The fifth our ‘hello my name is…’ interviews… and the first german guy in this series: welcome Moritz Langen!
First of all…please introduce yourself.
This dude was born 1989 in Viersen,NRW, Germany and got the name Moritz Langen but most of his friends call him “Moujou” (nickname given by his Paintballteam inspired by Austin Powers).
How and when did you get into Skateboarding and when did you start Long Distance Skating?
I dont know when it exactly started, i just rember that there was a classig “fishboard” at home some day and i tried to ride it. But i started to call myself a skater around 1998/99 when i was streetskating with some friends from school.
Im a longboarder since 2013, used my freerides for shorter distances like ~40km, until I dropped into LDP on 6. Januar 2016, this day i got my first “poppy’s” mounted on a Landyachtz Evo.
Speaking of influences… who inspires you? Someone in the Scene, friends, family or someone else?
First of all it was Henning Christan, a friend i met 2013 on a party. I had a chat with him about sports and he told me about longboarding. Some days later i grabbed my skateboard to go shopping. The feeling of rolling on that sunny day, i will never forget how good it was to be back on board after 3 years break. Yeah well, that was the moment i decided to buy a longboard, a decision that changed my life.
From that point on i started to meet more and more skaters who accompanied me on the way to get better or learning new stuff.
The next huge influence goes to Till Cleven. I met him randomly on a hill at Grevenbroich in 2015 when i went out for skating with Markus Schüttler who showed me the spot. It was some kind of strange instand friendship, based on “hey lets skate that hill together”. Till brought me into the scene of Mönchengladbach and teached me most of the technical stuff about trucks, wheels and shapes i know nowadays.
And he was the first who told me about distanceboards, those which are made for a more effective trip. As i was always interested in traveling with my board, the question “how far can i go?” was candy to my mind and i needed to get one.
But talking about the scene around Mönchengladbach, most of the heads i count to this are part of my crew… or better to say circle of friends i share the same passion with.
To me the Longboarlove Crew is exactly what i connect with the social aspect of Skateboarding, being connected by the thing we like the most and beyond.
Longboardlove in this case isnt just a name, its a description of a feeling i have while skating, a feeling that totaly changed my lifestyle.
Cause of “Longboardlove” i started to know myself better then i’ve done before. Through the last 3 years i got a more social person, i started to travel and enjoying life more than ive done before. If i think back, that positive influence came with my first Longboard and i hope it will never end. A true lovestory i would say. 😀
What is your very personal reason and goal? WHY are you skating long distances?
Whou! yeah thats a huge question!
I dont know if i have a real goal in that case. Personal skateboarding to me is the question “can i..” while having in mind to go beyond my own limit.
But if i take a look what realy rise my mood, it is sakting together with other, to share the expirience of adventure, of pushing your limit, of being amazed by the good feeling that we have when we do what we do! Longboarding!
since fall 2016 i started to travel the globe, to skate different countrys. To make a hughe list of countrys is some kind of a goal today i think.
As you ask specialy why i skate distances i think the point of adventure is what got me into it. Exploring unknown streets,places, citys is a thing i mostly want to have on my LDP trips. As of late i had participated on some races, i also started to ask myself, how fast can i do trips that i had done earlyer, crushing many personal best times these days.
How do you train? How do you prepare yourself prior Races and Trips? Any tips for the reader?
Ahh, i dont really train. To me every time i go skate is some kind of practise, i always take care about my movement and what is happening. In downhill i mostly think about the last run and what i can do to get a corner faster or how to slide better the next run.
When im going out for distance i do little plans like, wich clothing i take, how much food/water or how to get back (mostly i choose to skate back of course). it all depends on how far i want to go.
But if you’re new in LDP i would advise to go step by step. go for 10km then 20, start to train your endurance. Then start to set goals you dont think you can reach and think about which food suits best to you when doing sports, energy is everthing!
But first of all, enjoy the trip! you can rise the speed anytime.
As Distance Skating means spending lots of time on a board… do you have any remarkable memories to share?
*opening a giant book* hmmmm….aahhh aha….yes!
I would like to share the story of the “Kienbaumrace”.
It took place on the weekend around Mai 13 2017.
