before last night my skiddin' skills were rudimentary at best. for some reason (maybe jesus loves me after all ), as i was ridin' to the liquor store last evenin', i just unweighted the rear tire, locked, and executed a perfect skid with that beautiful skiddy sound. so i rode around some more and did all sorts of skids--around corners, straight up, fast, slow, long, short--all on dry and various pavement surfaces. it was weird--all the sudden i became expert at it. i think i could even smell my tire burnin'. there was no real progression from bein' barely able to skid to bein' able to mad skid. weird. i could even almost control the line of the skid--make ess's and loops and all sorts of stuff.

the only thing is, i really can't stop on a dime as it were skiddin' as even at relatively slow speeds, my skid takes a bit to come to a complete stop. maybe my tires are too slick? or maybe i need to throw my weight back after the initial skidding commences? whatever. i can flat lay down some creative skiddin' and before last night i couldn't. again--no progression, it was just all the sudden. anybody else had this experience?

Skidding like that isn't the most effective means of stopping your bike.
Skipping or just resisting is much more effective.
As far as the sudden jump in ability...you always knew how to skid, you just had to remember you knew how.

your tires aren't 'too slick.' it's slick tires that get the best grip on pavement--more contact area. the deal with skidding is that the more of your weight is on the front wheel, the longer you skid, because the weight on the rear wheel increases the friction--and stopping power--of dragging it. don't go around throwing your weight around on the bike, but lean forward enough to start the skid, and then move your weight back.

sounds like you had a "light-bulb" moment when everything just clicks.

hmm ... that picture looks familiar ...

thanks, Salome! (Folks, she put that picture on my MySpace after I tried to DrunkSkid and it didn't turn out so well...)

PS: School was fun! I'll find you later.

PS. I found more stuff to explore. And surprise, surgery isn't fun!

PS. I like the TriFlex the best, size 8.Thanks again!

what's "myspace"?

Hey Brunop. I live in your neighborhood. Sent you a PM about it.

It's a Rupert Murdoch-owned internet community where all the DIY-types and punks (as well as many other people-types) have set up websites for their bands, affinity groups, and friend-networks. The whole thing's a crock; it seems real grassroots and stripped-down, but actually when you put ANYTHING on MySpace it becomes property of the self-proclaimed "billionaire tyrant" Murdoch. See the terms of use agreement. This sucks for bands that've placed their music on the site.

I guess "myspace" sounds better than "HisSpace" or "Rupespace".

it's a young-people thing that uses the internet in place of actual social interaction.

Huh. When I read it, I saw this. Note the last sentence.

"By posting any Content to the public areas of the Website, you hereby grant to MySpace.com the non-exclusive, fully paid, worldwide license to use, publicly perform and display such Content on the Website. This license will terminate at the time you remove such Content from the Website."

So, unless you can find anything else in the agreement that trumps that, then you're just spreading FUD.

like "frindsters" huh, but for the "cool kid"? weird. maybe i'm just old, but gosh people'll put up some personal sh1t on those things. seems pretty narcissistic, but hey--whatever.

isn't rupert murdoch 'sposed to be evil or something? he owns fox news and all? a real rightwinger?

kind of like friendster for cool kids*, except more like thefacebook for people in high school.

*you could write a whole thesis on the use of the internet to create and develop sub- or counter-cultural identity, but don't. my former housemate already did it.

this site is kinda like that though i guess. without a lot of the personal stuff.

definitely. construction of cool criteria, determining what it takes to be in, shaming those who don't belong, rationalizing it all ["****ing hipsters on pistas!"]....

hey q-punk! ya wanna see a site that is outa control funny, crude, offensive, and, at times, full of good and serious advice take a look at letsrun.com. very lightly moderated site about runnin'. check that one out. i don't think most of the dudes (and it's mostly dudes seems like) there are exactly the "myspace" types. it's entertaining.

no thanks, i hate running.

yeah, riding is so much faster.

In terms of legality, you're absolutely right! All one has to do to terminate the "license" is take your stuff off the website. However, how many people actually know they've afforded Murdoch this license? All I'm doing is pointing out the reality of MySpace, and I never claimed it was an eternal, inexorable contract (no, not at all like the contract Murdoch made with LUCIFER!!!!)

after ya run for awhile it gets better. it's not fun right off the bat like cyclin', but it'll get you in real good shape if you keep at it. and if ya don't have much time, it gives ya more exercise than cyclin' for the same amount of time put in. even if ya don't run though, the site is entertainin'.