Extreme Skateboarding?

Early Mid 60's. We cut strap on metal wheel skates in half and nailed them to boards, even a 2X4 worked. HARD TAIL wonders for sure! Susiside Hill was a 1/4 mile of cracked sidewalk with three choices on the ride down a 30%+ downhill drop. 1) you fell off - scares to prove it, 2) you over shot the curb, hit the other side and ended up in a cement ditch full of untreated water from the sewage plant - scares to prove it, and 3) you successfully made a 90* left hand turn and coasted to a stop several blocks away. We are talking metal wheels nailed to boards and these were homemade and nothing at all like the boards my kids ride. Do you know what I am talking about? Did you ever do this way back then? Remember Marty in Back to the Future and his use of a skate 'scooter' quickly modified to a skate board like I'm talking about?

At the time I was a bouncer in a skating rink and competed in speed skating. The wheels for speed skates are wood, and you use rosin on the floor. I also had to dance skate and the wheels on those were a lot like we see on skateboards today. But I started out on metal wheels skates and that's what we made our skate boards out of -worked on cement great, plenty of hard falls. This was early 60's.

Was not alive then but it sounds pretty extreme. Plus I just finished watching Back to the Future this past weekend so I know exactly what your talking about. Really cool if you actually think about it.

Yes it was a challenge to ride such a skateboard, and that was probably why we dod it. We were amoung some of the first to try out this new sport. Up till then I worked at a skating rink and competed in speed racing on roller skates. Report It

Before my time.