What’s the top speed you’ve reached on your longboard? Be honest. Maybe 30 or 35 miles per hour, right? And it was probably unintentional.
A South African longboarder named Decio Lourenco recorded an astonishing speed of 68 miles per hour during a ride down Cape Town’s lengthy Kloof Nek road earlier this year — and during rush hour, no less. No one’s doubting his claim, either; the entire ride was caught on camera and uploaded to YouTube, where it has since garnered more than 1.3 million views. Check out the clip below:
You may be wondering how Lourenco’s exact speed was measured. Well, he managed to trigger a motion-activated speed camera during his little thrill ride; his top speed was nearly double the posted speed limit. When the video reached the web, local police launched a full-scale investigation to catch the perp. They got their man earlier this month; now Lourenco, a pro skater by trade, faces potential criminal charges. “If we don’t take action against him,” local safety official Jean-Pierre Smith told New York Daily News,“every other aspirant skateboarder will try it and one of them will come to a sticky end.”
In typical skater fashion, Lourenco didn’t seem to understand why his stunt was such a big deal. “I’ve been skating down hills from a young age… often going much faster than that,” he told ioL News. “This is the first time I’ve gotten any attention for it.”
Much faster than that? Often? Okay Decio, now it sounds like you’re exaggerating.
