Throw Back Thursday - Backflips

Jumping back to 2007-2008. If you've ever ridden a bike at a skatepark, you've been asked if you can do a backflip. A long time ago, I made it a goal to learn backflips. I did my first backflips into a foam pit and I'm really glad I learned that way. I landed on my head the first 10 times before finally getting them around.

After learning the motion in the foam, I went a few months before I could try again. Luckily, that winter had a massive snow storm. We lived across the street from a hardware store. With school closed, we walked over and bought enough wood for a jump and learned flips into a snowbank.

The first backflip I ever did!

Later in the day there was a little crowd

The first few times were into soft snow, once that became easy, we threw a piece of carpet on top of the snow and I was able to "ride" out the flip.

A few weeks later, I took a trip to Seattle and rode the now closed Skatebarn. After a few run ups and visualizations, I managed to flip my first wooden box!

Going upside down...

...and bringing it back around.

Lots of fun!

 I still do flips every now and then. They're a really fun trick and much easier than they look. One day I do want to flip off a drop. It's a really crazy feeling to start falling during the first portion of the flip.

Keep it upside down!

-KT