Reproduced with kind permission from the author Pam Blything. Originally published by Scuz magazine in 2004

 

Free to Ride
(no ticket necessary)

What is all-terrain boarding? It’s an amazing sport yes; it’s a fine, fine pass-time yes; it’s a ride, oh yes the ride of your goddam life if you push it. It’s also a passport out of the everyday lifestyle we all find ourselves in. This article was written in 2004 for a mountain boarding zine called Scuz. It's an article about my passion for the ride and how it fits with me personally, I hope ya'all find something you relate to.

When I did school, the word bored was banned in our house due to over-use and the most active thing I did was ride my bike a few miles to school, play tennis with a friend or hit the local BMX park for some small-time thrills on the tabletop, which aren’t very thrilling on a racer (huhum) ...but you make the most with what you got. My nerves were as yet undeveloped enough to take the pony I rode over anything more than a jump of less than a foot high. Turning completely around in the saddle whilst riding at canter was probably the most adrenalin I tasted as a girl. There just wasn’t a brave bone in my body.

In my twenties, a number of major events in my life helped me see in full colour that mortality is not an endless supply. Never one with great ambition before, it dawned on me that I should get out there and ride that roller coaster, pursue that dream of running my own business, do those things that require a certain edge and return amazing feelings. Not one day, not some time in the future but now because there’s only one life to do it all in.

Now in my thirties, when I ride my board I feel amazing. Attempting things which initially unnerve you or test your skills and succeeding at them brings great waves of gladness. To be good at something is always pleasing yet to feel the air blowing past you, the sensation of moving downhill fast with nothing between you and the ground but some wheels and a bit of wood, well, it’s a totally unique experience and probably one of the most freeing feelings ever. There must be some similarities to horse-riding but the board has not got a mind of it’s own (thank jimine!) and you have no engines or brakes, if you really want the purist experience. With mind and body totally focussed on where the board is going, I can certainly say I feel at my most free in life when I'm riding.



With all-terrain boarding, there are no rules. I don’t have to pay to ride and fit in around opening hours. My board doesn’t demand we ride at eleven o’clock on the dot or it’ll sulk for the rest of the day. It doesn’t expect me to curtail my drinking or smoking (though it’s spurring me to give up with all the breathlessness at the hilltops!) You don’t have to wear bungees. You don’t have to ride goofy. You don’t have to compete. Being a new sporting arena, there’s only been word of one sign that restricts atbs from accessing land to freeride. Now is the time. Cyclists, motorcross riders, horse-riders all have to abhide by certain legalities which reduce their choice of places to play. So far, we are lucky, we can pick a hill with public access and really need only consider general countryside etiquette and be careful to avoid other boarders, walkers and animals plus some consideration for the ground - not to churn it up too much in wet weather and to bear in mind underground tree roots. Unlike other action sports, we don’t feel the need to wear certain labels in our clothes, all-terrain boarding is not making a fashion statement. It is a statement in it’s own right. We ride the downhill and bite life in big satisfying chunks. We amaze spectators old and young with our appetite for danger and thrills. Whether you prefer the freeride, freestyle or competition, it’s a universal ploy to get out of the rat race and play. Hooray.

Out on the hills, it’s just you and your board. Unless the location requires a spotter or you choose to team up with some like-minded dirt-junkies, you can ride solo if you want to. Plenty don’t for safety’s sake, if something breaks in the way of boneage or if concussion occurs, you really want to have someone with you who can deal with it and call for help, preferrably with the use of a mobile phone. Once you’re heading down that hill though, it really is just you and the board. You aim it, it takes you and you praise the man who invented the wheel. All-terrain boarding doesn’t require team effort like a number of sports, neither does it require an opponent. With this sport, the word team is loosely used to mean ‘we love the same thing, is all... and live kinda close’. Each to their own, all individuals, just individuals on wheels.



