Mike Vallely is a true skateboard legend and a lot more:  He’s a family man, businessman, musician, stuntman, hockey player, and punk-poet rebel from Edison, NJ who has always charted his own course, and left an indelible mark on skateboarding.

Mike has recently surprised many skaters by choosing to wear a helmet every time he skates, after decades of skating without one.  The culture of street skating, which he helped to define, largely rejects helmets.  After some soul-searching, Mike decided it was time for him to make a personal change.

“A lot of people have asked, Mike why do you wear a helmet now?  ‘You know, to protect my head.’  But you never wore a helmet before… ‘I do now.  Get used to it.”

https://www.instagram.com/mikevallely/