I miss hookeybobbin'

[porsche930dude]

We called it Skitchin' too. in the 90s. After the video game on sega. did it many times.

[cstreit]

East coaster here. (Also update NY) We called it Skitchin' as well.... Great fun behind school busses because they had the big tow hooks.

[JackDidley]

Originally Posted by wswartzwel

We called it Skitching a ride to school in the 60s in Lombard, IL.

In Chicago it was skitching in the 60s. I dont know why I am still alive, all the goofy stuff I did.

[Joe Bob]

My Dadz was part owner of a little crappy one chair lift ski area. We used to get gnarly freezes and rain on top. We called it blue boiler plate.

People still skied it. The management kids used to use the rope tows in just skit boots. Up the hill and did the straight line down the the hill with a few turns to slow the speed. Grabbed a shot of Schnapps and up the hill again. No fatalities but more than a few bloody noses.

[A930Rocket]

No name, but we’d pull each other in saucers, skis, sleds. etc. using a rope behind our VW’s in the 70’s. Getting whipped into a telephone pole wasn’t fun, but it didn’t stop us. 🤪

[drcoastline]

I don't recall we had a name for it.

You don't see it around here anymore either. Not hard to figure out why, one word, lawyers. Get rid of lawyers and you will be able to hookeybobbin again and a whole bunch of other things.

[OK-944]

Yeah...I can remember seeing kids walking up from behind at a stoplight - their bodies/heads disappearing from my rearview as they crouched and grabbed. My solution was to hold the clutch and gun the engine...almost never failed to get those kids to skeedaddle!

Then again, there was that time in H.S. - a bunch of us holding the rear bumper of my friend Eddie's jeep...what a great ride - until he spun out and man, did we ever go flying! Amazing that all of us walked away from that one!

[speeder]

Originally Posted by TimT

Same , Long Island late '70's...

Some people really didn't like a bunch of tweens hanging from their bumper..

One guy stopped, jumped out of the car and beat the snot out of my friend... and drove off..

It was very popular in Minneapolis in the '60s and early '70s, we just called it hopping cars. The term was generic and also applied to hopping on the rear bumper of a delivery truck in the summer to get a free ride somewhere. It was not uncommon to see a 14 year old hoodlum standing on the rear bumper of a speeding UPS or bread truck, driver unaware that he had a parasite attached. Extra style points if the young hoodlum was smoking a cigarette and had a carefree expression, which they usually did, (both).

Grabbing rear bumpers on an icy street w a stop sign, (so the car had to stop for boarding), was extremely popular and extra points were allotted if the driver was a grown man under the age of about 60, it really put some sport in it if the driver could potentially stop, get out and chase you down for a beating. There were some epic foot chases on ice with a cheering section of other knuckleheads who were waiting for their turn to board watching.

If it was any woman driving, sometimes 3 or 4 kids, (sometimes huge teenagers), might all grab some bumper and the car would barely move w all the extra weight being towed. Depended on the coefficient of friction, ice or just packed snow, etc. I can remember grabbing a rear door handle on a 4-door when there was no bumper space left and getting an awesome stand-up ride at speed. If some driver had been pissed-off or flustered enough, they could have put me into a parked car pretty hard. Sometimes a young dude behind the wheel or just someone angry enough could mash the throttle and take you on a wild ride that was like water skiing behind a drag boat.

It was so prevalent in MN. that of course every winter some kid got killed doing it. Sometimes more than one. A kid got killed a couple blocks from my house when he unhooked from the car and slid into a car coming the other direction. Parents gave stern lectures that went something like this: "You and your friends don't ever do that, do you son? That's the stupidest and most dangerous thing I've ever heard in my life!"

"No, mom, of course not," (with fingers crossed behind your back). All hopping/skitching/hookeybobbin' would cease for about a 3 day period of mourning or until the dead kid was in the ground and then it was back on like donkey kong. I understand how they got so many fighter pilots in WW2, teenaged boys have a risk tolerance that is negative some number. IOW, the more dangerous something sounds, the better and more fun it sounds to them. Cliff diving w big rocks a couple feet away from landing spot? Hell yes! Riding motorcycles 100 mph on the highway drunk at 2am? Sign me up! Banging a cheerleader whose boyfriend is Mongo? I've done it.

Ahhh, the good old days. Sigh...

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by Eric Hahl

How about a toboggan being pulled by an Artic Cat El Tigre 550! Yeah, been there, done that, crashed hard, lol.

Inner tube for us. Just make sure the driver knows how far that will swing wide on the corners so you don' hit the fence.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by Captain Ahab Jr

I did it once but on a skateboard with my brother driving our mum's Datsun

Had a massive speed wobble and found out I could run at over 20 mph

Didn't crash completely but wore my finger prints off both hands trying to stay on my feet until I slowed down to a running pace

Dad and his siblings used a tricycle. He said it was fun until the rear axle cut through.

[DWBOX2000]

Called Skid Hopping in Eastern Massachusetts. We did it all the time until we would get chased. Got caught once, it was the captain of the wrestling team I was on. Stuck my face in the snow and said "See you Monday at practice". I think he forgot come Monday.

I just did with my daughter a couple weeks ago, granted I got her situated and pulled away very slowly. Definitely a skilled sport.

[TimBer]

We also called it Hookey-Bobbin in Wyoming. We did it all the time and it was a blast. Sometimes we get in Hookey-Bobbin fights with each other. We would try to get the guy next to you to let go or fall by kicking his feet out from under him or punching him in the arm or hands.

[flatbutt]

Ever drafted a truck on your 10-speed? You can get moving pretty quickly. When we had to stop we just put one hand on the back of the truck.