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DISCUSS THIS FEATURE
HERE
Interview with
Kurt Tierney: here
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I am not a skateboard person and never have been. In fact, I’ve always
hated them as I can’t stay on them for more than 5 seconds. One of the
reasons I started snowboarding so late was the belief that it would be like
riding a skateboard.
The T-board from Tierney Rides is basically a skateboard. It has a
skateboard deck, albeit bigger than a normal skateboard. It has trucks and
wheels on the bottom, although only two big wheels instead of the usual four
small ones. It looks like a weird skateboard, and I was pretty leery of hanging
out my hide on it, especially as I’m the wrong side of 30 (by a significant
margin).
Hide on the move
But against all logic and expectation, the T-board is very easy to ride.
There’s no balancing act required to get on it and get going. And in spite of
being only on two wheels, it doesn’t tend to topple over even at very low
speeds. The second surprise is just how easy it is steer. My first attempt at
steering on a skateboard is usually the point at which I fall off and stay off.
But with the T-board, you only have to look where you want to go, and you go
there. In fact, this bit is even easier than snowboarding - as there’s no
flat of the board, turning is actually smoother. This is a very enjoyable
discovery. You can make big turns with just a lean, and finer turns with ankle
movements if you need to, another thing you can’t do on a snowboard. (This
probably isn’t very good technique, but for a beginner it can help get you
out of a tight spot…)
Turning
It’s important to find somewhere with a gentle incline to get the feel of
the board. It takes off with just a slight push, and gains speed quickly, so
erring on the side of caution at first is wise. I wasn’t wise for my first
try and bruised the pads of both my thumbs, a first for me, by falling off
backwards.
The Indy rubber wheels are one of the most impressive aspects of the
T-board. They’re big and chunky, and inspire confidence. These wheels are
what let you carve so sharply without sliding out from under you. They also
make the ride comfortable -- go over a stone on the road, and the wheels send
it flying with a good ‘dunk’ noise, without disturbing your ride. Gratings
and drain covers similarly are not a problem. Like a snowboard, the T-board
leaves a track, but a black one of rubber. You can look back and check your
line when you’ve ridden a challenging hill.
At the summer gelande
Having said this, falling off is easy, and it does hurt. In my first two days
of riding, I grazed my knees, hips and elbows, one elbow so badly that I was
dripping blood for another two days. I also sprained that shoulder. This was with
protective pads, although the skinned elbow was because the pad was loose.
Failing to get low enough for a tight turn, I fell off, skidded down the hill
and rolled over in the road. This scraped a layer off my protectors and put
scratches on my helmet, damage that would have been on me if not for the
protection. So riding on tarmac is hazardous, but it’s a good teacher.
One technique for
dismounting…
For skating on the flat, the T-board takes a little getting used to, but it’s
not difficult to push. I’ve become used to skating with my front foot
(pushing mongo in skateboard parlance) from riding my Dirtsurfer, and this
works fine on the T-board too. A skateboarder would have no problem pushing
with the back foot, although you have to place your foot crossways to keep your
balance on the inline wheels.
There can be no doubt that to get a smooth carve, two wheels are better than
four. You can’t freely slide or rotate the T-board as you can the Freebord,
but this is not a disadvantage. The pure carving action is the beauty of
the board, the better you get at it, the more enjoyable it is, and the better
practice it is for snowboarding (if that’s what you’re looking for). When
you push the board right out on looping carve, there is a slight feeling of
give anyway that mimics what you get with a snowboard.
Mellow carving
With any wheeled board, there’s always going to be the question of how to
stop, especially as going fast on tarmac is not an activity with trivial
consequences. I took the board out on a long, wide hill and practiced carving
across it to maintain a speed where I could just jump off, and it was very easy
to get the hang of it. There were a few cars around so I had to get out their
way occasionally. I was in control of myself, although where the board went
after I got off was a matter of chance. So in order to stop while actually on
the board, I asked Kurt Tierney what he advised here.
“You just pick hills that you are in control. Keep practicing doing
U turns in tight streets. You have to trust it and lay into your turns. Don’t
go on a black diamond when you are not ready.”
It should be noted here that a ‘black diamond’ pavement is vastly less
steep than a snow-covered equivalent. So I went back to the site of my first
traumatic, bruised-thumbs-run and tried laying into my turns, keeping a low
stance. Soon enough the slope was covered in neat black semi circles, most of
which ended pointing back up the hill. Some of them were even the tracks of
toeside turns, something that is naturally harder than a heelside stop. Given
the right combination of speed and ‘laying in’, you can manage some
impressive stopping.
Until you get the feel for riding the T-board, carve more than you need to,
as scrubbing speed once you’re going fast can be tricky. Or find a hill that
goes up on the other side -- then you can get comfortable with the speed
knowing that you're going to slow down soon. Control is the name of the game here
-- finding the limits and keeping within them. Not going so fast that you
don’t know what to do. This is surely valuable discipline for snowboarding,
or indeed any sport that requires fine coordination. It’s challenging, but
fun, and very satisfying when you get it right.
