He’s the king of the mountain, but he’s hoping to be dethroned.
On the last day of May, Enrique Cubillo used his spikeboard and pole to ascend Dock Hill Road. He meandered through the Village to the Boulevard, veered left onto Deer Hill Road, and then concluded his journey in front of Storm King School. The uphill trek took 31 minutes, which is close to what the Cornwall-on-Hudson resident predicted. His neighbor, Sandy Faurot, drove in front of him so the ascent could be recorded on video. People can watch it at https://youtu.be/ZEbaQr-k55M.
The mode of transportation was a modified skateboard. To propel himself, Mr. Cubillo (kuh-BE-yo) used a long pole with a handle at one end and a square tip at the other.
The course he established was really Plan B. A few days earlier, he had started up Bear Mountain with retired Highland Falls Police Chief Peter Miller leading the way on a motorcycle.
They went a few miles until they encountered a closed gate and had to turn around. On the return trip, they met the Park Police, who said they would need permission to try again.
Mr. Cubillo couldn’t wait. He wanted to establish a time on a course, so people from Cornwall could take up the sport and try to beat him. He’s offering a $1,000 prize to the first person who does, and another $1,000 for the first woman to duplicate his feat (her time doesn’t matter).
The local endurance athlete expects to be busy this summer. He has a one-on-one race with a Nordic skier in California later this month, and he hopes to use his spikeboard to reach the highest paved peaks in seven different states. He’s already crossed off one of them, as he recently made it to the top of High Point in New Jersey.
“But this isn’t about me,” Mr. Cubillo said when we met last week. “I’d like spikeboarding to catch on as quickly as anything new can that starts with one person.”
He’s established his own company (SUSOIX, pronounced “suh-soy”) to market equipment for the sport, and he’s offering free instruction to anyone who calls 917-566-3386. He’ll also provide a bicycle rider to people who accept his challenge and need to document their time.
“How wonderful to do an activity,” he says, “that gives you upper body strength and is so accessible” Cornwall has many triathletes and distance runners, as well as many teenagers who stay in condition year round to play varsity sports. Mr. Cubillo hopes they try spikeboarding.
“We need a queen of the mountain,” he says. “And someone has to replace me as king.”
