Was watching morning news show, saw a couple of guys riding elongated skate boards carrying poles for balance and momentum. They looked like gondoliers in Venice..........
A skateboard city? Pedestrian sidewalks for walkers, wide streets and long skateboards with one driver and four passengers. It is a striking sight, how folks get on board, get in sync together and ride with a sort of mindless ease. Carrying stuff, reading their ePads and chattering back and forth with effortlessness. There is an apparent laid back attitude as if this mode of transport is preferred, even for the aged. Wide skateboards carrying goods, delivering food, the precision of the riders to navigate is uncanny. The poles they carry to balance and propel are mostly plain but some are ornate and some are high-tek concealing lights, weaponry and safety items.
There are solitary blade skaters zooming about who often link shoulder to shoulder resembling a centipede to share power and aerodynamics for long trips in high speed lanes.
There is an ultra speed lane that has a unique feature, a crew of pushers. They patrol the byways looking for a flag signal from linked groups to speed-assist. The pusher has motorized wheels and emergency clearance to break riding rules. Pushers keep things moving, quick to point out or teach "good form" which is the law.
As with any city an element that skirts "good form" exists. They are slightly to overtly out of sync, somewhat arrogant and always dress the part. Shorts and tees and the fake tattoos they change like chameleons to hide and allude. They inhabit the skate parks and are all about extending their "terror-tory". They shout "remember the old school when skating was free and off grid?". They hate that boarding has become normalized, yet they don't prefer to walk.
There is always talk of the gliders of the future, no more wheels. Sure water gliders are as old as boats but land gliders? That is the holy grail of boarding. Come on, you got to believe the Silver Surfer is god. Ok, he's a herald of a galaxy eater. Not to worry, NASA has the TUMS project to protect us. So SS can once again be Harold the skateboard rider.
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