Global-flat.com Board
English => General Flatland Forum => Topic started by: aliasdck on March 12, 2019, 06:45:57 PM
-
i travel for work. Frustrating thing is that I often accidentally discover nice riding spots when traveling far from home. But then whenever I intentionally look around close to home then I cannot find anything suitable. So frustrating. The spots near me are either not level enough, not big enough or they are places I will get kicked out of. So currently I am stuck riding in the street in front of my house but it's far from ideal.
I've been riding on and off since 1996 so I'm no stranger to finding a spot but I thought I'd check here for advice. Any tips? I've checked all local parks, parking lots, schools, etc... maybe there is some type of place I am over looking? I've even started zooming in on google maps while using satellite view, it has helped me to discover potential places I didn't know about but so far none of them have worked out.
-
Hi, I moved to another city a end of last year and I exactly know what you mean... I used google maps to get an overview, but most options turned out to be any good. I am still looking for a good spot to ride and I don't have a general advice for this.Good luck!
-
My understanding is that public schools are public property. As long as you're being respectful and not riding during school hours, I think you should be OK to ride at schools. I have ridden at a handful of schools where I live and have never been kicked out.... Once the cops showed up to talk to some kids that were destroying school property and they didn't say a word to me. They even watched me ride for a little bit. I do try my hardest to be polite and friendly to all the kids, parents, etc just so that nobody sees a reason to say I'm being a nuisance. This is not always the easiest thing to do with young kids always in the way and their parents being oblivious/face in iPhones . The main school I ride at has been about 5 years now. I ride there almost daily. Being 45 I get more "wow, I cant believe you're doing what you do at your age" than "get the hell out of here". I've actually never been told to leave. Though, I have been told that I'm "too big" for my bike 1001 times.
I've heard of people having success riding in church parking lots too. You could possibly talk to people that run the church and explain that all you want to do is ride... Maybe you could donate to that church (money and/or 'can I help do yardwork') and work out days/times they're OK with you riding there. I wonder if signing some kind of waiver would help. I think that most times you get booted it's because people are afraid you'll fall and then sue. This might work other places as well.
A few years back I was riding in a parking garage and a security guard came up to talk to me. I asked him if he needed me to leave and his response was "All the signs say no skateboarding and I don't see a skateboard. So, you're good to me"...ha! But, another time at a different garage I got booted...so yeah, I'm not all success stories :).
I too have done the google earth search and found a few places this way. But, for me, the biggest hurdle is finding a solid winter spot.
Maybe you have some other people you ride with and you could all pool your cash together and rent a small warehouse or something? I've heard of people doing this as well.
This probably goes without saying, but being respectful and polite can go a long way.
Anyway, I hope that helps! Let us know if you find a place to ride!
Tim
-
The warehouse idea has always been a dream of mine but hasn't been feasible yet. Currently I am the only active rider that I know about in my area, so splitting rent on one is out.
Church parking lots are a possibility, I will look into them around here.
Schools around here lock up after hours. They didn't use to but nowadays they are surrounded by fences and the gates are closed and locked after everyone leaves. Sucks cause my best spot was a school not too far away but now I can't get in.
-
I have the same issue, nowhere to ride and the schools with decent tarmac are locked and surrounded by fences.
There is a massive 4 tennis court area that is for the public and always empty but has been so badly neglected the surface is unridable.
-
There is one newly renovated tennis court near my house that would be perfect for riding except that its so new and pristine looking that I cannot allow myself to ride there. I would feel bad sullying the place with my tire marks and I'd feel absolutely horrible if my handlebars or pegs slammed into the ground hard enough to take a chunk out.
Plus, being brand new and located in a richer area there is a good chance I'd get kicked out anyway.
The only other courts near me are like the ones you described: Abandoned and in too horrible a state to ride in.
I do like riding in tennis courts though. A good set of courts are so nice to spin around in
-
I live in a city so can always find somewhere to ride. I have an outdoor car park for when the weather is good and a multi storey car park for when the rain comes. Problem is nothing is flat! Seems like all the riding I ever do is on a gentle slope! No big deal in the grand scheme if things but never realised flat car parks are such a rarity until I started riding lol
-
look for a public park with basketball courts or tennis courts. or even local skateparks
-
Yea I've checked all local parks including tennis, basketball and skateparks. Unfortunately everything I've found is unrideable for one reason or another like too steep of slope or I get kicked out. I haven't given up hope though, I'm going out again today to go looking some more.
No parking garages near me. There are some way on the other side of town but it's quite far, I'm hoping to find something closer but if I can't then I'll check them out.
I've pretty much excepted that any spot I will find will have a slope. I actually prefer there to be a gradual one, you get used to always having one and start to rely on it. It's rare to find perfectly flat surfaces, they always intentionally use a slope for drainage I imagine?
