May 23, 2025 • 48 mins
What happens when you discover aggressive inline skating at age 30 and finally get diagnosed with ADHD in the same year? For Daryll Laird, it created the perfect storm for personal transformation.
From the moment his best friend threw a pair of Shadow skates at him, Daryll found himself landing grinds within the first hour. That initial spark quickly blazed into a full-blown passion that would change how he experienced his world. After years of going undiagnosed, Daryll discovered that aggressive skating provided the perfect outlet for his ADHD brain – demanding complete focus while rewarding creativity and expression.
"I go to the skate park to let off steam. I go to the skate park if I'm upset. I go out and skate, even if it's just sunny and I'm happy,” Daryll explains. This therapeutic relationship with skating extends beyond just tricks and techniques; it's reshaped how he moves through life. Now a member of Glasgow Urban Rollers, he's explored parts of his city he never knew existed, viewing urban architecture through a skater's lens where handrails and ledges become opportunities rather than mere structures.
The skating community has embraced Daryll completely. "It's been such an unjudgmental, welcoming community," he reflects, noting how skating transcends backgrounds and borders. For those intimidated by starting, his advice is refreshingly simple: "Just believe you can do it... you're not made of glass, and it's going to take practice." Whether bombing down Glasgow's Buchanan Street or learning new tricks in DIY parks, Daryll's journey proves that finding your passion doesn't have a timeline – sometimes, the perfect match between person and pursuit comes exactly when both are ready.
Want to follow Daryll's skating adventures? Find him on Instagram and TikTok @scottishblading and discover how wheels on feet can transform perspective, community, and mental health.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey there, welcome to how Do you Skate, the ultimate
destination for all skatingenthusiasts.
We cater to everyone, frombeginners to pros.
Whether you love inline and iceskating or prefer quads and
skateboarding, we have it allcovered, and we bring you
exclusive interviews withprofessionals, talented amateurs
(00:30):
and influencers in the industry.
So sit back, relax and getready for an exciting journey
into the world of skating.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome to this week's episode of how Do you
Skate.
I am your host, sean Egan, andmy guest today is Daryl Laird,
and he's coming to you fromScotland.
So how are you doing today, sir?
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I'm good, I'm wide awake, I'm so good on the phone,
but yeah, I'm all good.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
How are you?
I'm doing well, so I usuallylike to start off how it all
began for you.
So when did you start skating,what age, and kind of tell us a
little story about how it allcame to lead up to where you are
now.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
So I had my first shot on Blades when I was maybe
12 or 13 years old.
On Blades when I was maybe 12or 13 years old, but I was just
like a wee pair of skates andaround the car park at the
community centre a couple oftimes and maybe a park, but
(01:38):
nothing, nothing like I do now.
And then went years really.
I went down the skate park on askateboard when I was in high
school for a bit seeing thebladers doing their tricks and
everything was like, oh, that'spretty cool.
I wish I could kind of do that,but never done anything about
(01:58):
it then.
And then just in April last year, after turning 30, my best
friend threw a pair of shadowsat me, basically, and I strapped
my feet into them and learnt acouple of grinds within the
first hour or so on a wee railat the side of his house.
(02:21):
And from then on I was likethis is a bit of me, but I went
undiagnosed with ADHD for years,until sort of summer last year
as well.
Then everything kind of madesense and blading became a major
hyper-focus.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
That was how I got into this style of waiting, but
I've been doing urban skating aswell.
I like doing a bit of parkskating, indoor skating ramps
and jumps anything that involveswheels on my feet.
Now, basically, I'll put myblades on to go down the shop.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
There you go, so now you started worse.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
You were skateboarding before, so were
you doing the whole ramps,inverts and all that stuff too.
No, I hung around the skatepark with a skateboard and I
could drop in and kind of nineout of ten times do a kickflip.
Okay, I couldn't do very muchon a skateboard.
(03:36):
There was enough to get by in askate park, basically just
without getting in anybody's way.
So now were you at the skatepark with the skateboard to
impress the girls?
No, it was where my pals hungaround.
So I went down to the skatepark to and I just sat at the
(03:56):
side watching and I was like I'mgoing to just give this a try,
why not?
Okay, so it wasn't for the girls, I just had to ask so no, that
was that girls weren't really athing back then because they
(04:19):
were just not interested in me.
So I I've done other things.
I went out and interested in meso I had done other things.
I went out and messed around onmountain bikes and, okay, had a
field bike with my littlebrother that we run about the
woods on occasionally and I justdone whatever really, if it had
(04:45):
wheels and was fun, that was,it was for me.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
There you go.
So now with the whole ADHDdiagnosis.
Um, I have a son that has thesame diagnosis and he's
hyper-focused on creating horrormovie stuff and horror movies.
So that just sent your hyperfocus into skating where you're.
It's uh, I don't understand itbecause I don't have it, but I
(05:12):
see it so, if that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
So when I so.
When I first started blading, Iwas going through the process
of getting the diagnosis.
Okay, after getting thediagnosis and realizing how into
blading I actually was, like myyoutube is full of blading
(05:38):
tutorials on how to do thistrick, that trick a skaters
edits like Julian Cadeau.
I've met some amazing peoplethrough Blading as well part of
a Glasgow Urban Rollers group,and we all get together and we
(05:58):
all do all kinds of skating.
Folk that skate big wheels,folk like me that skate
aggressive absolutely everywhereand shred their ankles and then
discover big wheels a yearlater and go.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Should have done this well, that's the one thing
about skating is it's it's never.
You're never an expert, you'realways learning, especially when
it comes to like freestyle andstuff I've mentioned it before
where with like hockey and speedskating and and uh sports type
stuff, you have limitations onwhat you can do.
(06:37):
But like freestyle and all thatyou've got like a wide open
field and new stuff's beinginvented pretty much every day.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
So and because this is something that I'm I'm still
very new to.
I mean, that's just over a yearthat I've been properly skating
, skating and I'm still tryingto find my limit.
Basically because every time Igo down to the skate park or go
(07:06):
out skating with someone else,I'm picking up new tips and
tricks and ways to do differenttricks and everything.
I got a new pair of skates yeah, a second hand pair of skates
from one of my new friends thatI made through skating, and the
(07:28):
difference in having thoseskates and being able to clean
up my tricks and everything onthem is incredible.
It's been, it's been a journey.
It's helped me so much, uh likeand as like, mentally as well.
Um, just with having, becausewhen you go there, if you're
(07:51):
trying to think of anything elseother than landing on that rail
or getting on that ledge,you're gonna miss it and it kind
of hurts yeah, I've had my fairshare of falls.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And one thing is is you said you haven't reached
your limit, but with skatingyou'll never find your limit,
because once you hit where youthink you'd be at your limit,
you discover something new andyou just keep pushing yourself.
So honestly, I don't thinkyou'll ever find your limit, but
you'll just keep progressing.
That's certainly the plan yeah,so now do you.
(08:28):
What I'm really curious aboutbecause this is like the cool
thing about the podcast isinterviewing people from around
the world is what is the skateculture like in scotland?
So?
Speaker 3 (08:43):
I mean it's still kind of here, but it's nowhere
near as big as it used to be.
Okay, back when I was, you know,16, 17 years ago, you would
have bladers down at the skatepark and still doing their
(09:08):
tricks and stuff.
