Local Surfer Re-invents the Wheels

Okay, I've seen the looks, fine, I get it. Yes, I'm 36 and I still ride a skateboard to work. Listen, first of all, a bike won't fit in my locker. Secondly, my generation invented the damn things, which is the same reason I still unapologetically play video games, so there. I am, however, of an age where I am convinced that doing anything riskier than moving forward in pretty much a straight line will result in a busted sacrum, so I will grant you that my Colt Cannon short board may look a might poseurish. Maybe it's time to evolve after all.

On Shore Boards, an independent Vancouver-based company, is beginning to make a splash here with a revolutionary board technology. OSB's founder and CEO Brad Bradfield, an ex-pat surfer from South Africa, went ahead and redesigned the skateboard to achieve what he himself was looking for: a more surf-like feeling on concrete. By widening the rear wheel-base and exchanging the front trucks with what is essentially an in-line skate system, Brad's brain-child is built more for carving sea-walls than for grinding handrails.

I acquired my new OSB through the generosity of company president Craig Robson. A few weeks ago I was chatting with him at my bar about the impending fundraiser my theatre company was throwing, and he offered me a board for our silent auction on the spot. True to his word he showed up the next day with a box containing the fiercest looking deck I had ever seen. Fast-forward to the night of our warehouse party and, after an intense Jager-fueled bidding war, I stumbled home the proud owner of an OSB Landshark. Even the name is rad.

The front wheel system gives the nose a loose lateral stability that requires virtually the same stance and balance as a snowboard, it took me about 4 minutes to realize this and adjust from the typical skateboard posture. It's the closest feeling to the mountain you're going to get in the off-season, making it a natural transportation alternative for Vancouverites. Indeed, I've been seeing a few on the streets around town lately, so it appears On Shore Boards is getting set to become a real player in the urban recreation market. We've all got to grow up sometime.