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First Word: Curbsurfer Slappy Gallery Curbs & Blocks Curb Porn Politics of Waxing
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Word Association:
Kyle Duvall of The Parking Block Diaries Cover: Chad Crawford
Block Preparation
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I think Kyle DuVall of the Parking Block Diaries (parkingblockdiaries.blogspot.com) had his tongue firmly planted in his cheek when he called my favorite curb a “surfy curb” on Instagram, but I loved how it sounded. In truth, he was right. The curb rises up with the tiniest of transition to a squared off lip. It is a curb you can carve grind, slash, or slappy. To me, it is perfect. Surfy Curb. Curbsurfer.
Kyle, who also writes for The Ride Channel, had just interviewed me for a piece he was working on about ‘zines, and during the course of the questions, I had talked about how much I preferred simple surf style skating over Hawk-ish 9OO spins. In truth, I’ve never put my foot on a surfboard, but surf skaters like David Hackett and Tony Alva had been the ideal of style for me as a pre-teen small town skateboarder. Curbs seem to be trending again in the skate community as a whole, and that has a lot to do with the 8O’s generation of skateboarders who are stepping away from skateparks to spend some time getting back to their roots with parking blocks and curbs. It has brought names like Jason Adams back around for a bit of a revival and every once in a while you'll even catch legendary skateboard cutter Chuck Hults hitting up a little slap action.
Inspired by the ‘zine interview, the man who interviewed me (look at the Word Association on the last page), and my new home in Arkansas, this issue seemed perfect to be the Curbsurfer issue of Luchaskate.
U Adam Burchfield photo: J. Renn
Kris Gurley gettin’ it on with the backside slap
Crawdad Chad slip sliding away
Jeff Haynes leanin’ & slappin’
Photo by: Chris Risk
Good to see the kids being brought up right.
Ewan Renn learning the ways of the curb Photo by: J. Renn
Speaking of kids, Damion Hayes was skating with his kiddo and the boy got this shot of his dad killing the frontside curb slap.
Woodrow Savage is just that. Savage 5-O
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Previous version published in Common Criminals
To the non-skater a curb is a block of concrete telling them when the street ends and the s idewalk begins. It is a red painted slab to let them know that they may not park there. They are everywhere, but they are hidden in plain sight because nobody pays attention to them. A curb, to a non-skater, is not worthy of any extra thought.
Then we check out the surroundings. What kind of business is it in front of? How many windows are in front of us? Is the business in good repair or does it look like they don’t give a shit? What we’re trying to see is if it’ll be a bust or if we’ll get a good session in. Curbs (along with banks, ditches, ledges etc..) really are this important, and the non-skate world will To a skateboarder a not/can not get that. curb is something to be There have been treasured. This aftermany times I’ve thought, thought for the rest of the “Man, I’m done skating for world is something to be the day,” and headed to scouted out by a skater. my car only to find myself Pictures are taken. Phone still skating an hour later. calls are made. Websites, I’d see that little curb just blogs, and ‘zines are built outside the parking lot of the skatepark with all its around them. grind marks and caked on And we constantly wax, and a brand new look at and for curbs. When a skater first sees a session would start. I’d lose myself in the activity new curb it is completely natural to check for grind of placing a metal truck on concrete and feeling the marks. If so, has it been waxed? If not, does it look grind. like it would grind?
And while old curbs are great, meeting a new curb is exhilarating. You check her out from a distance. You move closer to see if you’re really interested or not, and if you are interested, you get to know the curb. Is it smooth? Too rough? Is it worthy of the effort? Will you need to lubricate this curb with wax or are you going to just go for it au naturale? This is the birth of a relationship.
You’ll learn which grinds work best for a particular curb. A good curb is a partner you will come back to time and time again for another session.
But more curbs will come. You’ll find a new curb to grind or you’ll get a newer, bigger spot to skate, and you’ll forget all about one of the previous curbs.
