sunny weekend

Sunshine this weekend mixed with a broken bike pump and a slow puncture meant that I finally managed to get out for a half decent and a somewhat more noticeable long distance skate. it's roughly 5 miles to work on semi rough to semi smooth pavements and roads, here's how it went.

The semi rough potholed roads that are in such abundance in and around hull were swept up and spat out by the LBL pusher board. The smooth roads and pavements were a luxury and mixed with a gentle tail wind for the outward journey allowed for some energy saving, chilled out skating to be done. The low profile of the deck meant that leg ache was reduced compared to excursions on my taller pintail on original trucks, and allowed me to get through an 8 hour shift without the added joy and discomfort of tired legs (interestingly i felt better than if i had rode my bike). It took a total of 35-40mins of skating to cover the 5 miles, and i was not rushing as i left with plenty of time.

The ride home was a little tougher as a mild headwind meant extra leg work was needed on top of already tired legs from work, but the board was so comfortable to ride thanks to the great addition of rockered edges (bent at each edge like an "(" laid flat) that locked my size 10 feet in perfectly. Tree root cracked pavements and loose gritty concrete were in abundance and with only minor changes in the rhythm of my pushing were handled with ease by the board and wheel setup. The flex of the board along with the softness of the urethane wheels smoothed out bumps and lumps leaving my legs with little to do other than push, steer and balance without having to act as the main shock absorbers. In short the comfort of this board is incredible, and am looking forward to a longer ride to test it further.

The only negative comment to make was the wheels. the lime bigzigs are comfortable and grippy and the soft compound rolled over every obstacle perfectly, but the size of the wheels matched with the drop through trucks and lowered deck meant a few scrapes to the varnished edges when turning tighter turns, and i had to adjust my carving style that i would normally use on my pintail and original trucks to accommodate. Not really a huge issue but confidence and belief in making the turn without the worry of scraping edges would make the board that much more comfortable for future rides. Maybe some larger abec11 flywheels would help solve this issue but at £70+ for a set of four i might just get out on the bigzigs some more until i'm comfortable with them.

If the weather stays nice and sunny for this coming weekend i will be skating to work again and will try and get some video and/or photos plus a route map up here for you all to see.

regards