Ted Lin, my skate instructor from the 1980s, posted this photo on Instagram today. It was taken right before my first dropin attempt on the UCSD halfpipe, circa 1988.

Dropping in on a 9-ft vert was scary!

The ever-patient Steve Villarreal, founder of the UCSD skate club, is giving last-minute tips.

The next summer Steve and Ted came to Finland to teach skateboarding. The Ministry of Education gave them a bus, and we toured around halfpipes and parks on the outskirts of Helsinki. There was a crowd of excited kids waiting everywhere the bus went.

There’s a new generation skateboarding now, and us old fogies are re-learning our old tricks.