Longboarding isn't for girls?

The response i get from people when i tell them i like to longboard is always the same.  "THAT'S SO COOL!" or the occasional "wait what?".  I always wondered why everyone thought it was really cool that i longboarded or why they were surprised when i told them.  Lot's of people longboarded i thought so what makes me special? ohh yeahh...I am a girl.  Coming to this realization that longboarding was especially awesome and surprising just because i was a girl sorta confused me.  Then i realized the majority of people who do board are boys...i am one of the exceptions, but not the only.  I am writing this post to inspire gals to try longboarding! It's definatley not just something just for guys to do.  I wanted to share this video Molly Lewis a female boarder.  She has amazing skill and I inspire to be as good as her one day.  I hope this video inspires everyone especially girls to try something that is not normally what girls do. 

Molly Lewis

    

ITS GETTING COLD ERRRRBODY!!

The climate is changing here at Eastern University everybody and you know what that means....snow.  What does the daily shredder do when the ground is covered in snow? well here are some fun longboarding related things i tend to do when it is just a little too cold outside.  

1. Instead of longboarding hit up the slopes.  Go snowboarding or skiing, it's a great way to still cruise and you use the snow to your advantage

2. Christmas comes but once a year they always say.  Do some browsing and add some sick wheels or maybe even a new board on the christmas list this year.  This year i'm asking for a nice pair of Orangatang wheels.

3. VIDS....youtube is a great way to learn some new tricks and techniques.  Some videos are just awesome too and very inspiring.  Some borders just take it to a new level.

4. Discuss new spots with friends that you could possible check out when the snow is gone

Well there ya have it dudes some fun things to do when ya can't board.  I promise my post will get more interesting and intriguing its just been a little tough with the weather people cold and terrible.     

Does that board...have a carpet?

Recently, i was browsing the web and i came across something i never thought would exists.  "Does that longboard have a shag rug?", was the first thing that came out of my mouth.  I didn't even think it was possible for a longboard to have a rug on the top instead of grip tape.  It is called the Gold Coast Heavy Pile Longboard and i am in love.  It is designed for you to be able to cruise barefoot on a nice comfy shag carpet.  It look incredibly retro with a Volkswagen van as the graphic.  It even comes equipped with a hair pick to keep your carpet looking nice and fresh.  The complete board usually sells for 175.00.  The stock board comes with the wonderful Orangatang wheels and Gullwing trucks.  

In the light of finding such a unique awesome board, i decided to see what other crazy boards i could find.  Santa Cruz makes a board called the "Screaming Foot", and that exactly what it is.  The entire deck is shaped like a giant blue foot.  The graphic on the bottom is a mouth that looks like its screaming.  The overall board is fun unique and ridiculous.  The board is so flat it already feels broken in.  It is great for flip tricks and it has great control.  


I also wanted to take the time in the post to point a blog that is also unique and interesting just like these two longboards.  Her name is Brie Pazda and her blog is called "Spoken Thoughts of the Unseen World".  She writes about unique topics that are insightful 
and interesting.  I suggest you take a look for yourself.
"Unspoken Thoughts of the Unseen World"

Radnor Trails - Beginners Wanted

It is now and has been officially fall here at Eastern University and the weather is beautiful!  This last thursday i decided it was the perfect day to go for a cruise.  One of my best friends Annie has been constantly asking me to teach her how to longboard.  Annie has never stepped foot on a board before so i thought it would be a great way to inspire beginners to try it.  Annie was the one who suggested a certain spot that she thought was perfect for first time boarders to go.  The whole trail is flat and smooth, which is why annie thought it was perfect.  This certain little spot is located in the great town of Radnor, located in walking distance of the school.  Radnor trail is a great place for bike riding, walking, and running.  It's and all flat smooth surface that goes through the woods.  The leaves are beautiful and the scenery is magnificent .  Radnor trails is a great place for beginners to board because it is almost all entirely flat.  The trail is wide and easy for boarders to carve.  Having the flat surface makes it easy to teach beginner boarders the bare essentials of longboarding such as pushing, balance, and technique.  If ya have a friend interested in learning to board i highly recommend taking them to Radnor Trail.   