-
I really don't like slope!I am living in Germany and all public areas have either slope or are paved in order to make them dry faster. So good surface means you have slope (I think it is typically 3 % which is a lot to ride on) or you have small edges at the joints. In some cases, if the pavement was done well, the edges at the joints are ok and then you have a good option. But asphalt or concrete always comes with slope.In the town I lived until December I had a paved spot with big paving stones, so there were not so many joints and the result was good and without any slope.Now in the new town I only found spot with slope.After getting used to no slope I found 3 % (estimated) almost impossible.My search still goes on...
-
I just rediscovered a spot i forgot about that i used to ride over ten years ago. Cannot believe i forgot about it. It is about a 10 minute ride from my house. It is pretty level and the ground is smooth so not much rolling resistance but luckily it is not too smooth. I cannot ride well when its slippery, this ground is perfect ratio of being smooth without being too slippery for me.
Its a bit small so I am limited to mostly spinning tricks and carving in a circle tricks, but that is fine with me for now.
It's also right next to my city's skatepark so there are bmxers there from time to time, hopefully I can meet a few like minded people.
I'm excited :)
(https://i.imgur.com/D4SPlVg.jpg)
-
Cool! Good that you found something. It looks nice in terms of the atmosphere... I always thought it is a big advantage when the environment is nice.
-
Yea it's not perfect but it'll do. The atmosphere is nice, it is part of a big park and the nearby skatepark is a nice addition.
I went there this morning to ride and it started raining 15 minutes after I arrived. Grrrrrr.... I still rode for awhile but obviously couldn't ride as hard as I wanted. Gonna try back tomorrow, should be no rain tomorrow if the forecast is correct.
-
I went exploring a little further out today, found both of these sites at a different skatepark about 20 minute drive from my house.
A little too slick for my tastes, and a bit small. I was having trouble with the tire skidding out from under me during tight carving tricks. I can probably adjust, and gripper tires might help, but Im always very cautious about slick surfaces due to a previous injury from one. I can probably use these sites to work on certain types of tricks at least, since they are very flat, but I'll avoid stuff where Im risking looping out from too tight carves/circles.
So the hunt continues. I still want to find the holy grail: not too slick, not too rough, perfectly flat or at least not too slanted, big enough, and somewhere i wont be kicked out of.
Edit: for anyone in the future wondering, these photos are from the skatepark on East J Street in Oakdale, CA.
(https://i.imgur.com/tXjr3pH.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/joinzH5.jpg)
Edit (again): I thought this was a pretty cool photo. Tire mark is from a turbine peg wheelie:
(https://i.imgur.com/Bsw7jwC.jpg)
-
Those spots would be a dream for me...
-
Those spots would be a dream for me...
Yea, I'm probably being too picky. I think with the right tire, some adjustment to the way I'm riding and enough time to get used to the ground then I can probably make it work. I'll spend some more time looking for a better spot but if I can't find one then I'll just stick with these. Won't be able to ride there everyday though, it may only be a 20 minute drive but I can't afford the gas driving there and back everyday, especially with current California gas prices (around $3.80/gallon currently). Tight budget these days.
-
I'll show my favourite one tomorrow (1/2 hour drive, usually wet) my usual spot and the favourite I'm too scared to ride because I live in a tiny village with locals who won't leave me alone :D
The skatepark one looks awesome for real, I love a nice ledge when I get bored, which is often.
-
I'd like to see your photo. I've been going through general flatland forum old posts recently by starting with today's posts and working backwards. I was away for so long and missed many years of discussion. I've been enjoying people's photos, videos, trick help, insane arguments, etc. currently on page 135 of 320.
The skatepark is pretty good size and has lots of cool stuff not shown in my photo. I'm very timid with jumping so haven't done anything other than flatland there so far. Hoping to change that.
-
(https://i.ibb.co/s1Ytr4g/IMG-20190511-140859.jpg) (https://ibb.co/T03r5Gw)
(https://i.ibb.co/k3XYNty/IMG-20190511-152011.jpg) (https://ibb.co/rbHnDVt)
Haven't been to the good one yet but these are my closest, both rough asphalt. Top one's too close to nosey locals and the bottom one's usually full of kids, but good to skate too as it has (in my opinion) the nicest concrete mini ramp in the north of England.
I also miss the insanity of this place, but I'm not sure if registration's still closed for new users.. I was considering starting a new forum up because so much of a scene is dependent on the influx of new, younger riders (Japan seems to understand this) but I wouldn't really know where to start. But I digress. Hitting the good spot later, might even try to film a bit for everyone's amusement :)
-
That rough asphalt is similar to what I ride on most days but mine has a bit more a rounded shape, like trying to ride on the top of a really big tube if that makes sense. The skatepark one looks good too, I always go to mine early in the morning before the loads of kids show up.
Wait, new user registration is closed? Why? Too much spam/bots or something?
