Working for the Weekend — The Bold Italic

I had no other plan. At that time the city was Mecca for skateboarding, and skaters from all over the world were making the pilgrimage. From skate videos and magazines, SF beckoned us with its exciting variety of terrain: hills, marble ledges, embankments, and smooth city streets.

I knew that I could get a job here and I didn’t care what it was, as long as I could skate. And I did. Seven days a week, before work, after work, sometimes all day long on my days off. I didn’t skate with the dream of becoming a professional — I skated just for the love of being on a board. The thrill of going too fast down Bush Street, the feeling of grinding the now-defunct brown marble ledges on California, and the clickety-clack of carving over benches on the brick “China banks” along the footbridge to the Chinese Cultural Center over Kearny. The whole city was there to explore. One could find a spot to session for hours, or until being chased out by security or ticketed, and sometimes, arrested by SFPD. Back then, skateboarding was a crime.

Most of the skaters that you see in the photographs moved to San Francisco to take part in the pre-ESPN skateboard culture that made this city the epicenter of skateboarding in the 1990s. Like me, they’ve skated through the many rises and falls in popularity of the “sport” — all despite broken bones, torn ligaments, and concussions. The responsibilities of adult life limit the time we get to spend on our skateboards, but when we do get that time, we feel the same joy as when we first stepped on a skateboard — only the slams hurt more now.

Occupation: Medic, Lowcard Mag editor, co-owner Strange Bird Distribution , photographer

Skateboarding for:
26 years

Moved to SF:
In 1993 from Machias, Maine, with a backpack, a sleeping bag, and a skateboard

Occupation:
Art director at Pixar

Skateboarding for:
27 years

Moved to SF:
From Mill Valley to attend art school

Occupation: Owner of Roughneck Hardware , moonlights as DJ Roughcutz

Skateboarding for:
25 years

Moved to SF:
From Baltimore, Maryland, in 1992 because of a drug deal gone bad

Occupation:
Owner and chef at The Blue Plate restaurant

Skateboarding for:
34 years

Moved to SF:
From the Bay Area: lived in San Jose, Santa Cruz, and came to San Francisco to attend culinary school but found it too expensive, so instead learned in friends’ restaurants

Occupation:
Concrete mason, carpenter, creator of Nomad Skate Maps

Skateboarding for:
27 years

Moved to SF:
In 2003 from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to skate outdoors in November

Occupation:
Fine carpenter, contractor

Skateboarding for:
32 years

Moved to SF:
In 1990 from Orange County

Occupation:
Founder of fecalface.com , curator of FFDG

Skateboarding for:
24 years

Moved to SF:
From Toledo, Ohio, in 1993 and worked as a skate videographer for Thrasher Magazine

Occupation:
Interactive designer at Razorfish

Skateboarding for:
19 years

Moved to SF:
In 1997 from British Columbia because it was “the epicenter of skating”

Occupation:
Financial planner

Skateboarding for:
25 years

Moved to SF:
In 1992 from Lowell, Massachusetts, to escape New England’s frigid winter

Young skateboarders are still making the pilgrimage to San Francisco to skate, and although the city and downtown property owners have learned how to make their properties unskateable, there are still spots to be found, legal or illegal, and the hills will always be here.