it takes to get a line through a course. We worked a little on his stance (yes, I know how to ride nonparallel and no, I didn't teach him to do it.) He does, though, ride classic wide open surf stance and it took a few trip for him to see the advantages of getting that back foot pointed a little more forward. Most of his early cone hits were from that outrigger foot he had sticking off the side of the board! It works great for cruising and sliding, but is kind of a drag (literally) getting through six foot cones.
Me? I'm just trying to get my skate legs back and feel comfortable again at speed. Like I told Marion, the best way to skate better is to SKATE MORE. So I'm skating more. I really want to get back to that point in my riding where the simple stuff (pushing, coasting, turning, braking, etc.) is just instinctual without thinking about it. That's been lost in the past year or so and I need to really push getting it back. Sessions like today are the best therapy.
We're going to crash Statesville, North Carolina January 15 with the locals up there. NCL and I decided that (weather permitting) our next Exit 46 session will be January 30. We both agreed on a simple rule this winter: the EXPECTED FORECAST HIGH MUST BE AT LEAST 50 DEGREES! We'll fudge a little depending on the wind and such, but highs in the mid-30s or below ain't cutting it. Like I said, there is a reason we live in the South!
