Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merily, merily, merily, merily
Life is but a dream.
Correction. Apparently it’s now row your skateboard, gently down the sidewalk. And judging from the amount of effort this guy put into hauling his skating-boarding self up a hill, life is most certainly not a dream.
It was high noon in the middle of the summer in my little college town, the time where most sane people are hiding inside under the ceiling fan. I was making my way back home from work, tunes blasting from the car speakers and all four front seat vents blowing cold air at me (and I truly am sorry for all of those people out there with broken and/or non-existent A/C systems in your vehicles…I don’t know if I could survive without one).
Anyway, I’m stopped at one of the numerous intersections on the main road, when I noticed movement off to the side of the road. At first glance it looked like it was just a guy skate-boarding around town, but on second glance (yes, I actually did a legitimate double-take here) I saw that he wasn’t using his legs to propel himself forward, but his arms! He was pushing himself down the street, using a giant black metal pole like a boat oar (except we were nowhere near a body of water).
It kind of reminded me of those guys you see in Hawaii who appear to be floating on top of the water (I swear they just glide across the surface like Jesus!), but are really paddling while standing on a surfboard. What is that sport even called? Hang on…Google search! (Whatever did we do to look up information before the Internet?)
...
Ha! And apparently it’s actually called “Stand Up Paddle Surfing”. SUP, for short. Or if you want to be really hip and use the Hawaiian language it’s “Hoe He’e Nalu” (I wish I knew how to pronounce that correctly!). Pretty awesome, if you ask me.
Hmmm and it looks like this sport can get really crazy, really fast! Check out this guy!
Cowabunga! (Yes, I know, I'm a dork.)
Now I wonder if this skate-boarding-paddler I saw was simply practicing for SUP...sharpening his skills for when he's suddenly faced with a wave like the one in the picture. He can’t really participate in the actual SUP sport unless he wants to drive about an hour and a half west. But skateboard-paddling has got all the same techniques, and it can be done in the comfort of one's hometown…only instead of falling into water if you mess up, you’ll land on concrete. Eh…minor details!
And think of all that muscle-toning action going on! Just one push probably takes an incredible amount of upper arm strength (and balance to stay upright on the skate-board). This is starting to sound like a great work-out option.
So take home lesson for the day? Next time you find yourself needing to make a trip to the gym to lift weights, run in circles, etc. Simply grab a skateboard and a long metal pole, and you’ll be golden!
