Mike Hicks

Fall Down Go Boom

So, two or three days ago when I was out attempting to rollerblade, the thought occurred to me that lots of sports and outdoor activities were invented by people who like to scare the shit out of themselves.

I am not one of these people.

Anyway, I suppose I'm just working to justify the length of time it's taking me to learn how to move around on them. Adam said that he got to be moderately good within a day, after going out with friends for about eight hours straight. Of course, he has the scar on his rear end to prove it.

So, since I'm still moving pretty slowly even after a few days, I'm feeling a bit wimpy. I suppose my time has been more spread out, though, and still only adds up to eight hours or so. Well, there are lots of reasons why one person might learn more quickly than another.

Other than biking, I've never really done anything that requires much balance. I did do some cross-country skiing, but I never got the hang of it. I basically just used them to walk, but sliding through the snow was not something I was comfortable doing. My mom once broke a bone while downhill skiing, so she never encouraged me to do that. My parents once tried to get me to ice skate as a kid, but I think I spent more time falling than skating (and I seem to recall that the skates were really tight). I imagine that anyone who learned how to properly do any one of those things probably has a leg up on learning to rollerblade.

I'm learning this on my own, mostly because there are probably only one or two people I know who I'd be comfortable having as teachers. I don't want to be coerced by “C'mon, the hill isn't that steep” ;-)

So, I guess I didn't learn to rollerblade in a day. But, I am getting better each time I go out, and that's what matters to me.

Posted by mike at June 27, 2003 08:08 PM | Adam , Exercise | TrackBack