I have sorely missed the sun this summer - its warming energy infuses inspiration into me and enables the fulfilment of my persistent craving to be outdoors. Activities we poor Brits normally have to endure under grey skies and rain can, let’s face it, be far better enjoyed when the sun shines… For example, the ever rare, past-time of swimming (minus wetsuit) in cold salt waters or in fresh water rivers; bright and sweaty tennis games interspersed with the glugging of cool sweet soda in the shade, and afternoons long-boarding along smooth, dry sidewalks.
Yet even during the rare and precious sun worshipping I have conducted this ‘summer’, I have still found myself dreaming about the mountain heaven of snow I will come to immerse myself in this season.
So in these sporadic dry spells, I turn my enthusiasm to my plank with wheels, as when the perfect hill has been found, long-boarding is the closest I’ve come to mimicking the feeling of snowboarding on dry land (in the absence of any massive sand dunes and/or a mountain board!).
After a particularly intense bout of rain and cloud, upon waking to a bright sun the other weekend, the hunt was on for a hill to cruise down and a 20 minute push from home later, we found ourselves contemplating several narrow paths which ran off in different directions through the trees.
After an aggressive and narrow beginning, our choice route widened and flattened out into a path named ‘The Avenue’, so using our imaginations - this concrete slope became our mountain and similarly to snowboarding, a sense of freedom and exhilaration was aroused as we carved broad swooping turns in swift succession.
Shaded from a burning sun, under a canopy of very British Oaks graffitying the concrete with their shadows, run after run, we evaded the stares of passersby - perhaps a little envious at our determined yet yearning kindred spirits…
Tags: Long-Boarding, Skating, Snowboarding
