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Adrenaline is a hormone secreted by the body, which creates a feeling of happiness, comfort and excitement.
Practising extreme sports releases adrenaline in the body.
Longboarding is one of them.
LONGBOARDING, SAFETY FIRST
This is a new sport: even though Longboarding
is an old sport, basically, born in the 50s.
In Argentina, the first riders appeared in the 80's...
with the boards related to surf boards, freeride, since the 90s, or mid 90s.
It's a very individual sport, each progressing according to their abilities
maybe that's what makes it very attractive
because it is not a sport that requires a team in which you have to
play a specific role in the team
It's you, your head and your body.
This sport is becoming massively known in recent years.
In our country it's been around for 5, 6 years, 7 years top.
In Neuquén, we may say that the sport appeared around
the year 2005, 2006.
Those who practise longboarding are called riders
and gather in groups to ride on their boards.
The winding and sloping roads are the ones preferred for this sport,
due to the impulse the slope gives.
While most are young people between 18 and 40 years old,
Longboarding does not exclude any age, provided that the basic precautions are taken
when going downhill, playing tricks and challenging one's physical skills.
Here in San Luis we have tracks for all levels
We have routes crossing through San Luis hills and which are quite new,
with flawless asphalt. In some tracks one may reach an average of 98 km/h.
This sport is for all ages; in fact anyone who wants to ride can do it
from kids with their parents permission to anyone,
you know, you can be 40 and ride if you want.
Gravity Sports are those that use gravity as their impulse.
To do this, athletes ride on paved slopes.
Mountain roads are those preferred due to their high inclination.
For this, riders use specially designed boards,
which provide stability, speed and grip in bends.
Among the different categories practiced are:
This means standing on a board to go down a hill,
as fast as possible, on very sloping roads.
This is very dangerous so leather suits and
full-face helmets are required.
This is practiced on the same tracks, using boards similar to those for downhill stand up
but in this case, riders go lying on them
High speeds are reached due to the low air resistance provided by this position.
These are tricycles without pedals powered only by gravity
Rear wheels have little grip, so the rider must move the handlebars to control it.
This category derives from downhill stand up
and consists of going down a hill doing skids and tricks.
Añelo, province of Neuquén.
This sport is much more violent than skateboarding
crashes are much harder, so body protections must be of high quality
They must have been tested, approved by standards.
Because, there's no doubt that life depends on a fall.
So, for us, safety is very important as organizers and riders.
For this category we are practising, particularly, which is downhill,
the main thing is always the helmet.
For safety reasons, a crash at high speed can mean a very serious injury.
(protect) mainly the head, then the hands with gloves and grillon pucks
The leather suit for speed, and for other practices, knee-pads, elbow-pads are ok...
GO RIDERS, GO!
For riders, Longboarding is synonymous with freedom.
WOOHHOOO! MOTHER F***ER!
However, the practice unauthorized by the Argentinean state
in many cases becomes illegal...
However, the practice unauthorized by the Argentinean state
in many cases becomes illegal...
The resolution No. 4 of the Province Road Administration Department
dated March 15, 2012 expressly prohibits the practice of extreme sports
in the roads of province's jurisdiction.
They justify this action with some deaths that occurred over the past years.
Not only does it prohibit practicing extreme sports without authorization
but it also punishes the riders who break this rule.
Here in San Luis there is a law banning the practice of gravity sports on provincial roads
In the case of Potrero de los Funes town,
it is legislated and prohibited and you must ask for permission to skate.
Institutions, the state, the police demands us things
and we (the organizers) try to comply with all that we are asked, you know.
Nowadays, the practice in open roads is banned
so we try to go as much as we can to the government house parking lot
boxes (of a GT race track) and try to practise as many hours as possible.
What happened to us was that there were several fatal accidents in San Luis.
We had three fatal accidents.
When the accidents took place, or the place where they happened
it was because there were no transit cuts, or police personnel to warn drivers about the activity
The way to prevent this type of accident is cutting off the traffic
by police officers that have the appropriate communication equipment
When the road is cut, all participants go down hill from the start line to the finish line set
and once all have stopped, the transit is re-opened
So that makes the safety measures to, let's say, adapt to the activity.
