By Nick Kolich
Imagine riding down a tree-lined mountain hill road at speeds in excess of 45 mph and not having much to slow you down but your own body and a pair of protective gloves.
Sounds crazy, right?
Well, thousands of adrenaline junkies across the world are falling for the relatively unknown sport of speedboarding.
Longboarding, like skateboarding, became popular as an alternative to surfing in the mid-1950s. As its name suggests, a longboard is an elongated skateboard offering added stability, safety and comfort. Riders initially used longboards for transportation, but some started to use them as vehicles for speeding down long hills.
Senior Adam Lund started riding a longboard as an easier way to get around school. His friends enticed him to ride down hills, foreshadowing his future as a speedboarder. Lund lamented the fact that he could have been safer in his earlier downhill days.
"Looking back on that, it was way stupid, but it was also really exhilarating. I started doing it more and more," he said.
Sophomore Jason Pennell started longboarding, and like Lund, it eventually led him to speedboarding. Pennell loves racing with others and welcoming new riders to the sport.
"It is always fun to ride with new people; the more the merrier," Pennell said.
People often assume that speedboarders are disrespectful lawbreakers.
"We tend to get a bad rap because we are associated with the punk, vandal stereotype given to skateboarders," Pennell said. "The speedboard world is made up of people who love the sport too much to risk its reputation." Bad behavior could lead to stricter laws and limited access on downhill roads.
Speedboard riding equipment is specifically designed for travelling at high speeds. Speedboard decks are concave in shape for a better footing grip and some, known as drop boards, are lowered to reduce drag and lower the rider's center of gravity. Board size is slightly longer than a longboard, ranging from 38 to 43 inches long, and fitted with large, soft polyurethane wheels to enhance their grip of the road.
As with any sport, safety precautions are of the utmost importance. Riders wear aerodynamic helmets and full body leather suits.
"A good set of leathers is way better than losing mass amounts of skin," Lund said. These gloves have hard plastic pads glued or velcroed to the palms, allowing the rider to press his hands down on the road for speed control, cornering and quick stops. Thick-soled shoes can also be used for braking.
Since official downhill courses are few and far between, riders often travel to remote mountain roads for their downhill runs. When choosing a course, "pavement quality, turns and steepness are deciding factors," Pennell said. The difficulty of a run is largely dependent upon the difficulty of the turns. Local course favorites include Laurel Road (nicknamed Dragon's Tail) in Hillsboro, and Maryhill Road in Goldendale, Wash..
Before attempting to ride a hill, each person helps to prepare the course. Some sweep gravel off the road while others lay safety barriers of hay around curves to prevent wipeouts.
"It is best to study the hill before a ride and find where any potential obstacles may lie," Lund said.
After the initial push off at the top of a run, no one pulls away. In order to increase speed, riders crouch into a tuck position that is more aerodynamic, often by ducking behind another rider. The result is an instant speedup and slingshot effect for the drafting rider.
Seeking to be the first rider at the bottom of the hill, speedboarders draft one another down the course while balancing safety against needed momentum. Choosing when to brake or start a turn could mean the difference between coming in first or last.
This gravity-induced speed sport may scare off some, but it is a powerful attraction for a growing number of adventure seekers.
"Speedboarding is such a thrill, so much is going on at once," Pennell said. "It is a blast and such a rush."
