When is enough.....enough?
 

So maybe some of you know from other posts of mine that I'm passionate about longboarding. Well my buddy and I have been skating for years so we kinda have a feel for it. His girlfriend however is new to the whole thing and is well, not really at "that" level yet.

So tonight we did a bunch of runs. Maybe got 30-45 minutes of footage and ran from security at two places. We go downtown to a hill thats not crazy intense, depending on where you start. She decides to start a little higher than she should and goes for it. At the bottom she went to turn into a parking lot, but was matched against a 2" lip and it stopped the board dead in its tracks. Needless to say she fell off the board and landed on her arm pretty good. I watched the entire thing an heard the thud.

Crazy thing is, last fall she had a bad spill and spent 5 days in the hospital and like a month out of work. She fell at a run we do at this golf course and cracked her face. Fucking broke her eyebrow and cant move it. Tonight she said she thinks she broke her arm, but didn't want to go to the hospital.

For me its like, jesus christ enough is enough. Shes great and everything to have around, but this shit is brutal. I've said all I could and she insists that she'll never give up. But at this rate she's gonna fuck something up major or worse. Its just a bad way to end such a good night we were having....:facepalm:

i know it kills her street cred, but maybe some pads and a helmet until she gets "there"?

lol! I know right. Well I've mentioned pads and a helmet before, but thats not important to her. Shit, some times I even think to myself that I should be geared up.

So why don't you wear a helmet? Brain death sucks.

Yikes. Concrete+head=Fail, street cred does no good when you can't control your bowels.

Chris

No argument here. I plan on getting a helmet and slide gloves very soon. I guess when you've been skating for a long time you kinda put aside things like, helmets and pads. I don't disagree that we should all have them on, but being more comfortable and experienced I can do *most hills without fear.

For her sake though I feel like she should be wrapped in pillows. Its just getting to the point were it sucks cause it ends the night immediately, and its not the first time. I give her props for trying what she does, but its def not worth veggie status.

I 100% plan on a getting a helmet soon. Shit I was even thinking about getting a full leather suit! lol

I'd rather get hurt than look like a herb (just not too badly hurt heh).

I remember I was doing a railslide and the board slipped out from underneath me and landed on my tailbone. That was the worst pain I've ever felt.

Guess what I was doing the next day.

Maybe she should just be smart about it and not do such crazy things until she gets better at it. I wasn't skating rails the first day I learned to ollie. Baby steps.

I skated for about 8 years and for me the time to give it up came when I was only getting out there about once or twice a month... yeah like someone said in your other thread, it's a lot like riding a bike, but after just a few weeks off a board it takes some falls to "get your legs" right.

I was getting really good last summer in the mini. I was actually waxing my board to get HUGE MEGA lip slides, board slides, blunt slides, etc. but mini was never enough for me and I kept ending up in the streets with my friends where I had the confidence to try bigger stairs/gaps/rails than them because I'd been skating longer. Towards the end of th summer I went about 3 weeks w/o skating, went out one night and before I "got my legs" I tried to hip transfer in the local bowl. Hyper-extended my knee not once, but twice within the first twenty minutes at the park. Couldn't walk right for about a month and it still gives me trouble nearly 7 months later.

Haven't skated since. Don't really miss it because I'm walking a lot better w/o busted up shins or buised hips/tailbone.

I fruit booted for about 9 years. Maybe 50% street 50% park. Never hit my head when I wasn't wearing a helmet, never broke anything, a few bad spills that fucked me up for a few days, but that is about it. I will say that every time I did have a helmet on I seemed to hit my head, but I always wore a helmet for new stuff until I felt comfortable. In hindsight I'm shocked I didn't seriously destroy some part of my body. I think if I had messed something up, I'd be really pissed about it right now. So in conclusion, tell her to think 5 or so years in the future, and if she would be okay with possibly having something seriously messed up, if it's worth not taking it slow, or putting on some pads. Living life on the safe side can be pretty boring, but it doesn't have to be all or nothing.

Any pics of the chick?

I know it's now quite the same magnitude of spill, but I'll have to dig out photos I've taken over the years of some of my old M/C gear.

In 10 years of riding, I've gone down twice. The first was at fairly low-speed and shattered my right clavicle, the second was a relatively high-speed endo that fractured six ribs, punctured a lung, and tore the ever-loving shit out of the ligaments in my left foot.

However, I'm one of those guys who's pretty ---- about "all the gear, all the time." Full helmet, leather gloves & boots, jacket & pants (preferably leather, though I'll wear textile if it's really hot).

On both occasions I demolished close to $1k in riding gear, but more-or-less walked away each time. Well, the first time I walked away. The second time I rode away strapped to a board, but you get the general idea. (I was walking within a few days, at least.)

Both times, the helmet I was wearing was pretty awesomely ground up. The second time in particular, it was abraded through the first layer or two of the composite material all the way around (I'd rolled several times) including the area directly over my face.