It's only since my best friendand I have been starting to go
back down and get in touch he'sbeen getting in touch with his
older blader buddies and stuffthat we've started to come back
around the skate park and beinginvolved with it again.
(09:31):
There's actually quite a bigskate group that I'm part of,
the Glasgow Urban Rollers, andthey are the most amazing people
I've ever met.
I'm really proud to call themmy friends now.
(09:52):
They come from all over thecountry.
Okay, we all kind of convertJohn Glasgow as like a central
point for meeting because it'swithin sort of an hour to hour
(10:13):
and a half to get to it for mostof us and it's been great.
I've got to explore and seeparts of Glasgow and everything
that I've never seen before,meet people from all walks of
(10:33):
life and all over the world aswell very cool now.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Is that like a group where you guys get together and
then you just skate around, oris it like you meet at parks and
do aggressive skating, or is itjust all forms of skating?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
It's all forms of skating.
There's some girls in the groupthat do quad skating Okay, one
of them does the quad skating inthe park and she does wall
stalls off the ramp andeverything.
It's amazing to watch.
There's aggressive skaters.
(11:15):
There's big wheel skaters I'msure one of the guys does roller
hockey as well Okay, I'm sureone of the guys does roller
hockey as well, okay.
So there's folk from every sortof discipline and if we've got
a free day or something, we putup into the group chat to see
who's skating, and nine timesout of ten you'll find someone
(11:43):
to meet up with and have a skatethere you go, yeah you know
when I come out there.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I'm skating with you guys, right.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Yeah, come out and skate, by all means, that would
be awesome.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Because I'm planning on doing a race in France next
year.
So we're going to start doingsome international traveling,
with skating next year starting,so that'll be fun.
And I'm half Irish, so I wantto go to Ireland and go to
Sean's bar, just because it'sthe oldest bar in the world.
So if you know how to get there, we can all make a trip.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I heard London's got a really big skate scene.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I've heard that too.
I did have one guy on, actuallya couple of guys that were from
London on, but now one's livingin Canada.
Now do you guys have rollerrinks out there or indoor
skating like indoor ramp parks?
Speaker 3 (12:39):
We've got a couple of indoor parks that are to me.
They're relatively close.
I've got one up in Aberdeen,one in Glasgow, one just the
other side of Glasgow.
I think there's one in Dundeeas well.
(13:00):
Okay, so there's a few indoorones about, but they're kind of
dotted about.
They're not all over the place.
Yeah, a few outdoor parks and acouple of bigger ones, some
smaller ones, and some of themare in good neck, some of them
(13:25):
are in good knicks, some of themare absolutely shocking and
will eat your wheels in asession.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
You gotta have challenges.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I quite like skating the street in Glasgow and we've
had the weather for it recently,so it's been awesome to get out
and skate some street spots andpractice the new tricks and
everything on them.
See how they feel in differentplaces.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Now, what's the roads like in Scotland or Glasgow?
Is it pretty smooth, or oh?
Speaker 3 (14:03):
no, no no, no no, no, no, no, no.
The roads are terrible, so youcan need big wheels and be able
to jump Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
I can do both.
So um now with your ADHD andbeing hyper-focused on um the
blading, has that helped?
Like you, focus on otheraspects of life, adhd and being
hyper-focused on the blading,has that helped?
Like you focus on other aspectsof life like work and family
and all that kind of stuff too,has it made life easier, I
should say?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
I guess is the question I'm trying to ask.
Yeah, I feel like I meanthrough the blading as well.
I feel like I've kind of foundmyself with it.
It's like an expression ofyourself.
As you're going in, you've gotyour own way of throwing these
tricks and landing onto them andyou've got the polishing them
(15:00):
up and cleaning them up.
Polishing them up and cleaningthem up, it's helped tenfold
with the mental health side ofthings.
I get along better with people.
My work's great because of thehours that I work.
(15:21):
It means that I can skatepretty much as often as I want,
because I only work like onefull day a week and then it's
half days the rest of the week.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Okay, well, that definitely works out.
Are skating prices expensiveout there?
What are some of the brandsthat are out there?
Because I know out here we haveRollerblade and K2 and Roses.
The list kind of goes on.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
We still get all the same brands and everything.
You get Razors, you get Roses,salomons.
I don't think you get Salaminsanymore, actually maybe off of
Facebook Marketplace.
I was skating a pair of RosesFifth Elements and I've just
(16:21):
started skating an old Razor'sGrey Pebble skate.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Uh, that's, that's the most recent skate that I've
started using now, okay, giftedto me by a friend nice now, when
you were growing up, um wereyou just like not focused at
school because of the hd goingundiagnosed uh no, I was the
quiet kid that sat at the backof the class that never got
(16:55):
noticed, okay, like just didn'twant to stand out.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
It was very much like I.
I didn't act up or anythinglike that.
But I never done any homework.
I never done anything.
I was basically asked to do atschool.
I'd done the work that I neededto do to get out of there again
and just kept my head down,didn't want to be the centre of
(17:27):
attention, didn't want to be thefocus of anything, just wanted
to get in and get out and awayfrom all the people and the
noise and bright lights andeverything like that.
It's the way that my ADHD is,the way that I'm very.
(17:51):
I can be very forgetful.
I can walk into a room andcompletely forget why I was in
there, but I'll, while I'm inthere, I'll go into autopilot
and I'll leave the room, comeback into my living room and
wonder why I've got whatever.
I've lifted out the cupboard inmy hand and out of the cupboard
(18:15):
in my hand, and I get timeblindness as well.
So, especially when I'm skating, I could feel like I've been
skating for an hour and it turnsout three or four hours have
gone by and I'm probably latefor something else.
(18:38):
Or I go into the completeopposite, where I've got an
appointment at four o'clock inthe afternoon and I will be in
essentially waiting mode untilI've got to leave.
I won't do anything else, justin case that becomes like it
(19:00):
grows arms and legs Basicallylike.
So I'll just sit and watch thetelly until it's time to leave.
I won't do anything else orgive anything else my attention,
just in case it grabs too muchof it.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
So basically, when you get involved in something or
give anything else my attention, just in case it grabs too much
of it, yeah, so basically, whenyou get involved in something,
you kind of basically just focuson that and not pay attention
to anything else, yeah, I justdon't pay attention at the time
because it doesn't really matterat that point, and then I end
up missing an appointment orsomething.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I mean you can always rearrange them, but I don't
like doing the phone call partto rearrange it, because then I
feel like I've got to apologize.
I mean I don't really.
Yeah, you feel like you'realmost getting a row.
You've let somebody down.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Where somebody else could have had that appointment
time, which I am guilty of,having missed appointments
myself, yeah.
So now, what do your parentsthink of your skating and
everything?
Have they mentioned any kind ofchange that they've noticed
with you, with the skating?
Speaker 3 (20:19):
They keep telling me to wear pads.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Do you at least wear a helmet.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
No, because I'm not doing flips and stuff, but as
soon as I decide I'm confidentenough to throw a front flip or
a back flip, I'm not doing ituntil I've got a helmet on my
head.
There you go, that's one.
I will say, right, okay, I willquite happily wear a helmet
because there's every potentialI am going to land on my head
with that.
I quickly picked up on how tofall without doing major damage,
(20:59):
Like not sticking your wristdown, just tuck and roll.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Sometimes that's the best move, especially when you
like shove your girlfriend outof the car.
