From sidewalk surfing to cultural phenomenon

You can hear it everywhere. The sound of rolling thunder followed by a band of hooligans racing through the streets in Everytown, USA. Just like Marlon Brando’s Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, the skateboarders are here.

As a confused youth, I started my skating career with a pair of Rollerblades in the fifth grade. My friends and I would build haggard attempts at rails and ramps with rotten plywood and rusty metal: the tetanus vaccine lasts for 10 years. In the seventh grade, I hung up my skates for good.

I took a few years to reassess my young life and kept going back to the old hand-me-down shred stick from the ugly ’80s. In that sweet summer between middle school and high school, I bought my first modern skateboard with money I had saved from mowing lawns. The blood and sweat I put into pushing that lawn mower was nothing compared to what was waiting for me as a wood pusher, and I’ve finally found a home in Bloomington.

It’s been eight years, and I’ve since sprained ankles and wrists, dislocated fingers and spent countless afternoons picking gravel out of my bleeding elbows. Worth it? Definitely.

Within the past few years, skateboarding has invaded the mainstream and it’s hard to turn on “empty-v” without catching skate-centric shows like “Rob and Big,” “Life of Ryan” or anything with Bam Margera. But for those shredding for the sheer love of the sport, we’ll show our pride on June 21 ­— Go Skateboarding Day — with a devoted community following.

This community embrace is what sets Bloomington apart from other cities like Indianapolis, where the scene is more image-driven.

“These people (Bloomington skateboarders) are more worried about just having fun, hanging out with friends and having a good time,” Ryan Smith, the owner of Bloomington’s Rise Skateboard Shop, said.

The Bloomington community seems to be responding positively to the sport, too. Starting June 9, Bloomington’s second summer skate camp will be held at Upper Cascades Skate Park, located at 2602 N. Kinser Pike, for children ages 7 to 12. The first camp session was held in 2006 and was taught by IU senior Jason Smith and IU alumnus Ian Nicolini.

“When you have kids skating at different levels, they push each other and all progress as skaters,” Jason Smith said. As goes with the feel of the Bloomington skate scene.

But the newfound public acceptance of skateboarding has kids across the country running to local skate shops in droves to pick up the new Bam Margera skateboards, T-shirts, shoes, sunglasses or whatever else is a must-have in the lunch line. Today’s young guns are getting hassled for not skateboarding. And I’m all for more people skating, as long as it’s because of heart, not wallet.

Bloomington’s skateboarding scene is all heart, and at its epicenter is Rise Skateboard Shop, located at 118 E. Sixth St. The shop opened in Bloomington on April 1, 2004, with Smith at the helm. It’s a kind of headquarters where skaters meet up to hit the streets or just hang out and watch skate films. Rise’s new team video “Life Won’t Wait” has been on heavy rotation and mostly features the Indianapolis crew, with guys like Rob Walker and Matt Zwiesler.

“Rise supports the skaters to what seems to be no end. They throw summer contests, bring in professional skateboarders to do demonstrations and skate with the local skaters,” local skateboarding “hero” Dallas Bailey said. “Also, they help set a path for promising young skateboarders that might have a future in skateboarding by getting them connected with the industry and skateboard media.”

Bloomington even has a homegrown company making boards — Front Porch Skateboards. The company was started by Chris Mott in 2006, and Rise can’t keep its boards on the shelves. Mott grew up skateboarding and started Front Porch as a creative outlet for his art and makes all the graphics himself. He continues the company for the skaters: skateboards made with love by skateboarders, for skateboarders.

“I think it’s a beautiful thing; (Bloomington) is a small town and everybody knows each other and you don’t get that in a big city,” Mott said.

Bailey, of Lebanon, Ind., has been riding for Front Porch since its inception. He started visiting Bloomington in 2000 for skate trips and ended up moving here in 2004. He’s the guy zipping around town on his yellow mo-ped like a bat outta hell, with his skateboard strapped to the back.

“The older guys I met when I first started coming here really embodied what it was like to be from a small town in Indiana. Fun. Period.” he said.

When I came to Bloomington in 2004, I didn’t have anyone to skate with. I just cruised lone-wolf style, but after a few trips to the Upper Cascades Skate Park, I began making friends for life. Smith said that Bloomington’s small-town appeal is what makes the scene “solid” and draw in one of largest amounts of skateboarders in an Indiana city.

So on June 21, Go Skateboarding Day, expect to hear the thunder of wheels screaming through the B-town streets followed by a hoard of smiling skateboarders, shredding with love. Pick up a board yourself if you’re feeling gutsy.

“I can’t wait for another good summer of skating with all the diverse skateboarders in Bloomington,” Bailey said. … “Every day there is a new adventure here in Bloomington. Finding a new spot, skating an old one. Whether or not you’re going to have to run from the police or have your board taken. The scene here is warm, friendly and thriving.”