Need for Speed

I'm going to be up north on the Gunflint trail at the in-laws cabin all next week. I wanted to get in a good hard week of training this week because I don't expect to get much in up North besides a little running, and hiking and canoeing with the kids. I decided to go out to Afton to hit the hills for some intervals. I was using the hill on Trading Post Rd., long but not too steep. When I got to the top there was a car full of teenage boys hanging out. After turning around to head back down, I saw that they were preparing to go down the hill on skateboards. I was going down leisurely, catching my breath, standing up to get a nice long recovery and they zoomed by. When I reached the bottom after them I just turned around and headed back up. When I turned at the top to head down again, I passed them as they prepared to head down again also. I was standing again and they caught me in the middle of the hill. There was a slight rise before it heads down again and I decided to follow them. I did a few quick skates over the rise and went into a tuck. One of the boys was half standing and doing some slalom back and forth. I had to squeek by him as he swerved toward me and didn't see me coming. I passed him and started catching another boy who was just crouching low on the board. We all reached the bottom about the same time and I turned and headed back up again. As the boys passed me in their car on the way to the top, I got a double toot on the horn and a two-fingered, peace-sign wave. I thought it was pretty cool for a 42 yr old woman to get that kind of recognition from a group of young skate boarding boys. I guess we connected on understanding the need for speed; the rush of wind in your face as the ground zooms by under your feet. I just love that. Don't we all?