Stacy Peralta

Stacy Peralta Instagram – This skateboard is my most precious possession. Why? Because it’s the board I transitioned from clay to this rumored new wheel made of a space-age material called Urethane. They said urethane wheels could handle hard turns, run over pebbles and cracks and ride smoothly over rough pavement. The promise sounded impossible and on top of that they were going to sell for the preposterous price of $2.00 a set! That’s 50 cents a wheel. Why would I pay 50 cents for one wheel when I could buy 16 clays for 50 cents at the bargain bin of a thrift store? What a scam. One of my skate buddies was Kevin Farlee, who aside from having the messiest bedroom I’d ever seen, Kevin was writing computer programs in high school and so he was far smarter than me. He showed up at my house one day with a set of urethane wheels mounted on his homemade board. This was my first sight of them. He said they were called Cadillac Wheels; they were translucent, soft to the touch and so unlike anything I’d ever seen. He said they rode beautifully but I was skeptical so he handed me his board and said: “see for yourself.” I dropped his board on my driveway, took two fast pushes and turned hard onto the sidewalk expecting the wheels to slide out. They didn’t. I then did a number of rapid fire pumping turns up the sidewalk and then ripped a Bertleman turn on the corner and the wheels held. Okay, how about this…I purposely ran over some vengeful cracks, cracks I religiously avoided on clay and I breezed over them. WOW! How was this possible? For years I’d been riding wheels that were the equivalent to what the ancient Romans used on their chariots and now I’m riding wheels with the smoothness of rubber. It was revolutionary! Kevin was not only a good friend but a gentle person and a generous one too. Everyday for the next three weeks he came to my house, sat on my lawn and let me rip around on his board. Urethane wheels were everything they promised and they were about to unlock everything we could ever dream of including the flight paths of our lives because my life’s journey began the day Kevin brought those wheels to my house. Thanks Kev, I still owe you…DM me to catch up! | Posted on 22/May/2023 20:34:13