Then, one day, one of your friends wants to show you a new spot. The drive is Old, well-worn curbs familiar. “I used to skate are a little “easier” when you some curbs over here,” you first meet them. You can see say. by the grind marks others “Yellow?” have put there, the placement of wax, where you need “Over by the grocery store?” to mount the curb for a grind or a slide. You can tell how “Yep.” far others have been on the Suddenly, you’re back at curb, and it gives you an your old spot, sessioning a idea of when you need to curb from your past. Going dismount. back to an old spot is as nostalgic as visiting your old The first grind on a virgin curb is different. While high school or finding a picture of an old girlfriend it is thrilling, it is never, you haven’t seen in ten technically, the best. You like it…it is a grind after all… years. As odd as it sounds but you know each time after to the non-skater, you’ve had that initial grind, it will get a a true relationship with this little bit better as you get to inanimate object. know each other. After a few sessions you’ll know just how to get on for a grind.
It had been at least ten years since I had waxed and slid a blunt slide across a particular parking block in Midtown Memphis. I hadn’t been down this street in years. Living in a different neighborhood with new curbs had made me forget these old friends, but something, for some reason, had reminded me of them. So, I had to pay them a visit.
backside, lifted the nose of the deck, and bonked the back truck onto the block. This time, I felt and heard the scrape of metal on concrete. It only lasted for a second before the board stopped and I had to run it out, but I knew that, with enough speed, I could take the length of the curb without wax.
A little more speed. A longer grind. Again. There they were. A More speed. A longer set of five parking blocks grind. The next time was sitting at 45 degree angles at breakneck speed. I from the end of the lot barely felt the back truck they sit on. At one time I lift onto the curb, but I had these curbs well heard and felt the grind waxed. Now, after all before I rolled away. My these years, the wax had front foot was about to been washed away by the slip off, but I had landed elements, and the curbs it. I was reacquainted looked as if they’d never with an old friend who felt the metal of a truck had once given me hours before. Perfect, unof entertainment and marked, virgin parking release. It was amazing to blocks. be together again. The first grind stopped short and threw me off. I laughed, and wondered if I would need a little wax. I tried a little more speed and placed my front foot further toward the nose of my board. I came in
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Z Grind across the deathbox? Red Curb, AR
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FAVORITE BLOCKS AS A TEEN. Ruttville AR
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Waxing
There are countless occasions I’ve wished for a little chunk of candle while I’m staring at a crusty old Wax is a cardinal sin at a curb. Running a candle skate park. Already slick metal coping coupled with down a curb can paraffin can equal disaster sometimes mean the difference between grinding when an unsuspecting and stalling, and I’d much skater’s truck hits the coping. A frontside grind on rather roll in and away at waxed metal can shoot the speed. board straight to the flat The key to proper wax while, in the opposite usage is discretion. direction, the skater flops Smearing on layer after shoulder first onto the coplayer of wax before you ing or the transition. Add in even slap a curb can even the copious amounts of be detrimental. Not only wax used by groms and can it melt down, get on booters and you can have your wheels, and cause you some transitional disasters to slide out, but a sludge of as well. Heavy layers of wax dirty wax becomes a sticky, on a hot sunny day can slappy-stopping mess. No, melt down below the coping the proper technique is to and make the transition a run it down the edge of a slick mess. curb, slap a grind, and repeat only as necessary. On the streets, however, wax has a time and a place.
Salba Saucing
Although named after legendary skater Steve Alba, I’m told that Salba Saucing was actually started by a couple other skaters (one being Chicken from Pocket Pistols). The spray enamel technique was originally used to prolong the life of pool coping. However, it can also help the concrete edges of curbs and ditches as well. A good, quick layer of sauce on a stubborn, but skateable curb can be a good thing. The key is to spray it on and let it dry. On a hot summer day that can be a matter of minutes although I’m told that letting it cure overnight gives the best results.
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salb
One reason Salba saucing can be good is that it doesn’t last as long. So, you can begin replacing the sauce with more and more metal from your trucks since the more you grind it, the easier it will be to grind...
...that little bit of metal you leave in your wake sticks to the curb. Each layer of truck you lay down becomes a layer on the actual curb, so, the more you grind the curb, the better the layer of metal is on the curb, the better your truck will grind. Think of it as turning a concrete curb into a metal curb…one grind at a time.
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D of the Parking Block Diaries I. Blasphemy: Roundies
6. Pop: Shove-it
3. Gun: Weak
8. Future: Primitive
2. Califormia: Reds 4. Legend: Salba
5. Wax: Discretion
7. Friend: Curb
9. Land: Sketchy
IO. Concrete: Curbs
The Ditch
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