Cruising on a Longboard
When longboard comes to mind, cruising is what most people think of. If you are into longboarding, you can cruising using your board in beautiful areas in the city where you live.
What is cruising on a longboard? Cruising usually means cruising for pleasure or moving from one place to another, riding your longboard calmly and smoothly, slow down the street or road. Cruising is a very popular longboarding discipline that appeals to people of all ages and forms.
Cruising is often the name given to all longboard activities that are not specifically downhill, speed or freestyle / trick focused. However, cruising involves different things for different people depending on how and where to do it.
The following cruising styles are the most common in order of increasing skill required and agility:
Boardwalk riding
Long-distance cruising
Urban cruising
Flat ground carving
Let's take a closer look at these styles and the main skills they require.
Boardwalk cruising
Boardwalk cruising is a type of cruising performed in nice and beautiful places such as parks or beaches. This type of cruising means relaxation and a gentle exercise like brisk walking or cycling while enjoying the day. You can choose pintail style longboards for boardwalk cruising. You can choose with 40 ″ or longer wood for stability. A flat board (without concave) with a measured flex is perfect for this type of cruising. Flex gives you a more comfortable ride and puts less pressure on your joints. Opt for large, soft wheels for a nice suspension feel. The main techniques you should learn while boardwalking cruising are smooth thrusts, foot brake, and bending for wide turns.
Long – distance cruising
Another common reason for cruising a longboard is long distance travel. Board type and skills for travel are more focused on making less effort to go faster while traveling. When choosing a board for travel, you should choose a deck as close to the ground as possible to allow you to keep pushing for longer but with less effort. The appropriate length drop platform to stand on - or double drop (drop deck + drop-through) - would be the best choice. While these types of cruising boards are good for thrust, they are quite stable as you are closer to the ground. Balance, slope and slow turns are all you need for long distance cruising. For speed, you should choose wheels with large diameters (70-75 mm), very soft (at a low durometer for your weight) to absorb vibrations from bumps and holes. You should also choose good quality bearings to maximize the time between each impulse. When riding a long deck, we typically stay close to the nose, putting our weight forward for better control and speed. For long-distance cruising, the first skill you need to learn is the strong push we call power pushing. You need to master balance on your forefoot.
Urban Transportation Cruising
Longboard for urban transport
If you want to use your longboard to go from one place to another in the city, you will need different skills and different boards. City cruising requires a more agile and agile board. For this type of cruising, shorter boards (32 to 38 ″) and a tight turning radius are important. In addition to being shorter, the stiffer of your longboard gives you more leverage in turns. This will help you make harder turns. Since the shorter longboard is both lighter and easier to carry, it is easier for you to take your longboard in your hand and walk on the sidewalk when you enter traffic. A board with a kicktail can help you overcome small obstacles and jump onto the curb, but may not be sufficient for stability due to the shorter wheelbase. When riding a smaller longboard for city cruising, your body should always be on the alert and your knees should always be ready for rapid turns or jumps. Because your longboard is reactive, you should constantly readjust your balance weight frequently. You also need to watch out for cars, people and animals. City cruising requires constant thrust, fast turns, small jumps and a sudden foot brake.
“Carving” Cruising
Carving is generally defined as a separate discipline from cruising. Carving on a flat surface can be a great part of longboard cruising, so I added this as a fourth style.
Carving is to give propulsion energy by strongly changing the direction of gravity, connecting consecutive turns, without foot thrust. Carving is done with any longboard, but there are also boards specially designed for carving. Carving requires faster turns than normal cruising. When carving, you want your turns to flow very straight, like a pendulum, in accordance with the turns of your body. For this, you can choose a medium-sized board with loose trucks for deep turns, and a concave to protect your feet while your feet move back and forth. Topmount boards will be quite suitable for this choice. For deep turns, you need to have softer and square wheels. To prevent wheelbite, you can upgrade your board with the riser. Making turns requires body movements in the form of speed and waves. Carving involves whole body rotation and weight change from head to feet. As you rotate, your body energy is transferred to your longboard. It is very important to understand at what point you need to change your homing center.
To sum up, Cruising with your longboard can be varied in a number of ways, from easy rides on the beach we reviewed above to pushes over long distances. Whatever your style, choosing the right longboard for what you do makes it easier and more enjoyable. If you already own a longboar, you can improve your preferred driving style with the information and suggestions in my article.
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