Category: skateboarding

I was looking through footage from the first year of the pandemic the other day, and was struck by the beautiful North Texas Fall sky. I love it that time of the year. Hoody weather. Been listening to a lot of Pink Floyd lately. Thought it fit. I think all of these were from a couple of streaming sessions I did. Fall 2020.

Before Covid messed everything up my friend Dale and I were working on a skate project called The Small Arts. It was to focus on banks, ditches, curbs, and flat. We’ll likely get back to it eventually. It’s been a hard 2 years. Anyway, I found this footage we shot while out skating.

The Small Arts: Video Jan 10, 2019? from Bob Loftin on Vimeo.

As any skateboarder with an internet connection now knows, Tony Hawk broke his femur last week. Really nasty break. He was in Austin a few days later, on crutches, with hardware in his leg, for the first showing of the new documentary about his life in skating at South by Southwest.

This morning on his Hawk vs Wolf video/podcast he and Jason Ellis talk about it.

It is really something to see Hawk talk about this injury. Clearly it was horrible, and he has the look of a man who already understood the effects of aging on his skating, and now understands it even more. But what is really moving is hearing him essentially say that (besides just wanting to walk normally again) he just wants to skate. That desire just to skate, regardless the so-called level of his skating. Obviously if Tony is skating at about 10% his peak, that is about 1000% for everyone else, but the point is the same. All of us just want to skate. It is very humanizing to see this legendary skater really not knowing what the future of his skating looks like, but just wanting to skate.

First session of the year, since the weather turned to crap in November 2021. The first session of the new year is always rough, as it take about 1 or maybe 2 sessions to get my feet back under me. Legs are always a little weaker after winter, and I’m just a bit rusty in general. Was good to be back on my board and I’m looking forward to a good year of skating.

Anyway, I was a little slow today, a little afraid of little rocks, and just generally getting the feel for my board again.