Roller Skating 101

Well, I've got to say, this roller skating thing is a little more difficult than I imagined it would be. I mean, I'm not the most graceful person I know, and although I had some great balance at one point in my life, I'm not sure I can still make that claim.

I didn't have this info for my last post so here's the link to the skates I bought. Rock Skates.

I strap on my skates and pop up, ready to take on the rink, only to realize that I'm not so steady on wheels. My first attempt was probably comical to watch. I clung to the wall like white dog hairs on black wool. I stumbled and rolled my way around that rink. Oh my goodness, I can't even begin to tell you the fear when the wall ended and it was up to me to stand on my own 8 wheels. But, I did it. Alas, I was rolling. And I might add, I did not fall. Not even once.

My first time out was a smashing success. I actually got relatively comfortable pushing myself around the floor. Yes there were moments of wobbles and uncertainty but that's all part of the learning process right? Right! Second time was in a different roller rink. The nastiest roller rink I think I've ever imagined. Yuck. Smaller floor, older carpet, puddles under the lockers, a smell that just won't quit. Ugh! But, it turned out to be a pretty darn good experience except of course for the sticky nastiness that was on the bottom of my purse after puting it in one of the lockers. As we were pushing ourselves around the rink, a guy who seems more comfortable on wheels than off approached Hubby and asked him if he wanted any pointers for skating backward a bit better. He was struggling to figure it out on his own. Um, yes please! So there we are, skating in the pit of all roller pits getting a free lesson from a professional freestyle inline skater. Oh boy!

A word of advice, stay away from the roller rink on Valentine's day during the Family Skate session. Yes, I speak from experience. Hubby and I went to the rink last night for a couple hours of skating fun, foolishly thinking it was going to be about as busy as it was last weekend. Not so much. A dozen adults or so and probably a couple hundred kids flying, falling, skating the wrong direction, and causing a number of head-on collisions. How is that math possible? I mean really. 20 adults to 200 kids. Is that even legal? I'll tell you what...it shouldn't be. Now I understand why those weird people put leashes on their kids. It wasn't so bad at first but it just kept getting busier and busier and the kids were getting more and more reckless by the moment. It wasn't bad sitting back and watching the chaos but maneuvering through the wreckage was less than enjoyable. I fell once and Hubby fell twice but all were due to our own mistakes or attempts to miss the pile-ups spiratically scattered around the floor.

The good thing about our adventures last night though is that I was finally able to master the figure 8 skating without picking your feet up at all. Hard work on your thighs but it was really exciting to finally get the hang of it. Now if only I could stop. I'm still not comfortable on one foot so picking one foot up and dragging it behind me to stop is not yet so attainable. I'm trying and will master it sooner or later but I'm definitely not easy to watch, I'm sure.

So, how about some lessons?






That should do it for now. Now who wants to go roller skating?