Needless to say, I'm quite happy to still be in possession of my face, skull, brain, fingers, etc. For all of that, I have a total of about 1 square inch of road-rash to show, a small spot on one wrist where the gauntlet of my glove rolled up as I was sliding.

I like gear.


Short version: you and the girl are participating in an activity where it's more or less a given that you're going to be throwing your bodies at the pavement from time to time. I don't care how hot she is, changing her diaper and wiping up her drool will get old fast.

http://www.interskateboard.com/img/0....02.150411.jpg

Not uncool.

I gotta go with joe on this one. I know she broke her arm this time or whatever, but that could have just as easily been her head. If she's having this much trouble with it, tell her to put her fuckin pads/helmet on or learn to tuck and roll better.

I remember the startup days of Mountain Biking, and road cycling for years without helmets and other gear. It too was uncool, but then it seemed, enough people were getting killed by traffic, or extreme conditions that helmets started becoming a better idea. Now I go out riding seeing other riders, i would have to say only 10% or less are without a helmet. Serious guys have the full setup.

I know a simple helmet would not have helped your girls arm, but protective gear does alot for everyone. Arms will mend, but brain contusions will not.
Skating, Boarding, Surfing, all i think need to embrace better the idea of gear along with the board as standard equipment. I guess the fact, that you can always just pickup your board, will hamper the ability to just grab your helmet too.

Keep safe, Practice goes along way, we all must know our boundarys.

The girl sara is my friends gf. I'm not sure if I could date a girl that couldn't give me my own time with the guys. Its cool here and there to take her, but not everytime. It limits where we go and what hills we do, usually means we end up at a parking garage.

Personally, I don't not wear a helmet to be "cool". When I went to skateparks on my skateboard it was pretty much a rule. So I'm definitely used to wearing one and don't mind it. I think the reason I don't wear one longboarding is because my biggest worry isn't hitting the ground so much, more like hitting a car or getting run the fuck over. Everytime I fall I put my forearms out to take the brute of the fall, then I tuck and roll.

I've very aware of my safety and surroundings when we go out. I mean we do shit thats insane and I've become comfortable with it. I'll probably be getting a helmet and slide gloves soon for myself, just because we are getting to that next level of faster and longer runs.

Just sucks always having a girl with us and almost everytime she gets hurt. Some nights just a small spill, some times fucking major ass face plants into the asphalt. :facepalm: The fucked up thing is lastnight I was the only one that seemed genuinely concerned! Her own boyfriend and brother didn't even seem to care. :cry:

Getting hit by a car = some broken bones, a punctured lung, probably some rehab, maybe a leg amputation. They've got pretty good prosthetics these days.


Getting hit by a car without your lid =
http://msnbcmedia4.msn.com/j/msnbc/C...50615.300w.jpg


So, every time she goes out, she gets hurt, and yet she refuses to wear gear.

On second thought, I'm thinking maybe the damage has already been done. :rolleyes:

Yea, you ain't kidding. She's very set in her ways with the whole longboarding thing. I've even tried to be serious and say "hey guys, lets talk about...." and tried to say maybe she should stick with level ground for awhile. Yet she insists that she can do it and she needs to learn to go down bigger shit. My friend pretty much just lets her. In all fairness to him, he does express some concern to me about her safety, but his actions speak very loudly that he's not "that" concerned just yet.

I'm not sure if I have pics of her, but I have video. I am in the process now of editing the trailer together for the website launch. I'll share it when its done. Too bad I don't have the majority of the falls on film.

I wear a helmet when I ski, blade, and climb. Saved me at least a beat up skull while skiing one time when a tree branch came out of nowhere and I hit it hard enough to see stars. Got up and skied down to chill for a few and drove home. I am a firm believer in protective gear.

I dig the chicks perseverance and balls:giggle:, but the guys are right everyone needs gear.

I've been a Ski/Snowboard Patroller, on downhill mountain bike rescue team, and a Firefighter paramedic for about ten years now. I've learned over the years that there are just to many variables, even the best get creamed.

I always wear full gear, not so much for myself (although it's enough), but for the other idiots too.

I've flown out pro snowboarders who just hucked themselves 100+ft with several inversions, nailed the landing then turned to celebrate and then caught there heel edge and cracked their noggins on the snow:laugh:

Get her to gear up. Maybe she'll do it if you do.

I guess I wasn't the only one that misread that the first time. I thought it was your GF. Maybe you and your other buddies need to tell your friend that the rest of you are going for a guys night out and hit the bigger hills. He will either come around and man up and tell her that he will go with her tomorrow or he will spend a lot of time alone.

I can see now that she is putting a drag on your fun with respect to the hills you are on or cutting it short.

Finally found a shot I took of the back of my old helmet after the big one, where I went over at ~60mph:

http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/1...metrear8ck.jpg

That was a $500 lid, and worth every penny. I bought another one just like it afterward. I can't imagine having survived without it on.