I skateboarded from my early teens up to my mid thirties.
Did you do it mainly for fun, or as a method of transportation?
Oh, it was definitely for fun.  It was mostly street skating, with the occasional trip to a vert ramp for good measure.
There are a lot of different skateboarders that have influenced the skateboarding culture.  Did you follow anyone in particular?
Alva, Hosoi, Hawk, Mountain, Natas..  I like all of the early influencers.  I'd say my favorite to watch is Rodney Mullen.
Rodney Mullen
John Rodney Mullen (born August 17, 1966) is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, inventor, and public speaker who practices freestyle skateboarding and street skateboarding. He is widely considered the most influential street skater in the history of the sport, being credited for inventing numerous tricks, including the flatground ollie, kickflip, heelflip, impossible, and 360-flip. As a result, he has been called the "Godfather of Street Skateboarding."
Rodney Mullen won his first world skateboard championship at the age of
Gelfand in Florida in 1976, and the almost parallel development of the grabbed aerial by George Orton and Tony Alva in California, made it possible for skaters to perform airs on vertical ramps. While this wave of skateboarding was sparked by commercialized vert ramp skating, a majority of people who skateboarded during this period didn't ride vert ramps. As most people could not afford to build vert ramps, or did not have access to nearby ramps, street skating increased in popularity.
Freestyle skating remained healthy throughout this period, with