Fully Loaded – The Loaded Vanguard that is

About a year ago I got the itch for skateboarding again. It’s been a long time since I’ve shot a hill on a board – like 25 years. I learned to skateboard in 1976 with my brother almost immediately upon arriving in Western Australia from New Jersey.

Then as now, skateboarding was a literal and figurative form of freedom

My brother and I didn’t have new friends right away when we moved to Oz but we did have each other and we had our skateboards and through those boards we met a lot of people and had a lot of great experiences.

We never got into the tricks that you see on T.V. at the X-Games today but we did ride hills which takes some courage. We amassed many exhilarating moments, near-misses, and spectacular wipe outs, earning us battle scars and leading to heaps of fun. We did graduate to some pool riding but that was limited and I would never claim to have conquered pools – just a taste. Enough to appreciate what people can do on short boards today.

Then as now, skateboarding was a literal and figurative form of freedom, evoking similar feelings in me as motorbikes do. It seems I’m not the only one. Surfers share the same vibe. Back then our boards also served as basic transportation just like a bike. I had a thirst for this kind of freedom as a kid and some things about our characters never change…

This time around Longboards caught my attention. Although Longboards are longer than the boards I grew up on, they’re the same shape, run on similar wheels and they serve a very similar function; to eat up distance, fly down hills and get somewhere.

Longboards do these things much better than the boards we had ever could. They don’t just eat up flat land and carve down hills, they tear up straight-aways and shred hills.

Different length boards, trucks, wheels, and deck flexes all effect the specific handling of a Longboard just as they do their shorty cousins. One other variable – wheel size – also plays a critical role in handling. The bigger the wheel, the smoother and faster the ride. Just as with car or truck tires, the big wheels eat up bumps in the form of pebbles, rocks, curb lips, sidewalk lips and other “surface irregularities” that can literally send you flying off a regular board.

One thing that all skateboarding has in common is the silly grin it places on your face. A few months ago I went looking for today’s best Longboards and I believe I found them. They’re called Loaded boards. Loaded boards makes a complete line of Longboards that are considered the BMW’s of the Longboard crowd. As in Premium, High-Tech, and Sporty like a BMW.

Loaded has roots in Snowboarding and a focus on technology, materials, and complementary components (deck, trucks, wheels, bearings) all integrated to work together. They also bring an irresistible intangible. Adam Colton and Adam Stokowski. Although I don’t believe Adam S. works for Loaded, he’s as much a part of their early story as Adam Colton has gone on to be. Adam Colton now works at Loaded and seems to be their public persona.

Both Adam’s (referred to as Adam Squared) are largely responsible for creating many of the most exciting moves for Longboards today often categorized as “Dancers.”

The Adam’s spirit and passion are what grabs you – not just the magical moves. The Adam’s took a video camera and their passion and took center stage on Youtube. The rest is Longboarding history. Their videos manage

they are authentic, a label I apply sparingly

to be playful, endearing, spiritual, uplifting, and intelligent all at the same time. If you tried to bottle this it wouldn’t work – they are authentic, a label I apply sparingly. Their videos would make the average skateboarder get up and on their Longboards for a ride across America. Something Adam Colton actually did a couple of years ago with a group of friends. Adam plans a similar ride this summer across Europe with still other friends.

So back to flat lands and carving hills. We don’t have hills in South Florida but we have lots of smooth and flat, punctuated by bridges that offer some hill excitement. With my middle son Charlie now totally in to skateboarding my plan has been to get a ride when he arrived for summer so we could skate together.

Charlie actually got a new shorty board from his mum for his birthday and after I got my Loaded Vanguard Charlie couldn’t resist getting a Loaded board of his own: a Pintail. I had hoped I would ride with Max this summer as well but he wanted to stay in California this year with his friends so we’ll have to ride together another time. I’ll save it on my calendar for you Max and as long as I’m able, we’ll got out for a ride. I must thank Max also for his part in our longboarding – he was the first of us to get a Longboard and really focus my attention on them. When I was with Max earlier this year on his 16th birthday in The SF Bay Area it was his Sector 9 longboard that I hopped on for a spin around the block – enough to realize that I could still ride if I wanted to. These experiences are gifts and I thank Max for this one.

note: We didn’t get Charlie his Pintail until a couple of days after I purchased my Loaded Vanguard so this account doesn’t have his reactions since I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago and am just now posting.

