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I'm here today in Mt. Tabor Park which on Wednesdays is the location of our
Longboarding 101 class and I'm waiting for Robin our longboarding instructor and I think I
hear him coming now.
My name is Robin McGuirk. I teach Longboarding 101 at PCC. I've been skateboarding
for twenty five years, born and raised right here in Portland, Oregon and I own
and operate Eastside Longboards.
Robin, why is longboarding so popular here in Portland? Well a few of the major reasons
are the City Ordinance 20.12.205 that was initiating in the year 2000.
That really helped the sport; it made it legal in Portland to ride a skateboard anywhere on
any public street, including downtown. Another reason is
Daddies Board Shop opened up in the mid 90's and it
allowed people to access longboards and to be able to get them.
Also Mt. Tabor Park here is closed on Wednesdays and you can go down the hills
and it's a great time.
My name is Erik Kim and I'm taking Longboarding 101.
The first time on got on the longboard I thought it would be really fun to go down the hill
but soon I realized that the speed you pick up is very quick and I didn't know how to stop,
and that's the reason why I wanted to take this class so I can learn the basics and the
fundamentals so it could be safe as a hobby.
There are so many kids out there that
go out skating or longboarding without knowing the fundamentals and that's when they get into
trouble and they hurt themselves and they get big scratches and broken bones.
My name is _________. I'm taking the Longboarding 101 class.
I started coming to it and it was pretty fun because Robin's a really good teacher,
and it's just hanging out pretty much; it's not so strict that you feel like "Oh you have to."
If you don't want to do something you don't have to do it.
Students learn the basics of longboarding in my class, how to slow down and stop
right away and to control your speed and there's a couple different ways we learn to do that,
including sliding.
Knee pads and elbow pads really help a lot,
but when you really get into longboarding you really need to get a set of these,
called "slide gloves". What they have is plastic either bolted
or velcrowed to the glove so you can put your hands down on the ground and slide your
board and control your speed and also be able to crash and not get a lot of road rash on your
body by putting your hands out.
So that's some of the basic equipment you really need to have in longboarding.
I'm taking Longboarding 101.
I get to learn a lot of new things, a lot of things I haven't tried before.
Being taught by Robin gives me courage to try new things that I wouldn't have tried on my own.
I've learned a lot faster than I would have learned on my own.
I get a lot of practice coming out here every week.
There's a class starting next Wednesday through September
and I'm thinking I'm going to take it again.
For more information on Longboarding 101 please visit pcc.edu/community.
Hey Robin. What's up buddy. That's one of my students too.