Longboarding has become quite a popular activity at Otterbein lately. Within the past couple semesters, campus has seen a progressing trend. Seniors Chistan White, Jacob Keller, Josh Butler and Jacob Harshfield are among a few of the boarders around campus who enjoy the ease and comfort a sport like longboarding can bring.
Unlike skateboarding, which requires a different skill level, longboarding is less difficult to learn since the board is longer and wider for better balance. While skateboarding allows for more tricks, the longboard is used for “cruising,” leisure and downhill riding.
While it’s great for exercise and fun, the four students said it’s a quick mode of transportation around campus. Butler, an economics and music major, began longboarding the second week of this semester. He said he rides to class frequently because he’s impatient and is known for walking fast. He also said he’s the type of person who’s late for class, so longboarding gets him to class in shorter time. Harshfield, an allied health major, also uses it for transportation. He said that his walk to the Rike, which would usually take him about 10 minutes, is cut down to three minutes with the longboard.
Keller, an accounting major, started longboarding over the summer as an easier way to get around campus but he also goes for leisurely rides in parking garages.
“Sometimes we’ll go downtown to a parking garage, and we would skate all the way down,” Keller said. “And then we take the elevator back up to the top and do it all over again.”
He said he does this late at night or early in the morning to avoid cars. However, sidewalks and roads can also be dangerous. Butler said that the roads in Westerville and on campus have caused quite a few mishaps. While the bigger wheels on a longboard help resist getting caught on cracks in sidewalks, the poor conditions of paved roads along with the brick roads, there are plenty of chances to fall off.
Butler and White, an athletic training major, found that Alum Creek Park, with its many hills and long winding road, make for a great place to longboard. They spend some weekends riding there, listening to music with headphones as they board through the park.
Butler, who came from Denison University, noticed the difference between Otterbein’s mostly flat paths and Denison’s hilly terrain. The overall terrain on and around the campus area is why longboarding is not as popular, White said.
Harshfield has noticed a slow increase in the number of skateboarders and longboarders within his four years at Otterbein. He theorized that longboard racing is trending and may have caught some students’ attention. While there are mostly men riding around on campus, the trend is not otherwise particular to one group on campus. The trend, though, has established something of a community between longboarders.
“Over the summer, another longboarder was just riding by (my) house, and we became great friends just because I saw him longboarding and told him to stop by,” Keller said.
For those that want to pick up the fad, Harshfield said pretty much anyone can learn.
“The pushing and the kicking was the only part I had to kind of learn,” Harshfield said. “But other than that it wasn’t that bad at all — a couple of weeks. If you have good balance, and you’re not afraid to fall, that’s the hard part.”
For those that are afraid to fall, take a note from Harshfield.
“Second week here, after working out, my foot caught the wheel,” he said. “I went flying in front of 50 people in front of the Campus Center.”
