Beyond the blood

oh dear

smooth star??? wtf

Ok it's true. I've been riding a smooth star. At least i've been riding a smooth star truck thing on one of my old boards.

It started as a joke, but now i can't stop....

I get a lot of strange looks at the skatepark - if you can't be good, may as well be different.

This thing is supposed to be like surfing - I don't know about that, I wish I could turn my surfboard as well as this board, but i'm a pretty crap surfer.

Standing on a smooth star for the first time is an interesting experience. It is not still like a 'normal' board - it is totally unstable. then if you try and push off, it goes everywhere but once you get used to it its ok. The big thing is it can turn on a dime - seriously. I like to take it in bowls and just carve - it doesn't go too well backwards either, but i can live with that.

Apart from a few kids down at the beach, I have only ever seen one person with a smooth star. And he couldn't really skate. I don't know why they are so unpopular - but then again, that's part of why I like them.

the ghost who skates

Last week on Saturday morning I saw him launching down a big hill. It was steep, busy and he was flying. He wants to die.

A few days later I saw him again. It was raining. It was just getting light. He went past the main street of Coogee - which is steep - in a straight line, bent over in that weird downhill thing they do. Through sets of lights, through the roundabout wtf??? He must have been doing 60km. Ok maybe not.

Who is that guy?