Mar
15
2009
Interview with Laura from Happy Skater!
Posted by: admin in Uncategorized, tags: interviews, LongboardingOkay guys, if ever there is someone we’d all like to meet, it’s got to be Laura Hatwell of Happy Skater.
She was nice enough to answer a few questions about her life, skating, and her projects for us via email. Check out her site, contribute to it, and keep an eye out for whatever she does next! Thank you Laura!
1. How old are you and where do you live?
I’ve been fortunate enough to reach the grand old age of 27, and I currently live in Plymouth. This is a small concrete jungle in the South West Of England, which rocks for skating! This is because during World War 2, Plymouth was destroyed by the Nazi bombers, and rebuilt to look like a 1950’s future dream. So out of sadness, comes skating stoke!
2. How did you get into skating?
I was working in a really hectic job in television up in Scotland, where I worked in a room for 12 hours a day that was filled with screens, no daylight and no fresh air. Nightmare. So I heard about this guy who was skating the length of the UK for charity, and then the width of Australia. Distance skating? Wow! I asked his advice and got a board, taught myself to skate as there was no one else around to play skating with, and that was that. I quit my job, joined his support crew in Australia (the journey was called Boardfree), and raised money for kid’s charities in the process. I’m now fully addicted to using my board as my new method of fitness training, transportation and happy-making!
3. What kind/style of skating do you prefer? What kind of terrain do you usually skate? What is your preferred set-up?
I would label myself as a distance skater. This is someone who sees the board as not just a sessioning tool, but a way to see the world, a whole lot of it! I push mainly with my right leg, regular stance, although I do use my left leg a lot now on the uphills. I’ve also started pumping recently, and a hybrid of the two is how I’d describe my style: flowy, curvy, fun - just like me! I was lucky enough to become the first woman to skate over 100 miles in a day last October, and ever since then I’ve been psyching myself up for the next big skate!
Terrain wise, I’m one of those sick individuals who prefers to skate UP a hill than down it. That’s how I know I’m a distance skater - the hill bombers are completely confused by me unless I’m with my own kind, then they just avoid us altogether…haha! I’ve skated smooth, rough, up, down, along - it’s all the same to me, so long as I’m skating, I’m happy.
I’ve skated many decks, but at the moment my preferred setups are: Rayne Demonseed with Randal 180’s (Black) and Randal Bushings (experimenting though!), and Orangatang In Heat 75mm Purples on the front for speed and drive, Orangatang In Heat 75mm Oranges on the rear for grip. I also use G|Bomb, who I’ve been fortunate enough to work with to see if their Cambiar deck and bracketing system will work for a smaller, lighter rider who wants to pump. It does! Check them out!
4. Do you have a crew of friends that skate with you? Are there other women, a mix of men and women, mostly guys, etc?
In my personal group of friends, there are a few girls who skate - none quite as crazy as me when it comes to distance, but they do exist. In Plymouth, we seem to have quite a lot of good gutsy girl skaters, which is awesome to see. I do find it funny when I’m with a crowd of people talking about skating and the guys just ignore everything I have to say, until they realise I have a clue about things. It’s an education for us all, I reckon.
5. Were you intimidated when you first started skating? Or was it no big deal?
I was very scared when I first started skating because I didn’t know how to footbrake. Once I learned that, I’ve been fine ever since. I know how to handle myself on hills, what I can do and what I should avoid. In terms of any negative attitudes I encountered, pah - you just ignore them and get on with it. They’ll grow up! I’m a 5 foot 3 inch girl, with small feet - how could I ever compete with a 6 foot man with massive shovel feet? The answer is: I don’t. I just say, “Run your own race, girl, do your own thing.”. I’m not as quick because my body is different, but my mind is just as strong, and that is what matters most. It’s all in the mind. I think 102.7 miles in 12 hours at an average speed of 8.7 miles an hour, with a top speed of 25 mph on the flat is fine by me!
6. How have you learned so much so fast? What’s a typical skate day or skate week for you? How do you fit it into your life?
Practice, fun, practice, fun. I skate my heart out as much as possible, and really enjoy it to the max. No point if it’s not fun! In an average week, weather permitting, I’ll skate pretty much every day. Into town, into work, around the local area, anywhere really. Just so I’m keeping active. I don’t really like watching TV! I work at an ice rink, so I’m always skating in some way. Strapping on a pair of hockey skates is actually really good cross training if the weather is bad! Of an evening, I like to hit up the local park opposite my house, where there are some killer runs and smooth spots which no one seems to really know about…
7. Can you tell us a little about your other projects (the skate websites etc) that you’re working on. How did those come about?
Oh my goodness! The last year has been massive for me. The internet is where my skate community activity really comes to life. I started Happy Skater (http://www.happyskater.org) to bring longboarders together to share stories and pictures of times when they felt the real buzz that longboarding gives them, and that’s an ongoing project - all content submissions welcome! I also write on Skate Further (http://www.skatefurther.com), a UK distance longboarding website which rocks! Finally, I’m proud to be the web designer for Adam Colton, Paul Kent and Aaron Enevoldsen’s longboard journey around South America, Long Treks On Skate Decks (http://www.longtreksonskatedecks.com). Other projects will follow!
8. What are you skating plans for the future?
Ooo, there’s a lot on! You’ve caught me at a really busy and exciting time! I’ve just recently become sponsored by Stoked Skateboards (http://www.stokedskateboards.com), who are excellent at helping me out with equipment, despite the international divide. This comes after the Ultraskate event that I set my record at. I’ve got another Ultra in the next few weeks which I’ve been preparing for as best I can, despite the British weather! I’m doing a journey up in the North of Scotland in the summer, 800 miles-ish (you can never be sure of these things!) to raise money for some good causes. I’m also trying to organise a skate festival here in Plymouth, to promote longboarding as an awesome way to have fun and get fit. Lots of things on, but mainly, just getting out there and skating before I start training to become a teacher in September!
Skate happy, y’all!
L xxx
Entries (RSS)
March 17th, 2009 at 4:41 am
how do you know you were the first woman to skate 100 miles in a day?
April 6th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Hi Sally, thanks for your comment. I too find it quite hard to believe that there’s been no other girl that’s gone over the 100 mile mark in all the years there have been skateboards, but as far as I, and the chap that pioneered the ‘Ultraskating’ and LDP phenomenon, Mr James Peters from http://www.pavedwave.org, can tell - that seems to be the case. I’ve travelled all over the world for skating and everywhere I go, I get the same answer. I don’t have it down in any official record book like Guinness because, as far as I’m concerned, I know what I did and that’s enough for me. I’d like to see more girls go for it, hence Marye being awesome enough to promote the ladies distance skating cause on here. Skate happy!
xx