I'm just kidding, I would neverdo that.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
But my parents have noticed that.
You know like I'm happier, I'msmiling because I've I've got an
outlet, basically.
Yeah, it's weird, I'll go tothe skate park to let off steam.
I'll go to the skate park ifI'm upset.
I'll go to the skate park tolet off steam.
I'll go to the skate park ifI'm upset, I'll go out and skate
, even if it's just sunny andI'm happy.
Yeah, I'll go out to skate justbecause and I'll take time as
(21:50):
well to take my skates apart.
Now I learned my lesson when Ididn't do it Bearings collapse
and things when you don't takethem apart and give them a
regular cleaning exactly weather, yeah, I can't express.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
And several people feel the same way.
It's like maintenance on skatesis so important making sure
your wheels are clean, yourbearings are clean, that you
don't have a bunch of buildup onthe axles so just to make sure
it's all clean is so importantand a lot of people just never
do it and it's like you spendseveral hundreds, sometimes
(22:31):
thousands of dollars on skatesand then you don't maintain them
.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Well, I didn't maintain my last pair of skates
and then you don't maintain them.
Well, I didn't maintain my lastpair of skates and I they
quickly disintegrated and I meanthe boots and the frames and
everything are all still good,yeah, but they've been skated to
within and absolutely, like thewheels, are dead, entirely dead
(22:57):
.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
So, yeah, they've been retired now all you gotta
do is just buy new wheels andbearings and you revive the
skates.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I've found the.
I've discovered the groove onthe pair of great razors.
Okay, I've just learned aRoyale a couple of weeks ago and
on my old skates there wasn'treally very much of a groove on
(23:33):
them, so now I've started doingthem with a groove.
It just feels so much morenatural okay and don't get me
wrong, I absolutely loved thatfirst pair of skates.
I learned most of my tricks inthem yeah and so they're going
(23:56):
to take pride of place.
They're going to get mounted onmy living room wall.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
There was a photographer down at the skate
park last week just passing byand asked if he could snap a few
pictures.
I said yeah and just completelyforgot that he was there and he
sent me a few of the picturesthrough on Facebook and that's
(24:24):
now my profile picture acrosseverything but that I'm going to
get that picture framed and putit up above them because I
think it's just an absolutecracking shot of me and those
skates catching that nice bigair over the box.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Very cool.
You'll definitely have to sendme your Facebook link, so I get
some of the good pictures.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Yeah, I'll send it across.
I'll send you my Instagram aswell.
That's where most of it goes.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Okay.
So there's just a cause we weretalking about Glasgow and
skating and stuff and there'sjust a freedom you get when
skating that you can't.
It's like I don't get it whenI'm mountain biking, I don't get
it when I'm driving in a car,but with skating it's like you
have more freedom to do stuffthan you do when you're kind of
(25:18):
on your own and just have theskates on your feet.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
See skating as a group going down Buchanan Street
weaving in and out of people.
I mean there's a couple of guysthat bomb down it backwards,
weaving in and out of people.
It's impressive, would youwouldn't catch me doing anything
like that?
Not, yet I'm nowhere near thatconfident in my my ability to
(25:44):
avoid people quickly.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Um, yeah, and the way you've described the roads out
there, I don't know if I'd beflying down backwards, weaving
in and out of people.
Anyways.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
The reason that you can do it down Buchanan Street
is that's really nice and smooth.
Okay, it's tiled, basically,but it's all nice, smooth, ready
, easy to roll over, especiallyif you've got a set of big
wheels on.
Okay, it's so much fun.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Is it a pretty long street and is it level or
downhill or what is it?
Speaker 3 (26:21):
It's downhill, oh nice, you can just do a couple
of pushes at the top and thenjust continue picking up
momentum all the way down.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Especially when you're heavy like me, you just
get a lot more momentum.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
And if it's busy you'll be carving all over the
place in and out of foot,because it can get really busy
and you just can't go fast atall.
Yeah, you're going downdragging your foot just to keep
yourself at a pace that you cankeep up with people.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Pretty busy with cars and everything too, or?
Speaker 3 (27:01):
No, it's a pedestrian thing.
There's a couple of car liketraffic light crossings, okay,
but they're generally actuallypretty quiet, so you can, most
of the time you can, go down itsafely.
Just to make sure you'reprepared to slow yourself down a
(27:23):
bit for the crossings, just incase there is a bus yeah, that
would actually hurt so now, haveyou seen the movie airborne?
Speaker 2 (27:33):
I think I have.
It came out like 1993, I think,and they yeah they'll go bombing
down the hills and everythinglike that yeah, at the end it's
a devil's backbone and they'relike some of them are like
sliding under trucks and stuffand I'm like, yeah, you won't
catch me doing that.
So one of the guys that wasactually in the movie was my
(27:55):
first guest on the podcast.
So, yes, yeah, look up.
Uh, the first episode is chrisedwards and he's basically the
godfather of of freestyleskating, as he puts it.
Um, but an amazing skater andjust x games team rollerblade
(28:17):
back in the beginning.
So another really good story tolisten to about his skating
life, especially with whereyou're going now too.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
I've got your.
I followed your podcast onSpotify.
Oh, very cool, your podcast on.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Spotify.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Oh, very cool.
So I've not had time toproperly listen to one all the
way through yet, but I will getthere.
Yeah, I'll listen to that firstone.
Definitely I'll just stay upfor the rest of the night If I
(28:56):
go to sleep.
I won't wake up tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Do you have plans to skate tomorrow then?
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Oh no, I've done enough skating.
I think I'm going to give myankles a rest for a few days.
There's a street competition onin Glasgow, so I might go down
and have a wee watch of that.
Okay, but I don't think I'll beskating.
(29:26):
But then again, I say that nowand then it'll get to the time
and I'll take my skates anywayand I will put them on my feet.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Yeah, it's who we are .
We go out and we say we're notgoing to skate.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
and we skate yeah, my skates go absolutely everywhere
with me.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yeah, mine are in my car too.
I got my speed skates and myrink skate, but they always go.
You always have them on youjust in case you might come
across a roller rink skate so.
But they always go.
You always have them on youjust in case you might come
across a roller rink or a nicepark or a skate park or.
But I don't do the aggressivestuff, I'm not crazy.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
I mean, even if I could find a nice street spot,
I'm like, oh, I could do a nicewee trick on that tiny little
curb in a car park or somethinglike that, just anything really
that looks like it can be skatedpretty much our mindset is we
(30:28):
can skate anywhere, so yeah,it's one of those things, except
for on the freeways.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
they kind of get upset about you skating in
traffic, so I don't recommend onthe highways or the freeways.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
With the way that some people drive around here.
You'd be faster just skatingalong the main roads instead of
using the motorway.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
I wish people would drive like that around here.
Unfortunately, the people thatdrive like that are usually in
front of me when I'm driving forwork.
So not very nice when theydrive that slow.
So now, when it comes down towho is your biggest influence
(31:19):
for skating, so it would be mybest friend.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Um, he's also called daryl, okay, but so we've got
the same name.
Uh, he introduced me to thisstyle like aggressive blading.
He's been doing it for 30 yearsalmost okay and he.
(31:49):
It's been like having Yoda as ateacher, nice.
