RollerSkating/RollerBlading

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Hey, it's the middle of winter here in the northeast...
Too much wind and icey patches on the roads for biking. Not enough snow to snowshoe. I've been fitness walking, but want some variety sometimes.
I'm just not a bike trainer or gym/homeworkout type person.

So I got up my courage and went to the local roller rink and got on a pair of roller skates for the first time since I was about 9 yrs old I think?....that would be almost 45 years. (!!) OMG what an experience.

Anyone else here do roller skating or blading? Seems like a great way to keep in shape a bit during the winter if there's an indoor rink around.

[teigyr]

I'm not coordinated enough to roller blade though I do have the skates. I used to love to rollerskate though I haven't done it for years! Ironically enough, I was just looking at this: http://www.ratcityrollergirls.com/faqs.html thinking that it looks like FUN!

[mudmucker]

I have rollerskates but use them infrequently now. I'm about 45 minutes to the nearest rink. If I go, I usually find a well-paved parking lot instead of driving somewhere. Still can be done in the winter if the lot isn't too sandy from the recent storms and things have melted out a little. Last time I used to skate frequently was about 12 years ago, when I had a very big dog. He was a beautiful part shephard/part doberman and very strong, long since gone. He loved it - similar to the cross country skiing we'd do I could keep up with him when he ran frisky like. With the skating I used to bring him out to again, a well-paved parking lot with a leash. We'd get going, I'd crouch down, lean out a little, make the leash real taught, and start curving around to get some faster momentum and then I'd have him whip me around - I'd let go of the leash and I'd go sailing. It was a blast. Ahh, good dog memories.

That's cool you decided to go. Lotta young hormones at the rinks these days, huh?

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Roller Derby- (gulp) I don't think my bones would be into crashing into other people over and over. I'm trying to avoid that right now!

I ordered some wrist and knee pads online. I hope to go to the rink again tomorrow afternoon for more practice. It was so much fun! Plus, it only costs $6 for the 2 1/2 hour skate session and that includes the skate rental! Can't beat that.
I still can't believe I am doing this at 53. Well, I couldn't believe I was riding a bike again either a year and a half ago.
I guess it's never too late to get more fit and have fun learning (or re-learning) new skills.
I expected to be really sore the next day, but I was fine, just a bit of soreness in my knees. My biking and fitness walking must have helped prevent problems.


Mudracker- that's a cool dog skating story!
Teigyr- I might try blading eventually but for now I just want to regain some old roller skating skills on the traditional skates. It's scary enough as it is!

[sandra]

I love to roller skate. I took roller skating as a PE in college. We did everything but jump barrels. I was pretty good at skating backwards too. Hubby and I used to go in our younger days, but that was years ago. I haven't been in years, but would love to try it again.

PS Lisa, did you spend much time on your knees? =:-)

[Jolt]

I like rollerblading as well, preferably outdoors (obviously not really do-able in winter). It's fun to go to the rink too; they're just always so crowded! Do any of you find rollerblades to be fairly easy but regular roller skates to be much harder to maneuver? I'm decent on rollerblades but put me on regular skates and I'm a klutz for the first half hour or so!!

[mudmucker]

I got my rollerskates in the mid 80's. I'm not even sure if the rollerblades were "out" yet, or maybe they were just getting popular at that time in my area. Since I already had something I never saw the need to get rollerblades, and I never rented cause I already had something - so I never tried them. I have heard people say they like the inline skates better. Maybe it's just what you grow up on. You can tune the rollerskates by adjusting the pivot points and that allows you to turn better. I wonder if maybe sometimes the quad skates are too stiff and they haven't been adjusted well enough for people.

It's fun to watch people skate-dance to the music in the rinks. Some of them are really good. Yes though, usually the rinks are very crowded. I used to go on adult nite. That was always better - there weren't so many young ones to trip you up.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

PS Lisa, did you spend much time on your knees? =:-)

Hey no Monica Lewinski jokes, now!

I'll have you know Missy Sandra, that my first session was 2 1/2 hours long of almost solid skating....and I didn't even fall once!!! (a miracle). My knees were sore the next day because the instructor that helped give me some tips for the first few minutes told me to keep my knees bent and to not lean forward, and that would help me to not fall. I think she was right, because i didn't fall (that night anyway) but keeping my knees bent while skating for over 2 hours put a lot of strain on my front thighs and my knee fronts, so I was a bit sore there the next day.
I did order some wrist and knee protectors online, and hope they arrive soon as I know I am bound to do some falling and I don't want to injure myself!

I am going roller skating again today (Saturday) and hope my luck holds out again. I'm sure my knees and thighs will get stronger if I go once or twice a week. Still waiting to see if this is going to be a regular thing, I hope I have as much fun this second time as I did the first time...and stay in one piece while I'm learning. With all those kids careening around, it's a jungle out there! Saturday will be more crowded I bet. Wish I had big rubber bumpers.

