I’m not quite as Avril Lavigne proclaimed a ‘skater girl’, opting for heels over sneakers every time, but after my friend Ed recently introduced me to freeboarding, his excitement was infectious.
I’m not quite as Avril Lavigne proclaimed a ‘skater girl’, opting for heels over sneakers every time, but after my friend Ed recently introduced me to freeboarding, his excitement was infectious.
When he asked whether I wanted to have a go, I said, “sure”, I mean how hard could it really be?
We have seen many skateboards and longboards grace the streets of Grahamstown but freeboarding offers a whole new challenge and adrenalin rush.
A mix between skating and snow-boarding, it was created for snowboarders who suffered snow withdrawal (the reason Ed bought his board in the first place).
A freeboard has six wheels; four just as a normal skateboard and two spring-locked centre wheels which turn freely in all directions, allowing the board to ‘slide’ laterally — provided none of the four corner wheels are touching the ground.
This mimics the traditional ‘side-to-side’ motion of snowboarding.
Armed with nothing but enthusiasm for trying something new, a few instruction videos (that I didn’t really pay attention to) and Ed – broken wrist (from freeboarding) included, we set off on my first freeboarding lesson.
Learning curve 1: learn to balance, because the board is designed with the two extra swivelling wheels, standing on this thing without face-planting – impossible!
As Ed quickly learned, being short did nothing for my centre of gravity and if I was going to fall, he was coming with me, broken wrist or not.
Holding onto his shoulders I stepped into the bindings, bent my legs, leant my weight onto my heels and wooo — I was free-boarding!
Except I only went about four meters and didn’t exactly let go of Ed who had to remind me he already had a broken limb.
Learning curve 2: Changing direction — this involves shifting your weight from your heels to your toes in line with the slope in the road.
To be honest, a few failed attempts and Ed reminding me that if you don’t shift your weight correctly the board can slide out from under you, was enough to make me feel satisfied with going in one direction a few meters at a time.
Learning curve 3: Stopping! Come to think of it, perhaps this should have been the first lesson in my newbie curriculum.
I never quite got the hang of the stopping technique.
For me stopping was dragging Ed with me, jumping off the board when I actually moved at any kind of speed, or crashing straight into the pavement. We have since reprioritised stopping in the lesson plans.
From San Francisco to Grahamstown, freeboarding has taken the world by storm.
While I’m not quite as addicted to the sport as Ed is, I’m ready to give the craze another skate.
So if you see a little woman wobbling on a board with six wheels, dragging a lanky friend behind her and screaming past your house – please give me a hoot so that I don’t get hit by a car.
Well, until I’ve mastered stopping.