So he's given me so many hints,tips and tricks and everything,
and there's been points whereI've just been you could
(32:09):
essentially call it a tantrum inthe skate park.
He's trying to give me apointer on how to do a trick
that he knows that I can dobecause he's seen me do it
before and then I eventually goand do it.
But he's been very supportivein my skating as well.
(32:37):
He introduced me to the wholeChris Haffey, mike Murdoch,
johnson, all the Julian Cuddoand the aggressive style skating
(33:02):
on YouTube.
Showed me the clips, showed mehis old videos and clips of him
skating at the local spots aswell, which kind of made me go,
oh, that's really cool, I bet Icould do that as well.
Which kind of made me go, oh,that's really cool, I bet I
could do that as well.
Yeah, it's really helped withlike confidence and everything.
(33:27):
Um, but yeah, he's beenbrilliant.
Uh, the Urban Rollers group aswell.
They have been absolutelyfantastic.
Just the community in general,the people that I've met through
(33:51):
it in a short time.
Skating has just been amazing.
I mean, even if I didn't wantto be doing tricks on ledges and
rails and stuff, and I justlike rolling around.
There's folks that do that aswell, and everybody builds
(34:17):
everybody up great.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
That's the one thing I love about the skating
community yeah it's.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
It's fantastic.
I feel like I'm part ofsomething with it oh, oh,
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
And it's funny about the skating community it doesn't
matter where you're from.
As long as you skate, you'rewelcomed in.
No questions asked.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
It's been such an unjudgmental welcoming community
.
It's just been brilliant and Isaid I've, I'm, I've made
lifelong friends through it forsure.
Um, I've been to places that Ididn't really plan on going.
(35:13):
I didn't really plan on going.
I seen parts of the city ofGlasgow that I would never have
seen if I wasn't skating yeahand I look at things in a
completely different lightthrough it as well.
(35:34):
Just walking down the street andI see a handrail or something
and I'm like I could maybe skatethat one at some point.
I'll take a picture of it on myphone.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
That's one of the nice things about the skating
community too.
It's like when I come out toScotland and Ireland to visit
and everything, having thatskating community, like you said
, you've seen parts of Glasgowthat you have wouldn't consider,
and even for me when I would go, when I go over, I'll see parts
of the country that normalpeople, normal tourists,
(36:10):
wouldn't see because they do allthe touristy stuff, as opposed
to having that community ofskaters or something to that
they can meet up with and seemore of what you normally
wouldn't see.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
so it's one of the things that I really love about
the skating community yeah, youget to see like the diy parks
and that are kept by thecommunity.
Basically just theskateboarders, bmxers, bladers,
(36:44):
anybody that goes around does awee bit of something to keep
them or they'll add their ownwee bit here and there.
There's a few cool DIY skateparks Kingston DIY in Glasgow
and the Arches as well.
(37:05):
They're both pretty cool weeplaces.
I've not been to them yet.
I've seen them in so manyvideos.
They've just been on the listof places to visit on many
street skates and they've neverbeen reached because you lose
(37:25):
track of time at a spot when youuse are really enjoying it.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
You've got a good few of you yeah, so now, what kind
of setup do you have?
Now, I know you said you justgot new, new skates.
Do you have, like, what kind ofsetup do you have now?
I know you said you just gotnew, new skates.
Do you have, like, what wheelsbearings setup do you have?
Speaker 3 (37:43):
I'm using an anti-rocker setup, you know.
So I've got front and backwheel and like two basically
plastic hubs, okay in the middle, so I don't get any wheel bite
(38:03):
when I do groove tricks, whichis lovely.
My roaches were on a flat setupuntil one of the bearings
collapsed and then they werejust on a dodgy setup.
We're not going to talk aboutthat.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
Too many painful memories, yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
It was just randomly breaking like stopping rolling
and just not working.
Yeah, ah, and that's whymaintenance is so important.
Yeah, exactly that's why youkeep the skates clean.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Exactly Now.
It's cool that you've only beenskating for a little over a
year and everything.
Speaker 3 (39:01):
So what advice do you have to new and upcoming
skaters?
Um, just believe you can do it,because you're going to have
falls and bumps and scrapes andsore bits.
(39:21):
But you're not made of glassand it's going to take practice.
It's.
You've just got to stick at itand you'll fall in love with it
very quickly absolutely nomatter what style of skating you
(39:46):
do.
I've tried out quads andthey're just not for me, but
I've seen folks skating themabsolutely awesomely big deals.
I've seen folks skating themabsolutely awesomely Big wheels,
speed skating, yeah, and rollerhockey there's a bit of
(40:13):
something for everyone.
I agree with you.
If you stick at it, it'sdefinitely worth it.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
You'll meet some of the most interesting people
you'll ever meet.
That is a very true statement.
I cannot dispute that one.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
What's funny is I've never actually fallen on my butt
skating.
Oh you're lucky.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
I've landed on my knees, my back, my sides but
I've never landed on the cushionspot.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
You just don't bounce the same after 30 as you did.
As a kid I learned that thehard way.
The first time I had my firstproper slam a tailbone, slam the
up ramp of a quarter a halfpipe um, a concrete one at that
and you don't wear.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
You don't wear pads when you're doing half pipes or
anything.
Speaker 3 (41:21):
No, I don't, Although I've just got a pair of impact
shorts.
Okay, I will be wearing thembecause my hips are absolutely
killing me.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
It's what happens when you get older.
Speaker 3 (41:43):
The impact shorts will be getting worn more often,
for sure.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
You'll have to let me know how they are, because I
keep telling someone I will getthem for her, so she will go
skating.
Speaker 3 (41:57):
I'll definitely let you know how they are the guys
that I skate with.
I absolutely swear by them.
I might actually try skatingsome weak quarter pipe coping
tricks again.
There you go.
I'm frightened off of that veryquickly because I had to cope
(42:17):
and I've been nursing thatbruise ever since.
Speaker 2 (42:23):
Hey, we do what we got to do.
Now, how can my listenersfollow you?
Speaker 3 (42:30):
I've got Instagram, which is two seconds to get my
name, so my Instagram is justscottishblading and and you'll
(42:58):
swear and you know, that's wherequite a bit of my blading stuff
goes.
There's my TikTok as well,which is also Scottish blading,
I believe.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
I believe it is that one I have sent you.
I think it's skater bladingADHD brain Is that one.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
You, yeah, Scottish breathing yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
All right.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
Just sent you the request.
My phone's past its a lifespan.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
I think it's time for a new one, and it's a bit slow
now well, especially, do you useyour phone to record when
you're skating, or do you havelike a gopro or something?
Speaker 3 (43:59):
uh, yeah, I take videos on it, but I use my
tiktok to like do clip dumps sothat I'm not taking up the space
on my phone okay, yeah, myphone.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Actually I upgraded, I got 512 gigabytes so I can
store a lot, and then, becauseit's apple, I just transfer it
to the computer when I get backand then I can edit stuff and
have all that fun.
So but I do appreciate youcoming on the show today I
(44:31):
appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 3 (44:33):
I've never thought that I'd be invited to a podcast
through my skating, so it'sbeen great to speak to you and
thanks very much for.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
Likewise.
And the nice thing is isgetting people from all over the
world.
It's kind of like you get that.
We get perspectives of skatingculture around the world that we
normally wouldn't get.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (45:00):
Yeah, yeah, it's a world-wide community and it's so
welcoming, open and friendly.