I thought quad wheel roller skates were harder to fall down with than roller blades?

[mudmucker]

Lisa watch out for your bursa sac Wear your elbow protection !

I say this with tongue in cheek. I used to go rollerskating with a set of friends at a rink. They just started out, and the guy in our group fell on his elbow real bad. He went to the doctor and came back and said that he injured his bursa sac. Who knows what a bursa sac is? We laughed, we know what one is now and I think of it every time I hear the word rollerskate.

[Jolt]

I am going roller skating again today (Saturday) and hope my luck holds out again. I'm sure my knees and thighs will get stronger if I go once or twice a week. Still waiting to see if this is going to be a regular thing, I hope I have as much fun this second time as I did the first time...and stay in one piece while I'm learning. With all those kids careening around, it's a jungle out there! Saturday will be more crowded I bet. Wish I had big rubber bumpers.

I thought quad wheel roller skates were harder to fall down with than roller blades?

Yeah, it's those erratically-moving little kids you have to watch out for! Usually when I fall down at a skating rink it's a result of trying to avoid crashing into a child who cuts in front of me. They're cute to watch as they learn to skate and have fun, but they do make me nervous when I'm sharing the rink with them.

As for quad skates vs. rollerblades, NO WAY are quad skates harder to fall down with!! Harder to turn maybe, but not harder to fall off of!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Yeah, it's those erratically-moving little kids you have to watch out for! Usually when I fall down at a skating rink it's a result of trying to avoid crashing into a child who cuts in front of me. They're cute to watch as they learn to skate and have fun, but they do make me nervous when I'm sharing the rink with them.

I might have to eliminate some of them.

As for quad skates vs. rollerblades, NO WAY are quad skates harder to fall down with!! Harder to turn maybe, but not harder to fall off of!

Now that's news to me! Is this really true? And.....why are rollerblades so HUGE and heavy???

Hey I am back from my 2nd skating adventure....still alive!!
Came very close to falling once- I flailed around for a bit like Charlie Chaplin and wound up bent forward with my two hands on the floor but my legs straight and still on my feet, with my butt sticking up. Very graceful. OK, I say if I stayed on my feet it does not count as a fall even if my hands plant on the floor....DH says it technically a fall. What do you guys say?

So, miraculously I did not hurt myself my 2nd time there, and I skated for 2 hours. This time I didn't get tired or sore at all, my legs and knees felt fine (are you listening Sandra?) I was steadier on my feet than last wednesday and even managed to improve my turning skills which will certainly help me avoid the many kamakazi midgets.
I actually told three very reckless 10 year old boys to quit their crossing in front of people or they were going to cause an accident. Amazingly, they listened to me respectfully and must have thought I worked there. Hah!- the advantages of looking ancient and "worldly"! I have the "kind but firm Voice of Authority" down pat.

Did I mention I am having a ball? Can't wait til next wednesday again!!

[sandra]

Hey I am back from my 2nd skating adventure....still alive!!
Came very close to falling once- I flailed around for a bit like Charlie Chaplin and wound up bent forward with my two hands on the floor but my legs straight and still on my feet, with my butt sticking up. Very graceful. OK, I say if I stayed on my feet it does not count as a fall even if my hands plant on the floor....DH says it technically a fall. What do you guys say?

I SAY: I'd love to have seen THAT. And that's ALL I'm saying.

[Blueberry]

OK, I say if I stayed on my feet it does not count as a fall even if my hands plant on the floor....DH says it technically a fall. What do you guys say?

I say not a fall Unless your posterior and the rink make acquaintance, not a fall.

[mimitabby]

I agree, not a fall unless your BODY touches the floor.

Skating IS like bicycling, if you could do it 30 years ago, you probably still can.

Last time i went skating was 15 years ago, after a 20 year lapse. It was fun, but boring. It was a tiny rickety rink.

I remember skating on beautiful big rinks many years ago.

Lisa, you done good!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I agree, not a fall unless your BODY touches the floor.

Skating IS like bicycling, if you could do it 30 years ago, you probably still can.

Last time i went skating was 15 years ago, after a 20 year lapse. It was fun, but boring. It was a tiny rickety rink.

I remember skating on beautiful big rinks many years ago.

Lisa, you done good!

Hey thanks! Yes I am kind of amazed and proud that I still am able to skate after a 45 year absence from it and a non-athletic life all that time. There is a lot relearning I am doing however. I must say it was easier to get back on a bicycle after 37 years than getting back on skates after 45 years. Maybe because bikes don't usually have the ability to unexpectedly go careening backwards under you.
This rink is pretty nice and roomy.

I agree- if neither my butt or my body touched the floor- I did not fall yet!