Imagine a soft, wavy motion that sways your body from side to side gently. Almost like in the crib when you were a baby, perhaps a hammock on a warm summer evening. The wind is lightly touching your face and you get this feeling of great happiness and bliss. Your body feels light, almost weightless, you are highly focused yet totally relaxed, fearless and free.

No I am not referring to a drug experience but the feeling I get when I move down a smooth piece of asphalt on my longboard.

Yes I am 35, yes I do enjoy riding a longboard. Yes typically these joys are reserved for younger folks, I am not quite sure why not many people my age or older are doing these types of activities. Well I know at least one, my mate Simon in Sydney. He’s a business owner and CEO and definitely past the 35 mark with a white stubbled beard. He’s fit, behaves like he’s 25 and rides his (electric) longboard every day.

We were just catching up on a quick video call the other day. Due to timezones 8 in the morning for him and 6 in the evening for me, he was getting ready to leave for work while I was wrapping up my day.

After chatting a little about family, business I asked him about his longboarding and sure enough he recently had traded his kick longboard for an electric longboard (Which was a birthday present). He held it up in the camera, proudly with a boyish smirk “I’m going to ride this into the office later, as I do every day”

That’s when I though, fuck, why am I not riding anymore, why am I skipping this piece of child like play? What’s holding me back?

Maybe because its a little dangerous, yes you can fall and get bruised (Simon rear ended a car in his first week on the e-board), yes you risk kicking it into speed and slipping on a stone and face-planting in front of a bunch of stranger, or worse, friends.

So after a quick decision I went on amazon and due to lack of funds for a boosted board (electric piece of boarding heaven) I decided on a simple kick-longboard for 60 bucks. I can afford $60 and if I don’t end up riding as often as I’d want, it wouldn’t be a big deal.

Let me tell you, if you have not ridden in a while, you will start feeling muscle groups in your body, you never knew existed.

Photo by Taylor Jacobs on Unsplash

It’s Friday, 9 AM, I already have a few hours of work down and as most of my co-workers are just trickling into the office I am already knee deep in emails and stuff; good time for a quick break.

The office is nicely located on a quieter part of town surrounded by some apartments, a golf course, a library and some shops. There is an exactly 1mile round track sidewalk just outside the front door. Perfect.

Now to gain speed on a longboard you put your front foot (could be left or right) in the frontal quarter of the board pointing straight ahead trying not to apply sideways pressure. At the beginning its pretty clunky, the board will try to go places you have absolutely no intention going to. After some practice however you’ll have a kick or two which you didn’t have to think about, you’ll just do and be propelled forward almost perfectly.

That’s the moment when bliss starts. You can focus on the forward velocity not on the exact angle of both your feet, knees, arms, upper body and head.

It helps when the sky is blue and some nice tunes are playing on the headphones, another kick, another perfect forward motion, I feel euphoric. I got it, look at me everyone, I am a longboarder.

Not so fast, I think after taking a huge stumble, struggling to stay upright. The elder chinese gentleman, jogging down the sidewalk, genuinely shocked and with a face of horror as I come hurtling and stumbling towards him.

My sunglasses hanging down, headphone dangling, only covering one ear and the grace from merely seconds ago definitely interrupted, I can’t help but smile and think “At least I didn’t fall flat on my face” So back on the board and off we go again!

It’s those moments of confidence followed by near disaster that make longboarding so interesting for me and of course the best part is hitting a nice long and even downward slope. No more kicking required, just carving from one edge of the road the the other.

That’s the last hundred ad fifty meters of my office-loop. A nice slope of smoothly paved sidewalk, usually clear of pedestrians and cyclists.

As I give it one last kick over the edge of the little hill, i can feel adrenaline rising in my system, I feel my breath getting a little more shallow, senses totally focused on the ride now.

At this stage the speed is still pretty much 0 km/h but logic tells me that this is about to change. It does so quickly, with my own body mass and gravity pulling me into gear I can get the first glimpse of velocity. A few more meters in and the perfect carving speed is reached.

Now that part is that incredible feeling I mentioned in the first section all the way at the beginning of this article.

With just slight adjustments in my stance I can maneuver the board into a smooth, rhythmic carving motion from one end to the other end of the sidewalk. I can’t help but let out a loud “YEEEEHHHAAAAAAWWWW” as I am gliding towards the point I started just 10 minutes ago.

Pavement, trees, single grass leaves are now whizzing by, I don’t heard the birds sing anymore, even the rolling sounds of the board wheels with the ground are out of focus, almost blurry. Just left side, carve, right side, carve, left side..

As I am losing the last bit of momentum and slowly roll to a full stop, I notice a broad smile on my own face and an incredible feeling of joy in my body and mind. I think it’s that feeling we used to get as kids all the time while learning to ride the bike, roller-blading for the first time or even playing an instrument.

It’s that feeling that will keep you from aging early, it will keep you happy and fresh every day, it doesn’t come without work, but it comes with huge rewards.

Ahh, time for another 15 minute break! You coming along?