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (45:13):
It's fantastic.
It's fantastic, it's brilliantand I, like I said, I appreciate
the invite.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
You're welcome you, thank you, thank you.
Hey there, welcome to how Do you Skate, the ultimate
destination for all skatingenthusiasts.
We cater to everyone, frombeginners to pros.
Whether you love inline and iceskating or prefer quads and
skateboarding, we have it allcovered, and we bring you
exclusive interviews withprofessionals, talented amateurs
(00:30):
and influencers in the industry.
So sit back, relax and getready for an exciting journey
into the world of skating.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome to this week's episode of how Do you
Skate.
I am your host, sean Egan, andmy guest today is Daryl Laird,
and he's coming to you fromScotland.
So how are you doing today, sir?
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (00:55):
I'm good, I'm wide awake, I'm so good on the phone,
but yeah, I'm all good.
Speaker 2 (01:01):
How are you?
I'm doing well, so I usuallylike to start off how it all
began for you.
So when did you start skating,what age, and kind of tell us a
little story about how it allcame to lead up to where you are
now.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
So I had my first shot on Blades when I was maybe
12 or 13 years old.
On Blades when I was maybe 12or 13 years old, but I was just
like a wee pair of skates andaround the car park at the
community centre a couple oftimes and maybe a park, but
(01:38):
nothing, nothing like I do now.
And then went years really.
I went down the skate park on askateboard when I was in high
school for a bit seeing thebladers doing their tricks and
everything was like, oh, that'spretty cool.
I wish I could kind of do that,but never done anything about
(01:58):
it then.
And then just in April last year, after turning 30, my best
friend threw a pair of shadowsat me, basically, and I strapped
my feet into them and learnt acouple of grinds within the
first hour or so on a wee railat the side of his house.
(02:21):
And from then on I was likethis is a bit of me, but I went
undiagnosed with ADHD for years,until sort of summer last year
as well.
Then everything kind of madesense and blading became a major
hyper-focus.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Okay.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
That was how I got into this style of waiting, but
I've been doing urban skating aswell.
I like doing a bit of parkskating, indoor skating ramps
and jumps anything that involveswheels on my feet.
Now, basically, I'll put myblades on to go down the shop.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
There you go, so now you started worse.
Speaker 3 (03:13):
You were skateboarding before, so were
you doing the whole ramps,inverts and all that stuff too.
No, I hung around the skatepark with a skateboard and I
could drop in and kind of nineout of ten times do a kickflip.
Okay, I couldn't do very muchon a skateboard.
(03:36):
There was enough to get by in askate park, basically just
without getting in anybody's way.
So now were you at the skatepark with the skateboard to
impress the girls?
No, it was where my pals hungaround.
So I went down to the skatepark to and I just sat at the
(03:56):
side watching and I was like I'mgoing to just give this a try,
why not?
Okay, so it wasn't for the girls, I just had to ask so no, that
was that girls weren't really athing back then because they
(04:19):
were just not interested in me.
So I I've done other things.
I went out and interested in meso I had done other things.
I went out and messed around onmountain bikes and, okay, had a
field bike with my littlebrother that we run about the
woods on occasionally and I justdone whatever really, if it had
(04:45):
wheels and was fun, that was,it was for me.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
There you go.
So now with the whole ADHDdiagnosis.
Um, I have a son that has thesame diagnosis and he's
hyper-focused on creating horrormovie stuff and horror movies.
So that just sent your hyperfocus into skating where you're.
It's uh, I don't understand itbecause I don't have it, but I
(05:12):
see it so, if that makes sense.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
So when I so.
When I first started blading, Iwas going through the process
of getting the diagnosis.
Okay, after getting thediagnosis and realizing how into
blading I actually was, like myyoutube is full of blading
(05:38):
tutorials on how to do thistrick, that trick a skaters
edits like Julian Cadeau.
I've met some amazing peoplethrough Blading as well part of
a Glasgow Urban Rollers group,and we all get together and we
(05:58):
all do all kinds of skating.
Folk that skate big wheels,folk like me that skate
aggressive absolutely everywhereand shred their ankles and then
discover big wheels a yearlater and go.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Should have done this well, that's the one thing
about skating is it's it's never.
You're never an expert, you'realways learning, especially when
it comes to like freestyle andstuff I've mentioned it before
where with like hockey and speedskating and and uh sports type
stuff, you have limitations onwhat you can do.
(06:37):
But like freestyle and all thatyou've got like a wide open
field and new stuff's beinginvented pretty much every day.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
So and because this is something that I'm I'm still
very new to.
I mean, that's just over a yearthat I've been properly skating
, skating and I'm still tryingto find my limit.
Basically because every time Igo down to the skate park or go
(07:06):
out skating with someone else,I'm picking up new tips and
tricks and ways to do differenttricks and everything.
I got a new pair of skates yeah, a second hand pair of skates
from one of my new friends thatI made through skating, and the
(07:28):
difference in having thoseskates and being able to clean
up my tricks and everything onthem is incredible.
It's been, it's been a journey.
It's helped me so much, uh likeand as like, mentally as well.
Um, just with having, becausewhen you go there, if you're
(07:51):
trying to think of anything elseother than landing on that rail
or getting on that ledge,you're gonna miss it and it kind
of hurts yeah, I've had my fairshare of falls.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
And one thing is is you said you haven't reached
your limit, but with skatingyou'll never find your limit,
because once you hit where youthink you'd be at your limit,
you discover something new andyou just keep pushing yourself.
So honestly, I don't thinkyou'll ever find your limit, but
you'll just keep progressing.
That's certainly the plan yeah,so now do you.
(08:28):
What I'm really curious aboutbecause this is like the cool
thing about the podcast isinterviewing people from around
the world is what is the skateculture like in scotland?
So?
Speaker 3 (08:43):
I mean it's still kind of here, but it's nowhere
near as big as it used to be.
Okay, back when I was, you know,16, 17 years ago, you would
have bladers down at the skatepark and still doing their
(09:08):
tricks and stuff.
It's only since my best friendand I have been starting to go
back down and get in touch he'sbeen getting in touch with his
older blader buddies and stuffthat we've started to come back
around the skate park and beinginvolved with it again.
(09:31):
There's actually quite a bigskate group that I'm part of,
the Glasgow Urban Rollers, andthey are the most amazing people
I've ever met.
I'm really proud to call themmy friends now.
(09:52):
They come from all over thecountry.
Okay, we all kind of convertJohn Glasgow as like a central
point for meeting because it'swithin sort of an hour to hour
(10:13):
and a half to get to it for mostof us and it's been great.
I've got to explore and seeparts of Glasgow and everything
that I've never seen before,meet people from all walks of
(10:33):
life and all over the world aswell very cool now.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
Is that like a group where you guys get together and
then you just skate around, oris it like you meet at parks and
do aggressive skating, or is itjust all forms of skating?
Speaker 3 (10:50):
It's all forms of skating.
There's some girls in the groupthat do quad skating Okay, one
of them does the quad skating inthe park and she does wall
stalls off the ramp andeverything.
It's amazing to watch.
There's aggressive skaters.
(11:15):
There's big wheel skaters I'msure one of the guys does roller
hockey as well Okay, I'm sureone of the guys does roller
hockey as well, okay.
