Rollerblading

“I started in 2021 as a 41 year old. I came from a skiing background and thought it would be a fun activity i could do in the summer to keep my legs in shape or whatever. Ordered some blades, put em on to skate around the neighborhood and promptly ate shit when I couldn't control my speed. I quickly realized it was gonna be more work than I'd anticipated. I found a good place to practice where the concrete was mostly flat and smooth and started working on the basics. Drills for working on stride, one foot balance, and learning to stop were the primary things I focused on initially. Once I felt comfortable skating in the area I had been using for practice I knew I needed to learn how to manage my speed on slopes so I could skate around town. It took almost two months of practicing before I felt comfortable outside of my practice area and I was pretty disciplined about practicing regularly.”

“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. I’m still working on breaking quickly but I was able to break fast enough today to deal with obstacles (people, cars).”

“The first two or three months were very, very cautious. Which is sensible enough perhaps, for the older learner. I stayed in car parks for at least two months or so. When I ventured onto the smoothest trail I could find (I'd checked it out thoroughly, on foot), I was surprised by how I could skate it, slowly, with very few problems. Nearly six years later I'm still cautious, but I can get about pretty much anywhere, fairly confidently.”