Rippin around Thesen Island

“A RipStik, also known as a caster board, is a two-wheeled, human-powered land vehicle that is controlled by the feet. It is similar to a skateboard, but has two wheels instead of four, and the rider twists their body to move the board rather than pushing with their foot. The RipStik has two narrow platforms or decks that are joined by a torsion bar containing a spring. The two wheels can move independently, and the rider twists the board back and forth to move their feet side to side. To steer, the rider leans their front foot into the curve and their back foot out of the curve.“

Our first stop after Cape Town was an opportunistic meet-up with GUG and GAK … Great Uncle Geoff and Great Aunt Karyn. They were on the tail end of a multi-week trip including some time in South Africa, so we met them for 3 days in Knysna, at their friends’ house on Thesen Island.

This place was decked out. Their garage had all sorts of games and toys to play with including a ping pong table, tennis racquets, golf clubs, a basketball, and many modes of transportation including a cherry-red Vespa a Specialized eBike, and these RipSticks. There were tennis courts in the housing development, so Mom pulled out the RipSticks and suggested we use them to get down to the courts. Grant immediately said “No Mom, I’ve tried those things they’re really hard, I don’t wanna do it.” While I took Grant’s word for it, I still wanted to see what they were because they looked fun. Mom being the ultimate motivator takes down a RipStick and pushes Grant to try. Mom proceeded to support Grant down the road as Grant tried to balance, eventually he got to the point where he said “Mom, let go!” He was swiveling his backfoot and staying up – doing really well. I was surprised because he said it was so hard. That’s how it all began.

Grant had his turn and then went ahead with Dad, so I jumped on the board and Mom jogged with me. It was really awkward at first, but then I started to get the hang of it. Mom jogged with me and didn’t let go until we were almost at the tennis courts, but by that time I was really feeling it, so I wanted to keep going.

The tennis courts were much smoother, so when I was riding in there, it reminded me of surfing and surfskating that I did in Lombok, gliding smoothly along the hardcourt. I quickly advanced from needing assistance on takeoff, to starting on my own, being able to skate all the way around the court, making turns around the tennis nets first on my heel side, then on my toe side.

After that morning Grant and I started RipSticking everywhere. It was fun to have to learn a new activity and be good at it pretty quickly. Naturally we started racing and made it into a competition. It fun for me, because Grant and I were at the same level. I was able to beat him sometimes and was able to beat me. With any free time we would grab RipSticks and race around the cul-de-sac in front of the house.

It was fun to rip around Knysna, learn something new, and be at the same level as Grant in a physical activity. Now we’re talking about getting a RipStick (or two) when we get back to the VT.