Warm weather shows increase in longboarding
Zoology freshman Dan Brier texts while he rides his longboard home from class Wednesday on Farm Lane. Brier doesn’t own a bike or bus pass. “If there’s no snow or the path is clear, I’m on it,” Brier said of his board.
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With another spring approaching, more students are picking up the sport of longboarding to get to class and cruise around campus. Recent warm weather and the popularity of the sport has prompted a boost in local sales of the longer-sized skateboard.
The trend in alternative transportation is seen as a greener way to get around, and for some street skaters, longboarding serves as an alternative to skateboarding.
For many longboarders in the area, spring serves as the beginning of the longboard season. For some participants, including zoology sophomore Chad Brewer, the season exists all year.
“I ride to class every day I can (even though) it’s a little difficult to ride in the winter,” Brewer said. “People think I’m a little crazy to ride in the winter.”
Being longer than standard skateboards, longboards give more stability to the rider. Larger trucks and longer boards make for softer wheels, said Steve Darling, manager of Modern Skate and Surf, 326 Morgan Lane.
Darling said surfers and snowboarders enjoy the longboard for its smoother, flowing feel.
Brewer said he started the MSU Longboarding Club with Peter Croce, an interdisciplinary studies in social science and community relations and secondary education sophomore, and this semester the club became recognized by MSU, Croce said.
“I skate to class a lot,” Croce said. “It’s one of my favorite things to do on a board.”
Darling said he has seen the sport growing significantly in the past two to three years, and the popularity of the sport has added to its growth, along with several other reasons.
“It’s a trend, but it’s a good source of transportation,” Darling said. “It’s part of the green movement.”
Although longboarding has been done for decades, the amount of longboarders on the sidewalks has exploded in recent years, Brewer said.
Darling said as longboarding has become more popular among students, some of the other alternative modes of warm-weather transportation have declined in popularity.
“I definitely see more people on longboards than I see on Rollerblades — I think it’s more convenient,” Brewer said. “Rollerblading to class — you have to either take them off or put shoes on.”
Darling and Brewer both agreed that longboarding can be difficult to riders.
“Rollerblading is so easy to do, so (students) switch to longboarding for more of a challenge,” Darling said.
Although more technical tricks aren’t possible on a longboard, Brewer said there’s more to longboarding than transportation.
“It’s not just cruising around; there’s a whole different part to it,” Brewer said. “There’s few of us that actually go hard core.”
Skateboarding recently has gained popularity as well, which has helped fuel the longboard movement, Darling said.
“It’s the largest growing board sport in the world. It’s taken off huge,” Brewer said.
For Croce and Brewer, who skateboarded in high school, longboarding is a more exciting sport.
“I did this street skating thing back in high school, (but) I didn’t like the feel of it,” Croce said.
As skateboarding has become more of an accepted sport in society, longboarding has been allowed to grow more easily, Darling said.
Since starting the club, Croce and Brewer said they have been riding their longboards frequently with the MSU Longboarding Club, which has grown in popularity itself.
“Freshman year, I came here and posted up flyers for the longboarding club,” Croce said. “We had 11 people (at our last meeting), and half of them I didn’t even know.”
Darling said the sport has been popular on the West Coast for a long time and has recently grown especially on college campuses and beach areas.
“It’s awesome, and I love it,” Brewer said. “There’s no doubt in my mind it’s going to get big.”
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I hate longboarders
(03/18/10 5:09am)Report
Longboarders are the scourge of campus. They move so horribly slowly, but they feel the need to move so erratically that you can’t pass them on your bike.
And don’t give me that “bikes shouldn’t be on the sidewalks” crap. If you make that argument, you must make the argument that longboards should be on the streets as well.
If you find an unattended longboard, find a way to break it in half. Save our campus from these slow weavers.
Good Article
(03/18/10 6:47am)Report
So being longer than standard skateboards, “longboards give more stability to the rider.”
That would be wise with all the books and such, that a student has to deal with in their back pack. I would have to believe that a person would have to be well balanced in order to ride one of these longboards, or even to ride a regular skate board. Riding a longboard or skateboard would require a good amount of balance while have a backpack full of books on. A ditribution of weight and balance, type of thing. But it sounds like a fun way to get to class and to be able to exercise and enjoy the fresh air. It can also help get a person in a better frame of mind for their classes, after a little bit of exercise outdoors. I just hope that everyone is careful and watches out for the other “guy”, those students who are either walking or biking to class. After all everyone is using the same sidewalk,(that is unless bikes are riden in the street)…now that is something I have seen arguments for in the past…oh poor Zach!
Re: I hate longboarders
(03/18/10 11:33am)Report
Your ignorance and sensationalism astounds me. Switch to some non-bunching panties and go hate on somebody else.
I pass bikers all the time on my longboard, and I make a point to be aware of my surroundings specifically so as to not block the way of bikers trying to pass me.
Your opinion, shallow as it is, is fair enough. The few (of many) longboarders who ride on the path from your living quarters to class may happen, by some miracle of nature, to actually be as belligerent as you, and if they are, they might move slowly and erratically just to block your way. But not all longboarders are like that. So don’t pretend that everyone on a longboard is out to make you late to class and make your life hell.
If you’re so tired of biking around campus being difficult for you, go buy a longboard…
Have a great day, dude! It’s beautiful weather for boarding.
Peter Croce
(03/18/10 12:26pm)Report
Props to whoever did the third comment. And whoever did the first comment, I can say that I unfortunately know where you’re coming from.
My name is Peter Croce, president and founder of the Longboarding Club along with Chad who was quoted in the article.
Generalizing things is unintelligent in basically all cases. There are a lot of dumb “longboarders” out there, and then there’s the smart ones who keep up with traffic, dodge pedestrians without hitting them, skate in the bike lanes, and in general just don’t cause problems. Do you hate the whole football team because of some idiots? Don’t think so. But it sure is easy to hate on skateboarders.
For the record, I will be sending in a letter to the editor in the upcoming days. Maybe today, but I’m too busy enjoying spring. But if you want to know what real longboarding and skateboarding is, feel free to come by MASP and look for me, I’ll be around.
One more thing: longboards are skateboards, end of story.
Chad Brewer
(03/18/10 1:05pm)Report
So next biker I pass who throws a hissy fit, Im going to assume it’s the guy who wrote the first comment.
jay
(03/18/10 5:23pm)Report
I love that word poopy^!
(03/18/10 6:06pm)Report
The word poppy helps a person vent without being mean and it sounds kinda cute too, giggle! Glad to see I am not the only one who uses that word, good choice jay, that is also my brothers name!!!!
why can't we be friends?
(03/31/10 11:49am)Report
comments of hate are just such downers to read. no one would want their personal property “broken in half” (doubt he could anyways with some of the 9 ply boards there are. lol so to the sir or mam who has some unhappiness against longboarders, plz recognize that if one was to steal or “break in half” your bike you wouldn’t like that so why would you do that to others. what happend to following the GOLDEN RULE!