We want to do things correctly, we want to work well,
to be professionals, to have everything clear
to make it all work so that the sport really grows
and not just to be a bunch of people without any kind of control
that comes just to... you know... mess around on a mountain
you know what I mean? That, I think, is the base.
Well, actually, we were invited to form an association
in order to achieve a legal framework to obtain permissions
to generate events, to generate practices
After several accidents happened
(because some time before, practicing was free) on province roads
the Province Road Administration Department decided to ban free practices,
so our association is the tool we use to generate training and competition events
We are developing authorized training to professionalize ourselves
to practice in a safe environment,
and we've been working with the association for more that one year
We created the association on August 1st, 2011.
Earlier this year we attended a meeting
along with officials from the ministry of sport, road administration authorities and police authorities
held in the road administration department where the Gravity Sport Association of San Luis (ADG)
described their idea to start generating training events but with the corresponding permits
and within a legal framework that was feasible within each town.
When we do races or develop some activity
we are required to insure competitors, by contracting liability insurance
we are required to obtain municipal permits
and to contract the police assistance and ambulances presence.
The Road Administration Department, according to which of the two departments
we talk about (national or provincial)
there is also municipal road administration asks us to submit a plan for cutting the road
We must schedule, notify, show and gather all the information along
with permits, insurance, etc., for them to authorize and endorse cutting off roads.
Today we started with the activity of the Second National and International Longboarding Race
in Añelo town, for which we have been working
with the people from Downhill Neuquén, a longboarding association.
The first race here was last year, and we're starting again with all the activities
stronger, a bit more organized and obtaining permits, ensuring everything...
as this occurs in a state road and ends in a local town road
we are in coordination with provincial road administration department
which is the body governing roads in the province of Neuquén
And, also in coordination with the town's group of inspectors
to maintain roads safety and Neuquen's police,
mostly working on security and safety aspects concerning cars,
cutting off traffic so that competitors ride safely and there are no accidents.
Organizing a race is basically, getting into a game which is not just riding,
but being inserted into the system to comply with all rules established
so that the sport can be practiced with the lowest risk possible.
There are four essential things.
Permits from the Roads Department to use the road,
Police from the province of Neuquén,
Liability and Personal Insurance and an ambulance on site.
These are the four basic things we need,
and then we coordinate actions through the inspection department,
on the issue of reinforcing safety.
What interests us most is the safety and the minimization of risks
of serious or undesirable accidents.
Today I choose to come here to San Luis due to the fact that these people
were able to create an association that regulates us now,
so we can have police officers and other safety elements for us
to practice without having to be thinking of a car coming up or not,
which is extremely dangerous.
We must always be aware that this is a risky sport,
as I always said: "concrete is harder than our bones".
The helmet is something that you just don't argue about,
you cannot go downhill without a helmet,
it's like driving on a highway without a seatbelt, it's exactly the same… an unnecessary risk.
We must always put our safety first, do things right and approach those who know.
Even though when they just know a little bit more than we do,
I mean, it's not that there are all professionals here or anything, no no.
It's just to come and ride with someone to teach you and you share with them,
there must be feedback.
So everyone who wants to participate, please come,
we are always willing to teach, practice together and have a good time.
Our website is www.adg-sl.com.ar ADG stands for Asociación de Deportes de Gravedad
(Gravity Sports Association) of San Luis,
where we publish all events we organize, the regulations book,
the resolution that bans free practice,
who we are, the executive committee, who are the same riders that are practicing here right now,
also all our goals are described in the site, pictures of the events.
There is always something new to share,
videos posted on the web by foreign riders who come to our practices
or local riders who record, edit, etc., we share everything we can.
While Longboarding is a risky sport,
there are all the necessary protections to minimize any consequences from crashes.
Cutting off roads, to ride down hill freely, and in turn,
placing the necessary protection barriers
is another measure to ensure safety in the sport.
All these measures have been achieved by one organization.
in San Luis, it is a pioneer and is the one that embraces all gravity sports;
this is the Gravity Sports Association of San Luis.
It coordinates with the necessary authorities to perform
the scheduled road cuts to practice the sport with complete safety.