Thursday, May 07, 2009

I'm not scared, just not prepared.


This has been the music in my head, all day long. The very wonderful Prego, live in London, last year.

Skating again...

And I love it. I crept out of the house early this morning, around 6.45. Swished silently through the Queens Park Estate, hopped a passing 452 to Kensal Rise, then it was a languorous carving rush down Keslake Road, a slight squiggle through some back streets, then powering down the side of Queens Park itself. That early in the morning, you can dodge the traffic (what there is of it) fairly easily, and you can stretch out and enjoy the tarmac as it rushes beneath your wheels. Can't think of a better way to start the day.

Monday, May 04, 2009

New house, new tarmac.

So, I'm moving on. Brighton is no longer my home town, and all my possessions are beginning their trek back up the M23 (or at least the process has started, the mother lode should arrive back in London by the end of the month)
It makes me look back, ruefully, on the happy times I had on the South coast, and above all, the feeling of release I used to get from leaving the city behind and heading to the calm and quirky charm that only Brighton can give you. I packed up my vinyl yesterday, into the same boxes which it travelled down to Brighton in, all those years ago. A very odd sensation. So, I've rented out my flat in Shepherd's Bush, and have travelled a few miles up the road, to Queen's Park. It means I'm still near the bright lights of Westfield, still near the Jez for beers, still near to the Westway!
And it means there's new delights as far as skating goes. The streets around my new place are smooth and quiet, so I broke out the longboard this morning, for a quick skate. Wonderful. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but if I don't skate for a while, I start dreaming about it, so this should have stopped the dreams for a bit. The board is quicker than ever: put Bones Swiss into the wheels, and it's as fast as hell. However, still getting a bit of "bearing peel" with the wheels (Krypto classic 70's) Anyone else get this? Obviously, I'm using it for some pretty intense pumping carves, so the cores on the wheels aren't doing their job, but what other wheels could I use? Suggestions?