Green Skate 2010 OC

April 24th, 2010 marked the 4th annual green skate event.  The long distance cruise falls on earth day weekend and serves as a way to bring together local longboarders and to encourage eco-friendly transportation.  The event started in 2007 in Calgary, Canada and has grown to include over 50 meet ups in 21 countries from around the globe.  More information can be found at GreenSkate.org

The Green Skate 2010 OC Group

I had the pleasure to attend the OC skate which in its first year brought around 25 participants.  While most were High School and College students, there were even a few older guys in the crowd.  The OC ride ran from Northwood High School in East Irvine to the UC Irvine campus.  The course was around 10 miles long and mostly flat or slightly downhill, though there were a few steep downhill sections.

A Rough Estimate Of The Path (though we went through shortcuts that cars can't)

It was pretty awesome to be a part of a movement like this.  The pictures don’t do it  justice, but we caused a bit of a stir in peaceful Irvine.  For the most part we stayed in a fairly tight pack in the bike like cruising down main streets.  The green shirts gave away what we were about and a few cars honked in support.

Cruising Through Ivine on Longboards

Of course, with 25 people on skateboards over 10 miles, there were a few falls.  Scraped elbows and ripped jeans were all the norm but the best wipe-out was the group domino effect that occurred when one of the guys in the front of the pack fell and everyone proceeded to roll into and over them, falling themselves.

Taking Over a Street

It was also very cool to see the turnout board wise.  A lot of Loaded boards which as you might remember, scored pretty high in our Skateboards For Surfing article last year.  There were also some cool drop deck boards and one guy had a modified board for night skateboarding with LED lights attached to the bottom.

Bombing Hills

Did we stop the air pollution from the constant traffic from thousands of gas guzzlers in the OC?  No.  But we did cause a bit of a stir.  We stopped traffic, turned heads and grabbed the attention of a few people.  Little steps, that’s what it takes.  I’m looking forward to next year when we’ll be 50 in size, maybe more.  Thats what it takes to bring about change.