Skateboarding in your 50's radical!

[Vutulaki]

Middle-aged skateboarders defy family skeptics, and falls
Folks in their 50s are shredding old-school, even pulling rad moves, as a growing number of grayhairs take up skateboards.


Scott Hostert has heard it all: You're too old. You're nuts. You don't want to live the rest of your life being fed through a tube, do you?

Hostert scoffs, then smiles. Too old to ride a skateboard? Just watch me. With that, the 51-year-old Brea tax consultant steps on his board and plunges down a wall of concrete, piloting his personal time machine through a series of moves some skaters half his age won't try.

Two hours later, Hostert is sweat-soaked and oh-so stoked.

"Nothing compares to how young skating makes me feel," says Hostert, who rediscovered skateboarding after a 35-year break.

VIDEO: Skateboarding Baldy Pipe

That sentiment is shared by a growing number of silver-haired skaters throughout Southern California and beyond. Some are lifelong skateboarders who never gave up the sport; others are digging out their boards after decades. They skate for fun, fitness and a feeling of freedom. They skate because skateboarding is cooler than Zumba. They skate because they opened the mail and found an AARP card staring back at them.

Midlife crisis, anyone?

"A midlife awakening," Hostert insists.

The fact that they are three to four times older than the average skateboarder? No matter. They're proud to be the elder skatesmen (and women). Father Time can take a hike.

At least until the next bone-crunching slam.

Fact: Concrete feels harder at midlife. "[As a kid,] I used to fall and bounce right back up," said Warren Sellers, 52, of Irvine. "Now ... there's a thud. I count appendages."

Although wearing safety gear and learning to fall safely can go a long way in preventing injury, most skaters expect bumps. Some share their pain via social media, posting photos of their injuries in vibrant shades of black, blue and bloody.

But gallows humor only goes so far. When Steve Alba, a steely, 50-year-old icon of the "skate or die" crowd, shattered his collarbone while skating a pool last year, he publicly admitted crying from the pain. Alba vowed to be back on a board as soon as his doctor cleared him.

Skateboarding can be an excellent strength and conditioning workout, one reason Mary Mills, 50, had a small ramp built in her View Park backyard. Primarily a surfer, Mills uses skateboarding to improve leg strength. Skateboarding also builds core strength, especially at advanced levels as skaters contort and push themselves higher on vertical walls and attempt more challenging tricks.

If there's one thing older shredders agree on, it's that skateboarding hooks you like little else. How else to explain 56-year-old Gale Hart's return to skating only 10 weeks after breaking her pelvis? Or Steve Wright getting back on board at age 52, two months after a stroke? Or David Hackett's return shortly after a successful battle with colon cancer at 51?

Whether skating pools, ramps or supersized storm drains, skaters find a way to get their fix. Some call it an antidepressant on wheels. "No matter where I'm at emotionally, if I get on a skateboard, it changes my whole being," says Hart, a Sacramento artist.

Getting back on a skateboard after decades away is one thing. Starting at midlife can be beyond daunting. Just ask Sandra D'Ambrosia, 53, and June Ranschau Hughes, 50, who were drawn to the sport several years ago after falling in love with lifelong skateboarders. Lesson one: Breathe.

"When you're that inexperienced and unbalanced, everything is a fear," said Ranschau Hughes, an executive assistant. "All I knew was, if I fell, it would hurt."

D'Ambrosia, an Upland grandmother of 15, knows that all too well. One dramatic slam last year resulted in a knee injury that kept her off her board for three months. She's back skating several days a week.



"I don't know what got me back on that board," D'Ambrosia said. "My kids thought I was crazy."

And her grandchildren?

"Oh, they love it."

Former Times staff writer Odanaka is an author and founder of the nonprofit Skateboard Moms/Sisters of Shred, which empowers women through skateboarding.

[Vutulaki]

[Megaterio Llamas]

Old skaterboarders is something I've been seeing around here for a while now. Friends have mentioned seeing it too over the past few years.

Hey, fuck being a grownup any more than necessary I guess.

[Vutulaki]

Hey, fuck being a grownup any more than necessary I guess.

I totally agree, I spend a lot of time playing with my kids down at our creek, fucking great fun. Id much rather be doing that than any grown up shit.

Working, paying bills, keeping my place in order... thats about as grown up as Im cut out to be.

Shit id quit the gym too if it didnt mean that id turn into (even more so of) a fat slob

[What]

thanks for the article vutu

this is how I grey roll man, with a Kahuna stick because I am used to having a hockey stick in my hands

[Winnson]

I fucking always sucked on a skateboard. One little stone gets under your wheel and it's goodnight Irene. Skateboards suck dick.

Always preferred the bike to get around, thank you very much.

[Masato]

Hey What, when are we going longboarding? I wanna try that Kahuna stick!!

Aging is no joke. About 3-4 years ago I decided that if I ever wanted to learn how to ride bowls it was now or never or I'd be too old before its too late.

So I bought a helmet and a bunch of elbow/knee pads, and took my board to the local skate bowls where I see skaters just pumping around them lookin like so much fun.

I bailed hard and fuck that, lol

I still longboard tons, but days of trying tricks and riding verts are gone and done

[Masato]

Vutu, do you skate?

Nice new avatar, but it killed my latest joke. Now no one will ever know

[Canuckster]

vutus new av is an actual pic of what he really looks like

[What]

Hey What, when are we going longboarding? I wanna try that Kahuna stick!!

Aging is no joke. About 3-4 years ago I decided that if I ever wanted to learn how to ride bowls it was now or never or I'd be too old before its too late.

So I bought a helmet and a bunch of elbow/knee pads, and took my board to the local skate bowls where I see skaters just pumping around them lookin like so much fun.

I bailed hard and fuck that, lol

I still longboard tons, but days of trying tricks and riding verts are gone and done

Summer is up Masato. Come on up to the big smoke we can do a casual downhill to the lakeshore then hit the path

I have a rule, if I am going faster than I can run I slow down, so I can bail. My hellbows have long not forgiven me for my ageless abandon, I wear neaoprene sleeves on my left elbow and left knee becuase if I do crash they are the ones I tag.

No heavy tricks for me just a focused workout into meditation. I have Kayaked, canoe and skateboarded my whole child life so the stick is a natural progression.

Keep in contact and we get out soon brother

cheers