The day after my birthday, Davey and I took a jaunt over to hood river to watch the
3dm/Seismic West Coast Championships . We have never even been to many skateboard events, much less a championship race. It was SO cool and when we left, I daydreamed all the way back to the Couve about speeding through cones wearing confidence-building knee pads and puffy hip and bootey protectors.
For most of the time, we stayed near the finish line so we could watch the most preferred stopping method. After the finish line, the riders only had a short steep hill to come to a complete stop. There was a bike trail that cut up to the right but because you could not see if the coast was clear, most people opted to foot brake, (almost like Fred Flinstone in his wood and rock wheeled car). You could almost smell the burning rubber at times. Others slid to a stop but I’ll practice a bit more before I try that.
Anyway, as we enjoyed watching the racers come in, a lady in one of the red shirts had finished her run and was standing, watching other finishers. As she watched and re-hydrated, I wanted to ask about her full-faced helmet, and how one gets into this and where to go, what to do…everything. So…I walked across the road and started probing. She had some heavy duty gear which made me think that maybe I DON’T look like such a dork as I ride down the hills of northwest in my pro-tek helmet.
Her name was Judi and she was really nice and had lots of information about how to start getting into the actual “slalom” type riding. Right now, Davey and I just cruise down hills and my only goal is to keep from hitting cars or dislocating my shoulder. She gave us some good hints. She suggested to start on a flat long surface, such as a parking lot. Set out some cones and just start riding to get the feel of the movement. Their moves are smooth and fast! I explained I couldn’t do any riding at the moment and showed her my recent knee scars. She was SO cool and said there weren’t many female riders so it’s good to see people like me wanting to get into it.
Our conversation was cut short by her saying “yeah, there’s some lady over there taking pictures of us” and I look over to see my Mom and her friend, Jim. They were standing there grinning ear to ear…my mom with her camera! We told them the day before of our plans but I never thought they’d come all they way over to watch! It was such a nice surprise and I was happy as we chatted about their adventures for the day. Lots of sightseeing and picture taking!
After I got home the next day from work, Davey told me to look at
this. I coulda been knocked over with a feather when I read about this person I just met,
Judi Oyama . How lucky was I to get to watch her race in? What a good birthday!
And yes, I KNOW this picture is anything but flattering! You should have seen how much I had to crop my butt,and it still looks hooge..hee hee... but at least it's not that bad pic of Davey!
