THE SUPER MELLOW BEACH CRUISE

But it’s not all racing and drifting in Toronto. In fact, if you just want to take it easy and enjoy the sights and sounds of Lake Ontario, well, we’ve got just the thing. I’ll let Ponyta take it from here. “In late 2006, I crashed into a wall and fractured a finger while riding a gnarly parking garage named Devil’s,” she says. “After that, I was looking for something more mellow and began riding the smooth-asbutter bike trail down in the Toronto Beaches while the thing healed.

Longboarding on the waterfront alongside majestic Lake Ontario felt amazing, and I thought I’d share this experience with the community by starting a monthly session called the Super Mellow Beach Cruise. I also knew that many Torontonians had no idea there was a gorgeous beach in the city and that this would be a great discovery. The goal was to make the session accessible to everyone, a sort of gateway into the community… and it has worked! Since early 2007, the session has been attended by a motley crew of punks, emos and preppies, a mix  of women and men, teenagers and middle-aged old-schoolers like myself, complete newbies and longtime skaters alike. The head count has ranged from a dozen to as many as 70 skaters this past June. When I first joined the Toronto longboarding community, I was struck by how inclusive and welcoming it was toward me, and I wanted to create a session that embodied that populist attitude.”

Written By Michael Brooke