Skate Spirit

The other week, I finished up a six mile run at Dolores Park and discovered hundreds of people had gathered to watch skateboarders bomb down Dolores Street. It was unlike anything I had seen in a long time and a rebellious statement that San Francisco still has the spirit people love it for.

Image: @grastony

I don't know if it was a planned event or how it came to be, but it was amazing to see so many people gather for the spectacle. There were young skaters, old skaters, black skaters, white skaters, latino skaters, and everything in between. The energy could not be denied. "This shit is HELLA fun," one kid exclaimed. "It's motherfucking LIT out here," another added. Everyone was there to have fun.

When skaters fell, people were there to pick them back up. Hearty cheers erupted when tricks were landed or a skater recovered from a spill by somersaulting and landing on their feet. Random cars let skaters skitch rides up the hill to make another run. Even the police decided to shut down the street to make it safer and let the fun continue. It was everything you could want out of a community.

I stood there in my running clothes, shivering from the perspiration that had cooled on my body. I knew I had best wander home to take a hot shower and avoid the sniffles, but I couldn't help but smile and stay out there another half hour.