I've been an on and off longboarder since '98 and have never tried it BF. I dislike bombing, am unskilled at sliding, but love deep carving and cross country. Questions:
1. How do you deep carve BF? I use my arch area for backside carves. How do you you heels without messing up the carve?
I find that when I've longboarded in shoes, my shoes (toes and heels) always seem to drag, but I've never had my foot drag when barefoot. My feet stay pretty centered on the board when I'm carving. You'll have to adapt your style just a bit, but it should come pretty easily. You'll have more plantar surface feedback if your whole foot is on the board which will give you more control.
2. How do you go XC? I mean you have to PUSH! Sounds like trouble to me.
when pushing, I always try to think of the 1-2-3 foot landing that I use when running. I bend the knee of my right foot deeply (I push with my left foot) so I can gently kick my left leg in front of me, and my foot naturally touches the ground under my center of gravity as I bring it back, very similar to how it does when I run. I don't "toe-off" either, it's just a simple touch, and the arch and achillies tendon automatically load and release to push me forward. It feels very organic, and is probably more metabolically efficient, and should come a lot easier the more time you spend barefoot overall.
3. Bailing? Ouch!
grass is your friend. A lot of times I just ride into the grass and jump off. I speed check and carve deeply to control my speed since my sliding skills are limited so I never really allow myself to get out of control. I only bomb small hills, but I'm always speed checking unless I know the route and I can safely coast to a stop.
4. How do you slow without footdragging? Foot stomping seems like a bad idea, too.
You're right, footdragging and stomping are bad ideas. speed checks (which is like half-carve and half-slide) help a lot for staying in control on gentle to moderate hills. Foot dragging isn't really an option unless the situation is life or death, because unless gravity isn't a factor and you're going really slowly (like XC) you can do some serious damage to your feet by foot dragging. If you're going XC or extremely slow, you can simply "step" to a stop (which looks like a push but with a little bit of muscular resistance). I don't miss foot dragging and stomping at all... Those always hurt my shins anyway. Not steezy.