They flip, dip, turn and twist on rails, concrete or any surface they can get their hands on.
And they do it on four wheels.
They are skateboarders - an increasingly popular sport that is taking over the East Lansing and Lansing areas.
“I used to be a surfer, but since I’m stuck in Michigan, skateboarding is the next best thing,” MSU-Detroit College of Law junior Rich Decky said. “This new park is a great thing - it gives kids something to do other than get in trouble.”
The $365,000 Ranney Park near Frandor in Lansing opened mid-summer, providing skateboarders with the opportunity to legally show off their skills. The 20,000-square-foot park was designed by nationally recognized skateboard company Team Pain.
“I used to skateboard in downtown Lansing, but the cops are always shooing kids away,” 24-year-old Decky said.
Although city ordinances discourage ’boarders from skating in shopping areas and on the street, ’boarders of all ages are embracing skateboarding and taking their passion to Ranney Park.
“I live in Mason, but I came here just to skate,” 15-year-old Matt Yergler said. “I like the new park - the flat rail is my favorite.”
Yergler said he has been in trouble with the police six times for skateboarding in Mason.
“Cops don’t like it,” he said. “I would skateboard all around town and it never failed, I always got in trouble.”
The park provides a skate-at-your-own-risk option during the day, but night ’boarders still have no place to hang out, 19-year-old Keith Budd said.
“They should keep the park open at night when it’s not so hot,” Budd said as temperatures climbed past 90 degrees in early July. “I have seen people fainting and stuff from heat stroke.”
Since the park is new, Budd said the city needs to post park hours. Budd said he received a $50 ticket for skating after hours Sunday, when he didn’t know.
“The park was open and the street lights were on,” he said. “I didn’t know that I couldn’t skate.
“I’ve been here every day since it opened. I brought my little bro here and at first he didn’t like it, but now he’s into skating everyday.”
The Lansing resident said he used to skateboard by the Marriot hotel in downtown East Lansing.
“We would ‘butt board’ or sit and slide down the rail on our boards on the parking ramp,” he said. “Surprisingly, I have never been really hurt, just bruised.”
The spot Budd refers, at the corner of Albert and M.A.C. avenues, is a popular hangout place among East Lansing skateboarders, but the “No Skateboards” sign in front of El Azteco, 225 Ann St., has the boarding population down.
“I would skateboard over by the Marriot sometimes, but the cops were always hanging out and making us stop,” 20-year-old Ian Stewart said. “But we don’t care. I’ll always find a place to skate.”
The Northern Michigan University sophomore said there isn’t any place to board at Northern, so he will take advantage of Ranney Park while in the East Lansing area.
“People are actually realizing that skateboarding is a sport, and spending money on it,” he said. “I will try out the new park and see what it is all about.”
Stewart said the more respected the sport becomes, the more popular it is among all ages.
“I started skateboarding about a year ago, and I was the first one,” he said. “Now all of my friends skate, or at least have tried it.”
