What have ollies, decks, trucks, popsicles, cruisers and kicktails got in common? If you’d asked me that back in December I would have quietly assumed you were from another planet. But now I’m happy to say I’m in a good position to enlighten you…
It seemed like a good idea for a Christmas present; Lara had trailed it enough to give us a clue that Father Christmas’s arrival with a skateboard in his sack would be a welcome surprise. And the initial impact was decidedly so; unwrapping a bright blue machine with impressive decoration and wheels which lit up as she sped along the corridor in the first test flights.
So it was a good job that the present included a full safety kit of helmet, knee and elbow pads, etc. because she spent much of the next day crashing into bookcases, doors and anything else unfortunate enough to be in the way of her hurtling progress. And that was just inside the house!
Cue the need for some training in the art of riding a skateboard. Since this is a skillset which I am most certainly not in possession of this led me to outsource the problem to our local indoor skateboard park where I booked a couple of lessons. Turned out to be an education for me too; while sheltering from the noise of kids shouting encouragement and challenge at each other and the rumble of wheels over plywood ramps and chicanes I sipped my coffee and thought about some of the innovation lessons it was demonstrating….