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Speedy longboarders defend motorway ride
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ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm
Posts: 12030
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  | | | | Quote: Speedy longboarders defend motorway ride
Published: 9:01AM Thursday July 22, 2010
A group of downhill skateboarders, who sped down the Waikato Expressway at speeds of 100 kilometres an hour, are defending their sport after police described their actions as "idiotic".
The group filmed themselves longboarding at high speed alongside traffic on the Waikato Expressway, down the Bombay Hills, south of Auckland.
They said the video posted on the internet shows experienced riders on specialist longboards.
It is believed the riders were promoting a brand of longboard, described as the "mountain bike of skateboards".
The video shows the skaters bending into aerodynamic positions, with one rider accelerating in the slipstream behind a truck then overtaking it, reaching speeds of 100 kilometres an hour. See it here!
"We never set out to cause trouble to traffic or to ourselves," said longboarder Jestah Carnie.
But Counties Manukau road policing manager, Heather Wells, said there is no room for that kind of activity on our roads.
"It's absolutely dangerous - it is. They are idiots doing it in a place like that," Wells said.
"It's dangerous not only for them, but for the other motorists on the road. They could've easily killed themselves."
The skateboarders do say they would prefer a hill without any traffic.
"(But) we cannot, as a group, afford the tens of thousands of dollars it's going to cost to close a road," said Carnie. | | | | |
Video here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn1aOxCd3HsPay close attention to the chap who's not only without a helmet, but barefoot to boot. Ouch. *Disclaimer - I used to do downhill skateboarding but not like this.
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| Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:26 pm |
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snowyweston
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:28 pm
Posts: 851
Location: EC1 Baby!
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Awesome.  Having an abundance of that "self preservation" gene in my system* I'm always slightly jealous of those who enjoy extreme sport - how I wish I could will myself into doing something like that, base jumping or wingsuit flights. *well, ok, I bend the rules a little on that a fair bit.
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| Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:46 pm |
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Fogmeister
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:35 pm
Posts: 6580
Location: Getting there
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The guy with no shoes on looks like he's wearing a full face helmet. Is there another guy with no helmet on? ::EDIT:: Definitely, he's wearing a helmet... 
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| Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:55 pm |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am
Posts: 29240
Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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My thought was while they were going very fast, what would have been the result in the event of a crash at that speed?  _________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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| Mon Jul 26, 2010 1:26 pm |
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Fogmeister
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:35 pm
Posts: 6580
Location: Getting there
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Lol, well the guy wearing shorts and a t-shirt (in my pic) would have lost most of the skin from his legs and arms. Wouldn't be surprised if he lost/broke a few toes and fingers also. Maybe a few broken ribs and stuff. If they had crashed and hit something static (tree, guard rail, etc...) then maybe a few broken arms at the best case maybe a broken neck at the worst. All in good fun eh? 
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| Mon Jul 26, 2010 1:36 pm |
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EddArmitage
I haven't seen my friends in so long
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 9:40 pm
Posts: 5288
Location: ln -s /London ~
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Morons.
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| Mon Jul 26, 2010 1:54 pm |
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Amnesia10
Legend
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 2:02 am
Posts: 29240
Location: Guantanamo Bay (thanks bobbdobbs)
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I would not go that far. I admire their bravery for trying it. I am simply not brave or stupid enough to consider it.  _________________Do concentrate, 007... "You are gifted. Mine is bordering on seven seconds." https://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTg5MzczNTkhttp://astore.amazon.co.uk/wwwx404couk-21
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| Mon Jul 26, 2010 2:29 pm |
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ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm
Posts: 12030
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Yup. We used to skate a local carpark that ran in a series of figure 8 loops down a steep hill, after closing. At the bottom loop, you could only see people coming the other way if they were standing up - my friend Neil wasn't and we had a bit of a coming too. Took my feet out from under me and I ended up upside down, back against the armco, laughing like a loon. Nothing more than bruises. I'd hazard a guess that those guys aren't doing much over 30 (apart from the camera man who's going for it, but I'd still reckon only up to about 40), skate wheels urethane doesn't have a massive speed rating, and I've seen a few wheels come off the hubs or melt past a certain speed. Puts a dampener on things.
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| Mon Jul 26, 2010 2:38 pm |
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koli
Doesn't have much of a life
Joined: Fri Apr 24, 2009 5:12 pm
Posts: 1171
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Definitely the one that was slipstreaming behind that lorry. If the lorry had to suddenly use breaks this is what would happen: http://abriendo.wordpress.com/2007/08/2 ... e-en-moto/
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| Mon Jul 26, 2010 4:58 pm |
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ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm
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| Mon Jul 26, 2010 5:03 pm |
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big_D
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Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:25 pm
Posts: 10691
Location: Bramsche
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A police accident investigator reported, a few years back, in Bike magazine, that riding a motorbike with traininers is a bad idea, you need proper biking boots. His example? A passenger fell of the back of a bike doing 60mph (100km/h) and slid on his trainers, before he came to a rest, he had gone through his trainers, his socks and a large part of the bone and flesh of his feet... So, coming of a board at those speeds, with bare feet, he's going to be called stumpy thereafter... 
_________________
"Do you know what this is? Hmm? No, I can see you do not. You have that vacant look in your eyes, which says hold my head to your ear, you will hear the sea!" - Londo Molari
Executive Producer No Agenda Show 246
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| Tue Jul 27, 2010 6:17 am |
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ProfessorF
What's a life?
Joined: Thu Apr 23, 2009 7:56 pm
Posts: 12030
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He's almost certainly not doing 60mph, though. The official world record is 63mph.
It's rare that the board will stop dead under you without any warning. You'll feel it's balance being upset by something, usually. You'd have to hit something like a dropped manhole cover or a missing cats eye to trap a wheel. Or you're hit by somebody else.
So, if it feels like it's time to get off, you've normally got some brief moment to think about your exit. The first two steps off the board are the hardest!
Still, no shoes? Ouch.
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| Tue Jul 27, 2010 7:29 am |
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