With all-terrain boarding, it’s love for sure. If it wasn’t love, you wouldn’t bother and eventually you’d sell your board. If it wasn’t love, you wouldn’t experience the pull. You know the one, when you’re busy doing day-to-day stuff and your mind drifts, you feel the aching to ride. Loving it is like a certain fizzy drink - you eat it, drink it, breathe it, live it. It consumes your thoughts and takes you over like an addiction yet it’s an unconditional relationship with a board - it lets you find your own line, start in your own time, develop your own style and never tells you that you finished too early or need to spend more time with it because it’s feeling neglected. You just know that there’s neglect when you glance it from your exam revision and count how many hours or days it is since you rode it. You know it’s love when it gives you so many goosebumps and happy, happy feelings. When the smile it puts on your face lasts for days after. Fantastically, there’s no commitment necessary either. I could pick up my board, ride for a few hours and return it to it’s hook without it saying “will you still love me tomorrow?” It doesn’t need to be cleaned and soaped like a saddle. It doesn’t require petrol or oil - ooh that squeak, maybe it needs a little oil - but generally we can get by with a few occasional tweaks. And we can take it or leave it, good weather or bad. We just mostly find it hard to leave it once the bug bites.

What else gives you such escape? The only thing I can think comes close is music but that’s a different league altogether. Obviously other sports can do similar for the individual but mountain boarding is fresh, uncommercialised and undeveloped and it’s gripping people of all ages all over the world. Whether your younger sister bugs you constantly at home or your parents are divorcing or your work requires greater responsibility or your income is not enough to cover your out-goings - you can always get on your board and forget about everything else. A colleague recently said that they knew someone who may be interested to try all-terrain boarding but that they had a lot on at work. “Ideal,” I replied. “Any stress from work will instantly disappear the moment they step on a board.” It’s a healthier lifestyle with the fresh air, uphill stride and downhill ride but it’s also a happier lifestyle. As Steve Birkbeck said to me when he saw me a few weeks after riding the Coastal boarder cross for fun in 2003, “have you stopped smiling yet?” It’s certainly true that the more often I ride the happier I am (not that I’m a grumpbag!) If I ride three times a week then, man, I’m walking around smiling for no apparent reason. You just don’t find that in life very often do you?

The best bit about all-terrain boarding is the riding. The second best bit, in my opinion, is taking off the sticky pads and heavy boots. Then it’s reflecting on the ride over a cool drink in the company of fellow boarders and revelling in the buzz. A buzz which could last for days.

A buzz which comes whatever level you are, absolute novice or accomplished competitor. There’s no pressure to push your riding. You can stick with freeride on easy slopes if you like it enough but most people find a natural desire to progress once they get competent. Accustomed to a certain speed it usually follows that you want to go a little faster. Once you get used to airtime and get good at landing jumps, it makes sense that you want to go higher and then maybe start pulling tricks. When cushioning green open slopes have started to bore you, you can tuck your board under your arm and head for the nearest woodlands to face the almighty adversary - trees. No-one sets out an agenda for when steps should occur. In the curvy land of riding, there is space to take your time and explore the balance and control of boarding. I’d been riding a bit more than a few weeks when I first went to a centre and met a woman who had got to the stage I was at in just one afternoon. I swallowed my pride and let it spur me on.



As well as motivation, watching others can help with achieving those desirable moves and with the scene so small and friendly, it’s often the case that demonstrations with a little instruction from someone at the top can have you pulling that 180 in no time at all. It’s a great spectator sport, when you’re into this kind of high-risk madness. Following some of the greatest wheelie addicts of our time, we see numbers growing at every event in the UK calender. The music pumps loudly onto the track and dust flies up in our faces as we squint hard to try and see who makes it to the finish first or if there's anything new being tried over the freestyle kicker. People yell and cheer their friends or family on, hell, we’re all like family anyway. We group our tents and place our seats local to our homeground players, even splashing out on marquees for the evening’s retirement. There is such an atmosphere at UK events that my previous interest in music concerts has completely waned - this sport just has it all... and much much more.

Sharing the experience has come naturally to me. Perhaps because I’m so enthusiastic about it and wish everyone could experience the greatness of it, whether boarding or at the competitions. Events in other sports are bigger and more commercial therefore losing that captivating feeling which goes along with being part of something new-born - it’s special, intimate, friendly, something which is in it’s early days. Like a toddler, the sport is finding it’s feet and giving us all reasons to smile from our heads to our hearts.

And so, with all that society has developed for us, for our comfort and enjoyment - shopping malls, restaurants, sports cars, tourist resorts, leisure centres, cinemas, pubs - we are grateful for the untouched land of green and brown; for all it offers us and for the freedom to ride it in some of our Earth’s most beautiful and breath-taking settings. Long live the glory of all-terrain boarding!