So there's folk from every sortof discipline and if we've got
a free day or something, we putup into the group chat to see
who's skating, and nine timesout of ten you'll find someone
(11:43):
to meet up with and have a skatethere you go, yeah you know
when I come out there.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
I'm skating with you guys, right.
Speaker 3 (11:49):
Yeah, come out and skate, by all means, that would
be awesome.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Because I'm planning on doing a race in France next
year.
So we're going to start doingsome international traveling,
with skating next year starting,so that'll be fun.
And I'm half Irish, so I wantto go to Ireland and go to
Sean's bar, just because it'sthe oldest bar in the world.
So if you know how to get there, we can all make a trip.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
I heard London's got a really big skate scene.
Speaker 2 (12:23):
I've heard that too.
I did have one guy on, actuallya couple of guys that were from
London on, but now one's livingin Canada.
Now do you guys have rollerrinks out there or indoor
skating like indoor ramp parks?
Speaker 3 (12:39):
We've got a couple of indoor parks that are to me.
They're relatively close.
I've got one up in Aberdeen,one in Glasgow, one just the
other side of Glasgow.
I think there's one in Dundeeas well.
(13:00):
Okay, so there's a few indoorones about, but they're kind of
dotted about.
They're not all over the place.
Yeah, a few outdoor parks and acouple of bigger ones, some
smaller ones, and some of themare in good neck, some of them
(13:25):
are in good knicks, some of themare absolutely shocking and
will eat your wheels in asession.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
You gotta have challenges.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
I quite like skating the street in Glasgow and we've
had the weather for it recently,so it's been awesome to get out
and skate some street spots andpractice the new tricks and
everything on them.
See how they feel in differentplaces.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Now, what's the roads like in Scotland or Glasgow?
Is it pretty smooth, or oh?
Speaker 3 (14:03):
no, no no, no no, no, no, no, no.
The roads are terrible, so youcan need big wheels and be able
to jump Okay.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
I can do both.
So um now with your ADHD andbeing hyper-focused on um the
blading, has that helped?
Like you, focus on otheraspects of life, adhd and being
hyper-focused on the blading,has that helped?
Like you focus on other aspectsof life like work and family
and all that kind of stuff too,has it made life easier, I
should say?
Speaker 3 (14:37):
I guess is the question I'm trying to ask.
Yeah, I feel like I meanthrough the blading as well.
I feel like I've kind of foundmyself with it.
It's like an expression ofyourself.
As you're going in, you've gotyour own way of throwing these
tricks and landing onto them andyou've got the polishing them
(15:00):
up and cleaning them up.
Polishing them up and cleaningthem up, it's helped tenfold
with the mental health side ofthings.
I get along better with people.
My work's great because of thehours that I work.
(15:21):
It means that I can skatepretty much as often as I want,
because I only work like onefull day a week and then it's
half days the rest of the week.
Speaker 2 (15:37):
Okay, well, that definitely works out.
Are skating prices expensiveout there?
What are some of the brandsthat are out there?
Because I know out here we haveRollerblade and K2 and Roses.
The list kind of goes on.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
We still get all the same brands and everything.
You get Razors, you get Roses,salomons.
I don't think you get Salaminsanymore, actually maybe off of
Facebook Marketplace.
I was skating a pair of RosesFifth Elements and I've just
(16:21):
started skating an old Razor'sGrey Pebble skate.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
Uh, that's, that's the most recent skate that I've
started using now, okay, giftedto me by a friend nice now, when
you were growing up, um wereyou just like not focused at
school because of the hd goingundiagnosed uh no, I was the
quiet kid that sat at the backof the class that never got
(16:55):
noticed, okay, like just didn'twant to stand out.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
It was very much like I.
I didn't act up or anythinglike that.
But I never done any homework.
I never done anything.
I was basically asked to do atschool.
I'd done the work that I neededto do to get out of there again
and just kept my head down,didn't want to be the centre of
(17:27):
attention, didn't want to be thefocus of anything, just wanted
to get in and get out and awayfrom all the people and the
noise and bright lights andeverything like that.
It's the way that my ADHD is,the way that I'm very.
(17:51):
I can be very forgetful.
I can walk into a room andcompletely forget why I was in
there, but I'll, while I'm inthere, I'll go into autopilot
and I'll leave the room, comeback into my living room and
wonder why I've got whatever.
I've lifted out the cupboard inmy hand and out of the cupboard
(18:15):
in my hand, and I get timeblindness as well.
So, especially when I'm skating, I could feel like I've been
skating for an hour and it turnsout three or four hours have
gone by and I'm probably latefor something else.
(18:38):
Or I go into the completeopposite, where I've got an
appointment at four o'clock inthe afternoon and I will be in
essentially waiting mode untilI've got to leave.
I won't do anything else, justin case that becomes like it
(19:00):
grows arms and legs Basicallylike.
So I'll just sit and watch thetelly until it's time to leave.
I won't do anything else orgive anything else my attention,
just in case it grabs too muchof it.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
So basically, when you get involved in something or
give anything else my attention, just in case it grabs too much
of it, yeah, so basically, whenyou get involved in something,
you kind of basically just focuson that and not pay attention
to anything else, yeah, I justdon't pay attention at the time
because it doesn't really matterat that point, and then I end
up missing an appointment orsomething.
Speaker 3 (19:37):
I mean you can always rearrange them, but I don't
like doing the phone call partto rearrange it, because then I
feel like I've got to apologize.
I mean I don't really.
Yeah, you feel like you'realmost getting a row.
You've let somebody down.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
Where somebody else could have had that appointment
time, which I am guilty of,having missed appointments
myself, yeah.
So now, what do your parentsthink of your skating and
everything?
Have they mentioned any kind ofchange that they've noticed
with you, with the skating?
Speaker 3 (20:19):
They keep telling me to wear pads.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
Do you at least wear a helmet.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
No, because I'm not doing flips and stuff, but as
soon as I decide I'm confidentenough to throw a front flip or
a back flip, I'm not doing ituntil I've got a helmet on my
head.
There you go, that's one.
I will say, right, okay, I willquite happily wear a helmet
because there's every potentialI am going to land on my head
with that.
I quickly picked up on how tofall without doing major damage,
(20:59):
Like not sticking your wristdown, just tuck and roll.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Sometimes that's the best move, especially when you
like shove your girlfriend outof the car.
I'm just kidding, I would neverdo that.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
But my parents have noticed that.
You know like I'm happier, I'msmiling because I've I've got an
outlet, basically.
Yeah, it's weird, I'll go tothe skate park to let off steam.
I'll go to the skate park ifI'm upset.
I'll go to the skate park tolet off steam.
I'll go to the skate park ifI'm upset, I'll go out and skate
, even if it's just sunny andI'm happy.
Yeah, I'll go out to skate justbecause and I'll take time as
(21:50):
well to take my skates apart.
Now I learned my lesson when Ididn't do it Bearings collapse
and things when you don't takethem apart and give them a
regular cleaning exactly weather, yeah, I can't express.
Speaker 2 (22:09):
And several people feel the same way.
It's like maintenance on skatesis so important making sure
your wheels are clean, yourbearings are clean, that you
don't have a bunch of buildup onthe axles so just to make sure
it's all clean is so importantand a lot of people just never
do it and it's like you spendseveral hundreds, sometimes
(22:31):
thousands of dollars on skatesand then you don't maintain them
.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Well, I didn't maintain my last pair of skates
and then you don't maintain them.
