Rollerblade

“When I tried rollerblading for the first time, however, my knees were shaky as noodles. “How the hell does anybody actually do this?” I wondered, standing up and falling over again. My feet felt so heavy and leaden, like I was carrying bibles on my toes. Since I was practicing on hardwood floors, I could practice the perfect fall and V formation easy enough, but actual motion was petrifying. Imagine having large cruise ships attached to your feet going way faster than their 5,000 passengers (plus cooking staff) would allow. The world was shifting underneath me, literally, and my determination was slipping.”

“The first few times rollerblading outside were not glamorous. Instead of being one of those sexy Impala models, I was clinging to my boyfriend’s hand and nearly in tears because I felt so frustrated and terrified. The sidewalks were uneven and partially lifted up in places, so I had no confidence in my balance or athletic abilities. [...] Everything changed when I rollerbladed on a smooth surface, impeded only by washed up sand. [...] Once my skates touched the porous surface, baby I was gliding like butter. I was still scared of falling, but I could blade freely and without the tedious friction of sidewalks. It was marvelous! I was blading at a turtle’s pace but I felt so free and exhilarated, especially when my boyfriend removed his hand from the small of my sweaty back.”

“This was really my first time wearing them. I had worn them once before to try them on and I moved around a bit in my garage. I was a bit nervous trying them out in a busy area but a friend asked if I wanted to go on a ride (they were on a bike) and I said fuck it and went. I padded up like crazy (including padded shorts) and didn’t fall once! It honestly came back to me pretty quickly. There were 3 times I felt a bit of an unsteady wobble - 2 were because I was going slower over cracks and one was because I wasn’t really paying attention when I was trying to get a bit fancier with footwork. All 3 times I was able to collect my balance without issue.”