Stoke amongst the angst...

World in lockdown, Aussie trip forced to be cancelled, government seemingly befuddled about what to do, people being told to sneeze into their elbow yet panic buying loo roll... ('can't tell there arse from their elbow lad' as me dad would have said)... It is easy, and not really surprising, that so many people feel down. Under reaction, over reaction, who actually knows. But as the BBC weather report found out courtesy of Mr Fish all those years ago, surely it is better to over react and be pleasantly proved wrong than to under react and be fucked...

But one thing is clear pastimes like skating/eskating are ideal to keep one's spirits up in such times. Unless you are on a group ride it is a fairly solitary thing to do, social distancing is easy to do and you get outside to get your dose of Vitamin D (which may be important in determining how bad you get the virus when you get it). Transport wise it solves the social distancing problem. But more than anything, like other solitary sports like surfing, it makes you feel good. My dear departed wifey admitted that she would wait til I had a good surf or skate before asking me to do any jobs or decisions (with one outcome she wanted lol) because she knew I would happily and enthusiastically go and do it.. My daughters still bring up the fact that according to me the surf/skate I just had was normally, "the best surf I have ever had." Even though it obviously wasn't.

So, get out there, surf, skate or do whatever solitary thing makes you happy (get your minds out the gutter) as it appears that sooner rather than later we will need things to make us happy!

+++++++++++++++++++ PSA off ++++++++++++++++++

So the Stoke continues to impress and takes up most of my riding time at present (although not commuting at present so that may change). Kind of annoying as most of the time it probably isn't the

right choice for the terrain/weather. Went out on the carbon with off road tyres the other day and it was weird not having to be ultra vigilant about the terrain in front of me on the potholed, man hole cover of death laden local streets. But it didn't feel the same somehow. Now sure come the end of the monsoon season when the grass banks and trails are not water logged I will see more GTR off road action for sure... But til then I am drawn to the Stoke. I had a sit down (you don't need to know where) and had a think about the reason why.

Basically I figure it is because it takes me back to the days when a skateboard was attached to my feet or hand all day long. This lasted for a long time lol. GTRs are great but not really something you can easily take around the shops or elsewhere easily (without causing a hassle or looking like a walking mid life crisis). Stoke is easy, sure it is heavier than a regular skate but at least you can straight arm carry it by the trucks, or stick it in a small shoulder sling (thing ski sling here). Also there is the sort of intensity you get out of having to keep an eye out on the surface most of the time, yeh one can still have music on the bone conducting head phones but in a weird way I find it keeps your senses more proactive. Eventually even the foot massage (vibration) is kind of reassuring in. And the real reason I think is the thing moves/carves like a twin fin fish surfboard or a small 70's skateboard. You really can sidewalk surf just like Jan and Dean told me to do all those years ago when I was a kid....
SIDEWALK SURFING