Well, I didn't maintain my lastpair of skates and I they
quickly disintegrated and I meanthe boots and the frames and
everything are all still good,yeah, but they've been skated to
within and absolutely, like thewheels, are dead, entirely dead
(22:57):
.
Speaker 2 (23:00):
So, yeah, they've been retired now all you gotta
do is just buy new wheels andbearings and you revive the
skates.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
I've found the.
I've discovered the groove onthe pair of great razors.
Okay, I've just learned aRoyale a couple of weeks ago and
on my old skates there wasn'treally very much of a groove on
(23:33):
them, so now I've started doingthem with a groove.
It just feels so much morenatural okay and don't get me
wrong, I absolutely loved thatfirst pair of skates.
I learned most of my tricks inthem yeah and so they're going
(23:56):
to take pride of place.
They're going to get mounted onmy living room wall.
Speaker 2 (24:01):
There you go.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
There was a photographer down at the skate
park last week just passing byand asked if he could snap a few
pictures.
I said yeah and just completelyforgot that he was there and he
sent me a few of the picturesthrough on Facebook and that's
(24:24):
now my profile picture acrosseverything but that I'm going to
get that picture framed and putit up above them because I
think it's just an absolutecracking shot of me and those
skates catching that nice bigair over the box.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
Very cool.
You'll definitely have to sendme your Facebook link, so I get
some of the good pictures.
Speaker 3 (24:50):
Yeah, I'll send it across.
I'll send you my Instagram aswell.
That's where most of it goes.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Okay.
So there's just a cause we weretalking about Glasgow and
skating and stuff and there'sjust a freedom you get when
skating that you can't.
It's like I don't get it whenI'm mountain biking, I don't get
it when I'm driving in a car,but with skating it's like you
have more freedom to do stuffthan you do when you're kind of
(25:18):
on your own and just have theskates on your feet.
Speaker 3 (25:21):
See skating as a group going down Buchanan Street
weaving in and out of people.
I mean there's a couple of guysthat bomb down it backwards,
weaving in and out of people.
It's impressive, would youwouldn't catch me doing anything
like that?
Not, yet I'm nowhere near thatconfident in my my ability to
(25:44):
avoid people quickly.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Um, yeah, and the way you've described the roads out
there, I don't know if I'd beflying down backwards, weaving
in and out of people.
Anyways.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
The reason that you can do it down Buchanan Street
is that's really nice and smooth.
Okay, it's tiled, basically,but it's all nice, smooth, ready
, easy to roll over, especiallyif you've got a set of big
wheels on.
Okay, it's so much fun.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Is it a pretty long street and is it level or
downhill or what is it?
Speaker 3 (26:21):
It's downhill, oh nice, you can just do a couple
of pushes at the top and thenjust continue picking up
momentum all the way down.
Speaker 2 (26:32):
Especially when you're heavy like me, you just
get a lot more momentum.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
And if it's busy you'll be carving all over the
place in and out of foot,because it can get really busy
and you just can't go fast atall.
Yeah, you're going downdragging your foot just to keep
yourself at a pace that you cankeep up with people.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Pretty busy with cars and everything too, or?
Speaker 3 (27:01):
No, it's a pedestrian thing.
There's a couple of car liketraffic light crossings, okay,
but they're generally actuallypretty quiet, so you can, most
of the time you can, go down itsafely.
Just to make sure you'reprepared to slow yourself down a
(27:23):
bit for the crossings, just incase there is a bus yeah, that
would actually hurt so now, haveyou seen the movie airborne?
Speaker 2 (27:33):
I think I have.
It came out like 1993, I think,and they yeah they'll go bombing
down the hills and everythinglike that yeah, at the end it's
a devil's backbone and they'relike some of them are like
sliding under trucks and stuffand I'm like, yeah, you won't
catch me doing that.
So one of the guys that wasactually in the movie was my
(27:55):
first guest on the podcast.
So, yes, yeah, look up.
Uh, the first episode is chrisedwards and he's basically the
godfather of of freestyleskating, as he puts it.
Um, but an amazing skater andjust x games team rollerblade
(28:17):
back in the beginning.
So another really good story tolisten to about his skating
life, especially with whereyou're going now too.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
I've got your.
I followed your podcast onSpotify.
Oh, very cool, your podcast on.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Spotify.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Oh, very cool.
So I've not had time toproperly listen to one all the
way through yet, but I will getthere.
Yeah, I'll listen to that firstone.
Definitely I'll just stay upfor the rest of the night If I
(28:56):
go to sleep.
I won't wake up tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Do you have plans to skate tomorrow then?
Speaker 3 (29:02):
Oh no, I've done enough skating.
I think I'm going to give myankles a rest for a few days.
There's a street competition onin Glasgow, so I might go down
and have a wee watch of that.
Okay, but I don't think I'll beskating.
(29:26):
But then again, I say that nowand then it'll get to the time
and I'll take my skates anywayand I will put them on my feet.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
Yeah, it's who we are .
We go out and we say we're notgoing to skate.
Speaker 3 (29:42):
and we skate yeah, my skates go absolutely everywhere
with me.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Yeah, mine are in my car too.
I got my speed skates and myrink skate, but they always go.
You always have them on youjust in case you might come
across a roller rink skate so.
But they always go.
You always have them on youjust in case you might come
across a roller rink or a nicepark or a skate park or.
But I don't do the aggressivestuff, I'm not crazy.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
I mean, even if I could find a nice street spot,
I'm like, oh, I could do a nicewee trick on that tiny little
curb in a car park or somethinglike that, just anything really
that looks like it can be skatedpretty much our mindset is we
(30:28):
can skate anywhere, so yeah,it's one of those things, except
for on the freeways.
Speaker 2 (30:38):
they kind of get upset about you skating in
traffic, so I don't recommend onthe highways or the freeways.
Speaker 3 (30:46):
With the way that some people drive around here.
You'd be faster just skatingalong the main roads instead of
using the motorway.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
I wish people would drive like that around here.
Unfortunately, the people thatdrive like that are usually in
front of me when I'm driving forwork.
So not very nice when theydrive that slow.
So now, when it comes down towho is your biggest influence
(31:19):
for skating, so it would be mybest friend.
Speaker 3 (31:25):
Um, he's also called daryl, okay, but so we've got
the same name.
Uh, he introduced me to thisstyle like aggressive blading.
He's been doing it for 30 yearsalmost okay and he.
(31:49):
It's been like having Yoda as ateacher, nice.
So he's given me so many hints,tips and tricks and everything,
and there's been points whereI've just been you could
(32:09):
essentially call it a tantrum inthe skate park.
He's trying to give me apointer on how to do a trick
that he knows that I can dobecause he's seen me do it
before and then I eventually goand do it.
But he's been very supportivein my skating as well.
(32:37):
He introduced me to the wholeChris Haffey, mike Murdoch,
johnson, all the Julian Cuddoand the aggressive style skating
(33:02):
on YouTube.
Showed me the clips, showed mehis old videos and clips of him
skating at the local spots aswell, which kind of made me go,
oh, that's really cool, I bet Icould do that as well.
Which kind of made me go, oh,that's really cool, I bet I
could do that as well.