I'm down for some videos if you choose to share.
-
Went back to the skatepark today and had an awesome session. I replaced my balding front frequency g with an ares a-class tire, so I wasn't sliding out anymore when carving. Felt awesome with the new tire, almost like I was floating during the transitions when turbining. I like these ares tires and I'm starting to like riding on the smoother surface. Good day today.
-
I am excited ;D Today I found two new spots by accident. Not far from my house, about 2 miles:
(https://i.imgur.com/1Mg2mw6.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/Wmm1jBw.jpg)
-
Nice hope it’s decent to ride. Glad you are digging the Ares!
-
I'm hoping to try those spots out Friday morning. This week it has been hot, around 105 F (40.6 C). So I have been riding as early as possible, like 5:45AM. My plan is to start very early Friday, just before sunrise, and check out these new spots. Fingers crossed, I hope they work out.
Yes I was digging the ares tire very much but I've gone back to the frequency G for the time being since the side wall on the ares failed on me last week from putting too much air. Next time I get tires I'll provably get the ares again, I'll just keep it at or under 120 psi.
Edit: I don't know why the text changed size in my first paragraph, lol
-
There's a real shortage these days.. especially in higher profile cities in my personal experience. Ironically there's an abundance of skateparks compared.
-
There's a real shortage these days.. especially in higher profile cities in my personal experience. Ironically there's an abundance of skateparks compared.
usually the skateparks have a decent area to ride flat in though. there's a middle school by my house that has a good basketball court...and now that it's summer its pretty much hassle free. too bad its summer and its also over 100F.....so f*ck that lol
-
There does seem to be a lot of skateparks around these days. I think there has been a trend the last couple of decades for cities to build them. Seems almost every city around here has one now. There is one two cities over that appears to have very unusually large flat area, at least from google maps it does. I'm gonna be checking it out later this week.
Bmxelement90, I feel you on the +100F weather. Been similar around here lately so I've been forcing myself to ride early morning instead. Like starting just after sunrise then I ride until I have to stop either cause it's getting too hot or I have to go to work or whatever.
-
Went back to an old spot I haven't ridden at in over 16 years. Last time I was there I got a pretty serious injury during a back wheel trick gone wrong and spent some time in the hospital and then as a result spent a couple years away from flatland, so I've always been wary of going back to this spot. But I'm so glad I finally did!
I forgot how great it is. It's a good size, the largest Ive found in my area and the ground is nearly perfect. It's in the center of a nice park and gets partially shaded all throughout the day. It's 3.8 miles (6.1 km) away from my house which is either about a 10 min drive or 18 min ride away. Only downside is that the bathrooms in the background have been closed.
This is going to be a great year!
(https://i.imgur.com/DnU07Wj.jpg)
-
This really looks nice! I hope you get a good feeling with that spot again.
After being kicked from my main spot I mainly rode in the hall I have access to (I know I am lucky), but now the weather was good for a few days and then I want to ride outside. So I needed to search again. I met a basketball player and we had a chat. He recommended an app which is made to find basketball courts. Maybe I will try it. In the meantime I found a small turning bay (I hope this is the correct word, I needed to use a dictionary) which is too small but at least almost without slope which is super important for me. So I had some sessions there and so far it was ok. A lot of balconies around... I try to be friendly with the people to maintain a good social atmosphere and so far it worked. People are interested a little bit in my riding and they were nice so far. This is at least an option and only 5 min by bike from my home.
-
I'll have to check out such an app and I imagine they might have something similar for tennis courts though I usually don't ride in those anymore.
I'm not familiar with the term turning bay but I searched on google and found some examples, I'm guessing this is like a turn around area for vehicles usually near the parking area? And so people are often hanging out on their balconies and can see you ride there?
I have spend most of time riding in front of my house now for several years. So many in my neighborhood have seen me ride so many times, some of them every day. I don't directly socialize with them (I don't even know most of their names) but I try to be pleasant by smiling and waving each day I see them. Some of them probably just see me as silly or weird though.
-
Hello aliasdck, with "turning bay" I tried to describe the end of a dead-end street where the road gets a little wider (in my case a rectangular area) where cars can turn. It is kind of a T-shape of the road. It is in the middle of an area with private houses, that is why it is surrounded by gardens and balconies.
About that socializing thing: This is kind of a strategy. I try to make the people finding me friendly (which I am in most cases :P ) in order not to get in trouble with them. So they let me do my thing hopefully... At the other spot there war a car parked directly in the middle almost every time I went there. One day I saw a young lady approaching this car and I tried to explain her that it would really help me a lot if she could park more towards the end of the parking lot (because the area is not so big and it was limiting my riding). After she seemed not really to understand she asked me why I could not ride somewhere else. She must have talked to their colleagues from the shop next to the spot and later another women came to me and asked me to leave... After several discussions the kicked me and I lost my main spot. This was one of the most frustrating experiences in terms of social stuff I ever made. I only wanted to ask her for a favour in the most friendly way...