Longboard shops

Hey everyone i was thinking today about how many great longboard shops there are in beach type areas.  You walk in the store and the owners and workers have this chill and friendly personality that you can sense right from the beginning.  In my hometown we had this outdoors world store.  This store had a couple of over priced boards and a couple of unfriendly owners.  Moving to college and being in a new area i'm very unaware of what types of shops St. Davids PA has to offer.  So i was thinking if anyone new anything about any stores in the area to let me know with a comment on the blog.  I would love to check it out and even write a review on what the shop has to offer merchandise and customer service wise.  Also it would be a great thing to know if anything happens to my board while i'm on campus.  I also just posted a few of my favorite blogs on the right hand side of the screen.  Check them out, they are all very unique and amazing.   

Fall Free Days

Here at Eastern University the students are on a break from October 13th-17th entitled "fall free days" most students went home for the break, including myself.  I was so excited to go home and see my family, friends, and eat real FOOD!  I was also pumped to do some longboarding in my hometown Lewisburg PA again with two of my best friends Lexy Savidge and Jeff Wagner.  We had an awesome idea to film! some of the boarding we did over the weekend.  We had an great time filming, cruising, editing, and just hanging out.  So here it is ....the final project. "LBG Longboarding" featuring Jeff Wagner, Lexy Savidge, and Emmy Fisher....Enjoy.

Longboarding: The Loaded Dancer

One of my favorite topics to search when i'm on youtube is longboarding clips.  A popular video thats been sweeping the media with more than 1 million views!! is entitled the "Loaded Dancer".  Loaded boards is a a ridiculous longbaording company making some of the best boards out there.  This video really conveys how awesome these boards really are.  I thought i would share this video not only to fellow boarders, but also to people who do not know much about longboarding.  It really conveys how boarding can be a form of art, that's chill with no worries.  The video features two very experienced longboarders who have really brought the term "Dancing" onto the longboard scene.  The tricks are just down right sick! and definitely worth watching.  Newcomers especially, i honestly recommend looking of videos about longbaording on youtube or other video sites.  Being able to see the best borders out there really motivate you and could possibly help you become a better longboarder.  Be keeping a look out for my next post for a video of my own.  Also be watching for some new posts about some more awesome spots at Eastern to check out in the near future!!  I apologize for not having a post about hills at eastern in awhile.....do to rain, it has been hard to get out and cruise... 

Ala Moana - Bamboo Series

I'm just going to put it out there....i LOVE sector nine's bamboo series!  The boards are just so pretty and reliable.  The bamboo allows it to have a flex feel which is great.  I have a Sector nine Bamboo and it's the best investment i have made thus far.  The board is called Ala Moana -- Meaning "Path to the sea", in Hawaiian.  I have owned the board for about a year now and i seriously have no regrets.  The board has also gotten many awesome reviews.  The deck has great flex and is the perfect length for carving and slaloming.  It's incredibly strong and resilient.  The deck also doesn't have a fin which is a very unique design for the board.  I suggest definitely checking out some reviews and other information about sector nines 100% bamboo series.  Riding a board thats 100% bamboo also saves a  tree because it isn't made out of standard wood.  So, save a tree! ride a weed! 

Orangutan or Orangatang?

Wheels...one of the most important elements to a longboard.  When searching for a pair of wheels for your board you first need to figure out your personal style of riding.  Before we even begin choosing the best wheels to match your style of riding, lets look at the characteristics and get familiar with a longboard wheel.    Compared to a skateboard wheel a longboard wheel is much larger, allowing the board to be able to coast over rocks, sticks, and other hazards.  They're also a lot softer than a skateboard making it a quieter smoother ride with less vibration.  Certain wheels are made to grip the surface of the road and other kinds allow you to slide freely across pavement.  Being able to slide allows down hill riders to easily stop when coasting at high speeds.   