Yeah, it's really helped withlike confidence and everything.
(33:27):
Um, but yeah, he's beenbrilliant.
Uh, the Urban Rollers group aswell.
They have been absolutelyfantastic.
Just the community in general,the people that I've met through
(33:51):
it in a short time.
Skating has just been amazing.
I mean, even if I didn't wantto be doing tricks on ledges and
rails and stuff, and I justlike rolling around.
There's folks that do that aswell, and everybody builds
(34:17):
everybody up great.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
That's the one thing I love about the skating
community yeah it's.
Speaker 3 (34:25):
It's fantastic.
I feel like I'm part ofsomething with it oh, oh,
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
And it's funny about the skating community it doesn't
matter where you're from.
As long as you skate, you'rewelcomed in.
No questions asked.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
It's been such an unjudgmental welcoming community
.
It's just been brilliant and Isaid I've, I'm, I've made
lifelong friends through it forsure.
Um, I've been to places that Ididn't really plan on going.
(35:13):
I didn't really plan on going.
I seen parts of the city ofGlasgow that I would never have
seen if I wasn't skating yeahand I look at things in a
completely different lightthrough it as well.
(35:34):
Just walking down the street andI see a handrail or something
and I'm like I could maybe skatethat one at some point.
I'll take a picture of it on myphone.
Speaker 2 (35:47):
That's one of the nice things about the skating
community too.
It's like when I come out toScotland and Ireland to visit
and everything, having thatskating community, like you said
, you've seen parts of Glasgowthat you have wouldn't consider,
and even for me when I would go, when I go over, I'll see parts
of the country that normalpeople, normal tourists,
(36:10):
wouldn't see because they do allthe touristy stuff, as opposed
to having that community ofskaters or something to that
they can meet up with and seemore of what you normally
wouldn't see.
Speaker 3 (36:23):
so it's one of the things that I really love about
the skating community yeah, youget to see like the diy parks
and that are kept by thecommunity.
Basically just theskateboarders, bmxers, bladers,
(36:44):
anybody that goes around does awee bit of something to keep
them or they'll add their ownwee bit here and there.
There's a few cool DIY skateparks Kingston DIY in Glasgow
and the Arches as well.
(37:05):
They're both pretty cool weeplaces.
I've not been to them yet.
I've seen them in so manyvideos.
They've just been on the listof places to visit on many
street skates and they've neverbeen reached because you lose
(37:25):
track of time at a spot when youuse are really enjoying it.
Speaker 2 (37:28):
You've got a good few of you yeah, so now, what kind
of setup do you have?
Now, I know you said you justgot new, new skates.
Do you have, like, what kind ofsetup do you have now?
I know you said you just gotnew, new skates.
Do you have, like, what wheelsbearings setup do you have?
Speaker 3 (37:43):
I'm using an anti-rocker setup, you know.
So I've got front and backwheel and like two basically
plastic hubs, okay in the middle, so I don't get any wheel bite
(38:03):
when I do groove tricks, whichis lovely.
My roaches were on a flat setupuntil one of the bearings
collapsed and then they werejust on a dodgy setup.
We're not going to talk aboutthat.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
Too many painful memories, yeah.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
It was just randomly breaking like stopping rolling
and just not working.
Yeah, ah, and that's whymaintenance is so important.
Yeah, exactly that's why youkeep the skates clean.
Speaker 2 (38:47):
Exactly Now.
It's cool that you've only beenskating for a little over a
year and everything.
Speaker 3 (39:01):
So what advice do you have to new and upcoming
skaters?
Um, just believe you can do it,because you're going to have
falls and bumps and scrapes andsore bits.
(39:21):
But you're not made of glassand it's going to take practice.
It's.
You've just got to stick at itand you'll fall in love with it
very quickly absolutely nomatter what style of skating you
(39:46):
do.
I've tried out quads andthey're just not for me, but
I've seen folks skating themabsolutely awesomely big deals.
I've seen folks skating themabsolutely awesomely Big wheels,
speed skating, yeah, and rollerhockey there's a bit of
(40:13):
something for everyone.
I agree with you.
If you stick at it, it'sdefinitely worth it.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
You'll meet some of the most interesting people
you'll ever meet.
That is a very true statement.
I cannot dispute that one.
Speaker 3 (40:41):
What's funny is I've never actually fallen on my butt
skating.
Oh you're lucky.
Speaker 2 (40:45):
I've landed on my knees, my back, my sides but
I've never landed on the cushionspot.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
You just don't bounce the same after 30 as you did.
As a kid I learned that thehard way.
The first time I had my firstproper slam a tailbone, slam the
up ramp of a quarter a halfpipe um, a concrete one at that
and you don't wear.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
You don't wear pads when you're doing half pipes or
anything.
Speaker 3 (41:21):
No, I don't, Although I've just got a pair of impact
shorts.
Okay, I will be wearing thembecause my hips are absolutely
killing me.
Speaker 2 (41:40):
It's what happens when you get older.
Speaker 3 (41:43):
The impact shorts will be getting worn more often,
for sure.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
You'll have to let me know how they are, because I
keep telling someone I will getthem for her, so she will go
skating.
Speaker 3 (41:57):
I'll definitely let you know how they are the guys
that I skate with.
I absolutely swear by them.
I might actually try skatingsome weak quarter pipe coping
tricks again.
There you go.
I'm frightened off of that veryquickly because I had to cope
(42:17):
and I've been nursing thatbruise ever since.
Speaker 2 (42:23):
Hey, we do what we got to do.
Now, how can my listenersfollow you?
Speaker 3 (42:30):
I've got Instagram, which is two seconds to get my
name, so my Instagram is justscottishblading and and you'll
(42:58):
swear and you know, that's wherequite a bit of my blading stuff
goes.
There's my TikTok as well,which is also Scottish blading,
I believe.
Speaker 2 (43:12):
I believe it is that one I have sent you.
I think it's skater bladingADHD brain Is that one.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
You, yeah, Scottish breathing yeah.
Speaker 2 (43:32):
All right.
Speaker 3 (43:39):
Just sent you the request.
My phone's past its a lifespan.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
I think it's time for a new one, and it's a bit slow
now well, especially, do you useyour phone to record when
you're skating, or do you havelike a gopro or something?
Speaker 3 (43:59):
uh, yeah, I take videos on it, but I use my
tiktok to like do clip dumps sothat I'm not taking up the space
on my phone okay, yeah, myphone.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Actually I upgraded, I got 512 gigabytes so I can
store a lot, and then, becauseit's apple, I just transfer it
to the computer when I get backand then I can edit stuff and
have all that fun.
So but I do appreciate youcoming on the show today I
(44:31):
appreciate you having me on.
Speaker 3 (44:33):
I've never thought that I'd be invited to a podcast
through my skating, so it'sbeen great to speak to you and
thanks very much for.
Speaker 2 (44:47):
Likewise.
And the nice thing is isgetting people from all over the
world.
It's kind of like you get that.
We get perspectives of skatingculture around the world that we
normally wouldn't get.
You know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (45:00):
Yeah, yeah, it's a world-wide community and it's so
welcoming, open and friendly.
Speaker 2 (45:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (45:13):
It's fantastic.
It's fantastic, it's brilliantand I, like I said, I appreciate
the invite.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
You're welcome you, thank you, thank you.
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