ENCINITAS, Calif. — They say that age is just a number but does that apply to skating the vert ramp?
In this Zevely Zone, I headed to Encinitas to meet the members of 'Death Racer 413'.
I loved skateboarding and growing up in Encinitas, but I never had the skills or the chops to skate in the adult pool and apparently, it's never too late to start. For anyone who thinks skateboarding is only for kids, you need to drop in on the Death Racer 413 skateboarding club.
I went to the Encinitas Skate Park to meet the founder of Death Racer 413.
"That's me," said 62-year-old Doug Marker as he completed his vertical skate run inside a large pool. Five years ago, Doug created the club and things have been rolling ever since.
"Worldwide we have 1,300 members," said Doug. I mean there are quite a few, there's a ton in Europe and the United States."
Every Saturday and Sunday, the weekend warriors visit a different skate park.
59-year-old Barry Blumenthal feels like a teenager again. "Yeah, exactly," laughed Barry who is having so much fun he says it should be a crime. "It's addictive, that's why I've been doing it since I was 10. It's like old bank robbers, you can quit for a while but at some point, you are going to rob a bank," said Barry.
Shelby Reed is a 46-year-old mother of two with a message for all the moms. "I want to say that it's not too late because I started skating around 40. You think it's only for young people I thought that until I saw other women skating who were older then I could visualize it and you can do it too," said Shelby.
"You know it's more about the brotherhood," said 59-year-old, Stevy Trudeau.
I asked him to describe a 'Death Racer'. "It's living forward not doing the norm like people say you are too old for this, you are too old for that and we just keep going," said Stevy.
Adrian Lenardic thought he was too old for this 20 years ago. "Yeah, my leg has been kind of bugging me for a while. Added, Adrian, "There's a joke; remember when you had a right knee and a left knee? Now you have a good knee and a bad knee," he laughed.
Yet, here they are pushing the limits and themselves. "That is Doug's saying, keep dropping in or you'll be dropping out which kind of sums things up in a certain way," said Adrian while reading a sticker on his board.
How much does the club cost? "Oh, it's absolutely free. It's all about the brotherhood and the sisterhood, we are just trying to keep everyone together you know like why not?" said Doug who also likes to say 'One step ahead. One step from dead.'
The club name Death Racer pays homage to the cartoon character 'Speed Racer'. The number 413 was Doug's motocross number when he was younger. For more information about Death Racer 413, click here.