That is why I try to be even more friendly with the people at the new spot.
-
Found this great spot by scouring over google maps satellite view.
Two basketball courts at a park. Nobody there if I go in the mornings.
We're moving soon, so I'll have to find a new spot but enjoying this one for now!
-
That sucks about "loosing" the spot daddycool, sometimes no matter how polite someone is another person can still take what's said the wrong way.
My god razorlab that is a beautiful spot, so unfortunate to be moving away from it I bet.
-
Some nice spots riders.
-
Pics or it didn't happen, lol. Seriously though I'd love to see what you've found if you got a pic to share. Flatland spot porn at its finest.
-
Thank you aliasdck. I really don't know why she reacted like this. She also explained me that she is afraid of me scratching her car. Ok, but in the end her stupid car and she being afraid of it made me loose my spot. Whatever... I need to move on here.
razorlab, I cannot explain how jealous I am!
-
Daddycool I too have the problem that people worry I will accidentally hit or scratch their parked car. Probably 80% of all the time I have spent flatlanding over the last 25 years has been on the street right in front of wherever I was living. So much time spent riding near parked cars while also dodging neighbors speeding by WAY too fast for a residential street. I have had several neighbors who make a big show of reparking their vehicle further away when they see me ride nearby, complete with any angry face and loud sighs. To the few people that have tried to talk to me, I try to explain that in all 25 years of riding I have never come close to scratching a car. I am always prepared to bail before that happens, injuring myself before letting an accident with a car happen. And I always stay well enough away from any parked cars anyways so the risk is nearly zero. But they are always still too nervous, but I guess I can't blame them especially since they really don't understand what we do. But it is really frustrating especially the passive aggressive people that angrily move their car but won't simply try talking to me instead.
Now that it's warm I'm switching to my park spot that I showed in the photo a few days ago, so no more dealing with cars. But it comes at another price because I have to deal with excited kids who don't understand they need to stay a few feet away, older guys who "used to do tricks like that" who want to talk forever, as well as occasional thugs who try to intimidate me for whatever reason or try to sell me drugs. But it's worth it, that park spot is so nice!
-
My god razorlab that is a beautiful spot, so unfortunate to be moving away from it I bet.
razorlab, I cannot explain how jealous I am!
Yea, it took me about seven months to find it. We moved here two years ago from California, where it's much easier to find good surfaces. Good surfaces in NJ are almost impossible to find as the real winters seem to just destroy everything.
I literally spent HOURS in google satellite view to find this. It's about a 15 min drive so I can still get sessions in during the morning before I start work too.
-
Hit me up if you ever come back to California! Hope you find another awesome spot where you're going.
-
Hello, I did some pictures. The "turning bay" that I described (rough but even and close), a new option I have just found (half basketball court, a little sloped but tolerable, nice environment, at least 15 min by bike) and the university spot in my old city (now only to be reached by car, even but the transition between the plates are noticeable, the surface is very good).
-
Very nice, thank you for the pictures. I love seeing other's spots. I think I would like the turning bay. It may be a bit rough but this is similar to infront of my house where I ride the most so I think I'd feel at home. Plus it looks much more level then mine.
I have a hard time with lines like in the university spot if they are a bit too wide. But yes that surface looks lovely!
That new basketball spot looks like a nice find, 15 min bike ride is almost perfect for me to get legs warmed up on the ride over.
-
those all look pretty amazing!
I find it so funny how riding flatland makes you look at the world so differently. We all get so excited over a small, smooth, level area that has little to no foot traffic. Finding a new spot that is rideable is almost like when you were a kid opening an awesome present on Christmas day. I'm constantly irritated at some civil engineer that didn't take into account my 'needs' when they designed some structure. Or, the person that paved it didn't do it smoothly enough.
-
Hello. aliasdck, you are right 15 min for warming up isn't too bad. Just the street is not so bicycle friendly (narrow with fast driving cars) but I will go there at least here and there. I would say the turning bay will be my main spot for the next time. There is one more which I can ride only at the weekend (where I typically take care of my family). I will post a picture later, I haven't taken one so far.
Timmer74, you brought it to the point! Getting excited when you see a good area is something that only us flatland riders can feel this way ::)
The theater spot is also in the city where I lived 2.5 years ago (25 min by car). But in the last years I was kicked out there more and more. I liked that spot!
The stadium is about 10 min by bike from my parents' house. I went there typically when I lived there. It is a hockey field. It has zero slope and fine asphalt or something like that. So grippy but not rough. And it is big and has a super relaxed atmosphere. It is basically the perfect spot. I was really a pity when I moved from there.
-
One more pic from the stadium spot where you can see the size.