Till, Karl Burkamp and myself started our trip to an 6 hour race in Kienbaum at Berlin by car. This friday afternoon turned into a real adventure. After being in trafic jams allday long, a car was taking over horning and handshaking next to us, Something was wrong with our car. We stoped on the next resting place just to notice that we had a flad tire. After we searched the car (Karl got it from his parents) for a car-jack, there was none, we started to ask drivers around. We got one, but to take off the spare wheel took another hour…such a bad construction. Atleast the spare wheel was on a rusty steelrim that obviously was damaged by some curbstone.
As we hadnt trusted the wheel we searched a Carservice, after 19 o’clock somewhere between Bielefeld and Hannover…i tell you its a mission…
After 20 min. driving we came to a wrecking servicestation, but the service guy was away and there was just his wife with two old dogs chillin on the yard. But she gave us an adress of a workshop.
The people there were amazing. The owner installed a new wheel just for 20 bucks.
Being 3hours late at our campside we set camp mostly in the dark and had some canned beans with bread for dinner. The night was short to me, there was some drunken guy shouting “RUHE!” and different mean sentences all night.
In the morning we drove to the Bundesleistungzentrum in Kienbaum, we were to early so we started to build up pavilions with the berlin guys from 1166 Longboards while it started to rain.
yep rain, thats a word that describe the race best. After 1h racing everybody was soaked through. But it was a nice challeging expirience and the good track that mostly went through a forest area was fun to skate. But the great happening was the end of the race cause everybody came toghether to have a chat and enjoying a saucaged grilled by Martin (owner 1166 Longboards).
After everthing got late, Martin invited us to stay at his place instead of driving to a campside at the Fläming area (there was a race planned next day).
So the day ended with a tour through the 1166 workshop, where all the beautys are build just as my board.
After a good breakfast together with Martins family we decided to drive home, cause the weather forecast was bad as the day before.
i think that is a typical story of how LDP can be and how much adventure it is beyond the skate.
Your most glorious or heart-touching Moment from the past?
oh there is a actual one. Till and I started a trip through the netherland this year, to skate further then last year. But Till crashed the first day and had to break up the next.
It was day 3 when i had a horrible rainy day with 45km/h fast front wind that took all of my endurance, skating in pain i more and more got depressed. There was one moment of crying in mind. I was totaly sad that there was no best friend to cheer up or to moan to about the bad weather and road, it totaly weaked me and i had to stop.
But the real touching moment came later that day, when i was sitting on the beach of visslingen, grinning about that ive beaten the shit out of myself to reach my tour target one day earlyer.
i think the moment when you notice you pushed your own limit again, is one that never get old.
Biggest long distance fail moment? (Skating in the wrong direction, injuries, broken kit etc)?
it was my first Ultraskate in 2015 when i stopped midnight to check if i reached 200miles. I saw it was just a couple of rounds to go, but my right calf blocked. So i decidet to go to bed for 2 hours. I fell deeply into sleep and hadn’t got the signal of my phone and woke up one houre before the ultra ended.
As cardriver i decidet to break up the tend instead to possibly hurt myself on trying to reach the 200 and said to myself, keep yourself a target for next year.
Goals for the future? What will happen next? Plans?
I would like to participate on the Ultraskate Miami 2018, want to start a LDP Tour in a european country that i hadn’t skate yet. Skating Freerides.
To say it short i want another amazing year full of skateboarding like 2016
If you had one wish… what would be your biggest dream related to Distance Skating?
First of all to skate until im old and my bodyphysiks will stop me. Between that i would like to organize a german Ultraskte and further i dream of some kind of stadium, where people can train and race to push LDP into the olympics.
Last point. Anything left you’d like to say? Feel free to say whatever you want!
Skate with a smile! “Das Abenteuer wartet!” (the adventure awaits!)
10 Facts for you related to Distance Skating:
- There is always a gnarlyer road
- Wind is your enemy
- Food is everything
- Every ride is an adventure
- Go around the snail not to bail
- Dont fuck with metalsharks (cars)
- When youre exhausted, start to smile insanely….thank me later
- Bananaanaa Bananana
- A clean bearing makes less wearing
- A fast pace brings a smile in the face
SkateFurther 