Statesman

Issue date: 9/17/08 Section: Outdoors

Media Credit: Ryan Hanson Sophomore Tom Keller dodges two SUVs as he longboards down Wallace Street.

Standing at the bottom of a steep Duluth hill, they're hard to see at first. Looking up at the asphalt that spills down the hillsides throughout the city, the small specks winding their way down the hill slowly start to come into focus. Moving effortlessly, gracefully gliding against the grain of the hills, three longboarders make the ride look easy.

"You feel free when you're out there," sophomore Tom Keller said, a serious longboarder for about a year-and-a-half. "Kinda like an adrenaline rush. It's actually kinda dangerous when you think about it. I mean you're going 30 mph down a hill without pads."

Other riders feel differently.

"I don't really think it's that dangerous," sophomore Tom Odens added. "I think that people make it dangerous."

Dangerous or not, longboards and their riders have been making more and more appearances on Duluth streets. Taylor Leege, owner of F.O.D., or Freestyle of Duluth, located downtown, has been selling longboards in his shop since 2001.

"With every summer, it seems like we're selling more and more boards," Leege said. "The last few weeks we've been selling more with all the students coming back too. I don't know if it's just Duluth with the hills and the Lakewalk and all the other spots that are good for longboarding, but I've talked to other board shops that are selling a lot of longboards too."

Longboards are like traditional skateboards, but like the name suggests, they are longer and have larger wheels. The longer board allows more control, especially at higher speeds, and riders can essentially "carve" with their boards much like with surfing and snowboarding.

"It's tough to find a city like Duluth that's so ideal for longboarding," Keller said. "Last year, it seemed like everyone was cool with us longboarding, but now, with the situation with the cops up here, it seems like they view it more as a nuisance than a danger."

Duluth law states that skateboarding is illegal from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on any sidewalk in a business district, and it's never legal to skate in the street. Police can ticket those not obeying the law and can also take away the skater's board.

Continued...

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