The certain brand of wheels that i will be reviewing and analyzing are called Orangatangs.  Orangantang wheels make various types of wheels allowing the rider to do different things.  These wheels have an offset design with hard sharp edges and grip.  Slalom, speedboarding, carving, and commuting are the main purposes of this particular style of wheel. They also have a thick lip for maintaining a fast speed and rippled inner walls for energy return when carving and pumping.  Pumping is a technique used in slalom boarding, which is a carving and weaving style.  It is a technique used to maintain speed, without having to take your feet off the board.  These wheels are designed to maintain grip, but can be used to slide very predictably and easy when need be.  The three different color of wheels also have their own unique style.  The orange colored wheels are soft and grippy, whereas the purple wheels are harder, faster, and slidier.  The yellow wheels are even harder, slidier, and faster than the purple.  I personally have always wanted Orangatang wheels.  I definitley want to test out these wheels and get a feel for them myself in the near future.  From the reviews i have read and the videos i have watched these wheels seem to be very reliable and dependable.  They allow you to do many different things while riding.  The average cost of the wheels are $54.00, which compared to other wheels is a very reasonable price for what you get.  While watching certain videos on the internet about these wheels i have come to the conclusions that they are one of the best kinds in the longboarding scene.  They allow you to do many different things, which most wheels don't allow you to do.  All four purposes of the wheels are captured in this youtube video.  It first focuses on sliding and carving, as well as the pumping technique.  It shows the wheels being used in speedboarding allowing viewers to see the different uses of the wheels.  It shows the slalom technique when the border is weaving and carving.  It shows the rider weave onto the sidewalk then off.  The video also displays commuting.  It shows that the rider can easily get from one place to the next.    

"Do Something Extraordinary"

Cabrini is a very small catholic college that is right next to Eastern University.  When i say right next to Eastern i LITERALLY mean they're basically in the same place.  Two days ago my friend Casey and I decided to mosey on over to check out some of the hills they have on campus.  Another reason why i love blogging about longboarding is to get people interested in trying it, which is exactly what happened with Casey.  Casey has never longboarded before so i decided to bring back one of my old boards to school so that she could try it.  We had an awesome time and she also was a natural at it.  Cabrini does have a lot of nice winding steep hills, but it's not really worth getting hit by car.  The roads at Cabrini constantly have cars zooming by.  So if i'm going to recommend that you go out and try these hills, just let me say shred at your own risk.  Some of the hills were also very narrow leaving little space to carve.  If you just like going straight down hills with no carving these hills are definitely for you.  A lot of the hills on campus also have a winding shape to them making them very fun and unique to cruise on.  Their parking lots also have a nice straight down hills that are smooth and perfect, just watch out for the speed bumps.

Casey Barker

To wrap it all up i would have to give Cabrini college a 7 out of 10 on their hills, a 6 out of 10 for the quality of roads, a 4 out of 10 for automobiles and other hazards, and a 7 out of 10 overall.  I wouldn't really recommend Cabrini for beginner longboarders just because of how steep and narrow some of the hills are.  If you were to board Cabrini as a beginner i would recommend cruising the parking lots there.  Cabrini is awesome to Shred go ChEcK it OUT!! 

SHR3D-First Post!!

Hey!! and Welcome! to "Kick, Push, Coast", a blog all about longboarding.  My name is Emmy Fisher and i am a freshman at Eastern University.  I have never done any type of blogging in my past, but i am really excited about starting my very first blog!  I can't wait to start boarding around the campus, finding and writing about some sweet and smooth spots to cruise.  I will also be checking out and reviewing some of the best brands in longboarding such as Sector Nine, Arbor, Gullwing, Dreggs etc.  I have been longboarding for about a year and a half and i have to say it has to be the most chillest and relaxing thing to do in your free time.  Not only can it get you places it also is a rush going down hills.  I haven't had a chance to board since i have been at school, but i'm definitely looking forward to it.  Make sure to check back soon!!!