All skate, slowly and carefully in the regular skating direction
So, as many of you know, I’ve been spending increasing amounts of time at the fountain valley skating center – in fact, I’ve gotten a monthly pass to the place. You have to plan to hit more than two sessions a week for the monthly pass to make sense.. the really insane thing is, now that I have it, I basically spend every night there that they’re open. 😉
Some of the skaters there are downright amazing – and for some reason – probably because they chase me – I feel the need to chase them. This has been leading to me very quickly developing my skating skills.. I can now do things that I could only have dreamed of in my Skate City days.
Part of my rapid growth is that I’m over my fear of falling. I *expect* to fall occasionally. I’m just hoping that it doesn’t happen while I’m chasing a roller derby queen at speeds that might make a cop raise his eyebrows on a residential street…Â (You think I’m kidding. Actually, I have no idea how fast we’re going. But we lap the rink several times a minute.. faster than they ever would have let us go at Skate City USA, by a factor of three or more)
No one screams worship goats.. (I don’t really miss it) and no one plays tag (now *that* I do miss). People do go for full-contact skating.. I’m getting used to having people slam into my back – actually it feels kind of good – but no one has picked me up yet. Yes, they pick each other up. While on skates. Without, thus far, doing face plants. These people are either crazy, insanely good, or both.
I did some facebook research, and I came up with a conclusion. In general, people who roller skate or blade, love it. Everywhere around the U.S. there are Facebook pages devoted to various rinks, and people generally seem to be having a good time everywhere. It doesn’t seem to be limited to any age group – the FVSC adult night has guys who must be in their seventies – the only requirement seems to be a willingness to roll to the beat. 😉 So, I’m not, at all, alone. And, come on, can’t you all hear it.. ‘We’re going to turn this into a all skate, slowly and carefully in the regular skating direction’. Yah. Slowly and carefully. I’ll keep that in mind while I’m getting up to the average cruising speed of the FVSC adult night. I guess ‘slowly’ is relative. But we’re very careful – honest, officer..
I’m kind of determined to go further, to be able to freestyle. I can already do a lot of basic freestyle moves, but I want to be able to do the insane, roll-bounce-esque ones. So, I’m going to try to get back on a morning schedule, because the rink has morning sessions that are much, much emptier.. a good place to try things that are likely to involve a lot of falling down. 😉
Anyway, I need to go put my MP3 player on the charger so it will be ready for the 10 AM session. And I already know it will feel sooo good. Yes, my legs hurt. Every day. Reminds me of when I was learning how to bowl. But.. although I do enjoy bowling, I don’t think it ever got me anywhere near this high. I’m.. happy. A lot of the time. I don’t get so many hours in at work, but .. skating costs $55 a month for a pass. That’s it.