Discovered another cool gravity sport | GTAMotorcycle.com

Discovered another cool gravity sport

Sochi

Sochi

Well-known member
Another boring day at my "home office" and I discovered a gravity sport I never knew existed.
Roads in Alps loos so amazing downhill, love how he scrubs speed before corners and using palms for sliding :) And doesn't have much of protective gear either with cars using the same road..
Does this exist in Canada?
Never seen anyone around with such long boards, on the ohter hand we don't have Alps here in Ontario either

 
I used to do DH and Freeride throughout my teens in Toronto. Not too many big or long hills, but there are a few that are fun for sliding and building moderate speeds up to 50-60kph or so for a few hundred meters. Nothing like the multi-minute descents you find in other places though. How I dreamed to go to BC back in the day for some skating...

It was a blast. Generally if you raced, folks get full moto leathers and a full face, though for non-racing most people stuck to a bucket, slide gloves, and KNEE PADS*** (This was honestly the most important thing). Some wore elbow and wrist guards, but if you know how to fall and are just casually skating with friends, knee pads will do enough in most scenarios.

I've had some long nights back then with road rash along entire sides of my body from bails - good and bad memories had haha.

One thing I loved about the community was how adamant everyone was about safety. We would be so hard on new guys who show up with no helmet and gloves and pads. We'd always send them away to get their gear sorted. Too many bad accidents which can lead to locations being patrolled by cops and public outcry etc, and in a sport like this, you can really hurt yourself fast if you aren't careful. We always tried our best to skate as safely as we could. We had spotters for cars, and cleaned our garbage after ourselved (though there are always bad apples, and this is obviously the least one can expect to do). I couldn't speak more highly of the Longboard community in Toronto - at least from my short time in it.

Lots of guys from the Ontario community now race in other parts, or have moved to BC or equivalent locations I believe. Haven't spoken to anyone in ages :/
 
Looks like longboarding. I have one but can't do most of that.....

Hitting a stone in the road would really suck, like doing so on a skateboard just X100.
 
backmarkerducati said:
Looks like longboarding. I have one but can't do most of that.....

Hitting a stone in the road would really suck, like doing so on a skateboard just X100.
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Downhill wheels are generally quite large compared to a skateboard so they usually go over stones OK, especially at speed, but it can definitely mess you up.

Same as with motorcycles, you stay away from edges of the road if possible, unless you know it's been swept by yourself or another rider recently, in which case you apex that MF as close as you can :cool:
 
I was born in mountains - Caucasus Mountains - not Rockies or Alps but we do have some pretty cool roads with long ascends and twisties - know what I know now I feel I wasted my younger years not doing any of these cool sports or moto riding instead of climbing or running all we did :(
 
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Wow...that does look awesome, but not for my taste. I'd prefer to be riding a bike on that road, but no denying the guy's skills.

I'm 41 and when my 5 year old wants to start scootering or skateboarding...I think I'm going to buy one also just to spend time with him. But as per the post by @Gary above...there will be no riding without proper gear.
 
Sochi , is Caucaz mtns your spelling for Caucasus mtns , our spelling??


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MaksTO said:
Downhill wheels are generally quite large compared to a skateboard so they usually go over stones OK, especially at speed, but it can definitely mess you up.

Same as with motorcycles, you stay away from edges of the road if possible, unless you know it's been swept by yourself or another rider recently, in which case you apex that MF as close as you can :cool:
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Yes I have one and did catch a stone a few years ago, bigger wheels bigger stones I guess. No where near as fast as this guy, no where near the skill, more speed may have helped maybe, just on some hills here in Toronto. I managed to get two or three steps in before I did the full superman and I got really lucky as I "mostly" steered myself onto some grass at the side of the road. Still pretty cut up. If it happened at his speed, I can't imagine. That road looked pretty pristine I must admit.

Pretty much gave up on longboarding as it was too hard being double goofy.

Growing up in the falls as teenagers we used to ride down the escarpment or towards the falls on those skinny little wheeled 80s boards. Favourite was down from Victoria merging on the "420/Roberts/Falls Avenue" past the Rainbow Bridge. We tried Clifton Hill many times but it seemed to us you reach terminal velocity in 30 feet....
 
I helped out a small startup business in Dundas when long boards first started to be a thing here , I was supplying him Baltic birch plywood , 14 layers of veneer in an 18mm thick panel, they had a good spring to them and machined well . Like all those kids with a cool idea, he made a great board just didn't know how to get it into the market .
I had a similar project with kids that wanted to produce a beach wave skimmer board , easy to make , fun to play with. Hard to get to market.

The worst was my pal that decided they should make the worlds coolest carbon fibre skateboards, custom machined aluminum press dies, a 4'x8' heated press, walk in cooler for storing prepreg carbon panels , die cutting press, an engineer. 3 million dollars later, they just don't 'pop' like a maple ply board and when the edges grind sharp they will amputate a leg . We all came out of that with -18cents on the dollar at the tooling sale.....
 
Sochi said:
I was born in mountains - Caucasus Mountains - not Rockies or Alps but we do have some pretty cool roads with long ascends and twisties - know what I know now I feel I wasted my younger years not doing any of these cool sports or moto riding instead of climbing or running all we did :(
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aww snap, we got a khabibistani in the house
 
My question, does Sochi still have any family in the Caucasus mtns and can they get thier hands on any Turkish / Caucasus figures walnut? Need a piece about 2 1/2 x 10 x 30” .


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