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Video: Guy With Death Wish Teaches You How To Skitch Around NYC
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 12, 2016
Modified Oct 12, 2016
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 12, 2016
Modified Oct 12, 2016
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Skitching—the act of hitching a ride by holding onto a car while on a bike, skateboard or roller skates—is not something we'd ever recommend you should do. Unlike Salmoning (biking the wrong way on a one-way street or bike lane), there is very little argument to be made that Skitching is anything more than an unnecessarily risky activity for urban adventurers. But that can't stop some people from risking their lives for neat pictures, and it certainly won't stop one intrepid vlogger from doing so in the pursuit of cruising the streets of NYC.
Vlogger and pro BMX rider Austin Augie offers a quick tutorial in Skitching in the video below: "Cruising is the essence of Skitching, the craft that makes this activity so enjoyable, almost like wakeboarding, but instead of hitting the water safely, you hit concrete and could possibly die." Who doesn't want to get in on that action! Below, learn all the ins-and-outs of Skitching, from finding the right vehicle (avoid luxury cars, state or federal vehicles, and especially cops), getting comfortable with your surroundings (open roads without much traffic are always preferred, not that you'll find many of them around the city), and the precautions you need to watch out for (safety cones, giant trucks).
One thing Augie makes clear is that even he wouldn't be stupid enough to try to Skitch while skateboarding—but at least one other New Yorker did just that through the streets of Manhattan last year.
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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