At Maker Faire Bay Area this past May, MAKE videographer Nat Heckathorn and I tackled the hills of San Mateo on longboard skateboards. Well, Nat had a longboard. I had a wobbly little cruiser ill-suited to fast descents. On my second run I went down hard on my hip and up popped a grapefruit sized hematoma of swirling black and purple that lasted for weeks.
As I got ready for World Maker Faire New York, more than one colleague told me to stay away from skateboards lest I injure myself again. I complied but then I met up with Andreas Ekberg.