Back at the store in Ft. Lauderdale where I got my Vanguard…

Charlie and I couldn’t wait to ride the Vanguard — so we didn’t. As soon as we were out the door of the store Charlie was off. Grinning ensued. I hopped on. It was good. It felt solid and comfortable – I could still do this. This board breeds confidence. I’m getting to the part where I tell you just how much confidence it breeds. When we got home we went out to ride but it immediately started to rain. We went back inside dejected. We stood at the window together, me looking just as much the disappointed 11 year old as Charlie. And we waited. The skies cleared and the roads were ‘dry enough’ to go out.

You might think that this story ends up in a cast but you’ll have to read on to find out.

We took off down the road and I had no problems carving my mini-hill that approaches the main waterway here. In fact I was really pleased with the amazing combination of stability and maneuverability that the Vanguard offered. Soon we were speeding along the wide flat sidewalk that runs along the Intracoastal waterway separating West Palm Beach from Palm Beach.

My balance was off here and there but it was also ON at times and it felt fantastic. By 3/4 of a mile I was kicking with big strides and flexing on the board nicely. Hello Julian – nice to see you again. I’d like to take all of the credit for this but I know the board deserves a great majority of it. It’s just that easy to ride and with the huge wheels all the typical rough spots were ironed out.

My first challenge came at the Palm Beach Bridge. I had no plans originally to go down the hill of the Royal Park bridge in to Palm Beach on my first ride but the board told me it was OK to do it. Honest, she told me it was OK. So I went. I couldn’t carve much to slow my pace on the narrow walk way of the bridge and it was still a little wet so I didn’t feel I could be too aggressive with the side-to-side carving without losing my new found footing. Half way down I knew it was OK. I hit a speed peak and the board was solid – all in control. I had conquered my first hill on my first ride out.

Charlie caught up to me on his roller blades and found me grinning from ear to ear. We went back up to the top where I only briefly considered the additional long sweeping curve at the bottom of the bridge’s west side, and the sharp turn that the west side also offered. With all my confidence I wasn’t worried. I started down and started carving.

It was going nicely but the speed was greater. Half way down I began to fully appreciate that the sweeping turn would actually find me accelerating rather than slowing down as I had on the Palm Beach side. I got a bit tense but I committed to the hill, knowing that I was doomed if I didn’t. I hit the curve, flying now, knowing full well that I was ditching if someone popped up in my way in mid corner. I got the dreaded speed wobbles – once, and leaned back and found rock solid again – close to a high speed wipe out. I bore down. I hit another apex in the curve and again had the wobbles. On my old boards I would have already been toast. I brought the board back a second time (thanks Adam). At this point I was going pretty fast. I was through the curve and if I had either a straight-away or a slight curve at the bottom of the bridge I would have been home free. But I didn’t. I had a sharp turn. The Vanguard was up to it but I knew I wasn’t.

I sized up my options as the sharp turn raced towards me and kicked the board into the flower bed as I launched myself towards the relative safety of the grass. Grass is our friend. I ate some weeds, along with a pretty side of flowers and got some wet muddy clothes but no scratches or bruises. It was a good fall. I fell with style and control. I didn’t even roll, just a knee skid with a muted face plant to ease my rate of speed. I got up, and smiled again. I spotted my trusty Vanguard about three yards into the three foot high Flower garden and wiped her off. She had some of the same pretty purple flowers on the top of her deck that my arms did. Charlie had called her “Mother” earlier in response to me question of a name. I liked it but didn’t commit. Looking at her now I knew she was mother nature. Mutha. I hopped on and went home a happy man.

My good friend Susan L. always told me that you’re only as old as you act. At 38 I’m not planning on laying down for middle age with a remote control in my hand.

Here’s Adam riding a Loaded Vanguard with the wind rushing over his face. Thanks Max. Thanks Charlie. Thanks Adam and Adam. I’m loaded.

Due to my tardy posting of this story this post isn’t in proper reverse chronological order. You can watch a video of Charlie and I on our Loaded boards on the 4th of July here. How does Charlie like his pintail? The smile on his face on our video of him finishing his bridge run that’s in this video should answer that question for you.

[tags]Longboarding, long boarding, skateboarding, Adam Colton, Adam Stokowski, Adam Squared, Loadedboards, Loaded Vanguard Review, Loaded Pintail[/tags]