Introduce Yourself

[Jibberish18]

My name is Sidney. I don't know how to skate yet and everyone I want to learn something gets in the way. I've also been pretty lazy about learning since the last time I tried I fell straight on my tailbone and it hurt...pretty bad. I have a pair of Rollerblade Crossfire's. I've been riding bicycles since I was in the 4th grade. I love bicycling. It's 2nd to walking for me. I currently have a Trek 710 mountain bike that is in need of a tune up. I love speed because of the "free" feeling it gives you. I like automobiles and am usually working on mine. I love Video Games and have been playing them since the young age of 4. I like comic books but currently the comic book industry makes me sick. I also like computers and I'm pretty good at them, compared to 90% of the population.

That's about it.

[LISAFER144]

my name is lisa im 25 and i used to be a competative speed skater and roller blade instructor. i steped away from skating for a long time but i want to get back to it, but none of my friends want to go. Ever since the x-games and tony hawk roller skating got a bad rap by the people in my age group. but im getting back into it and i want to meet people that are still into roller skating. i actually just sold my quads to a woman who does roller derby and i had no idea what they were worth anymore so i sold them for $40. wel,l i go to skateing websites and see them for like $200!! (i didnt reserch) im so behind on the new equipment. (i never knew that the labeda pro- line was discontinued? when did that happen??)

[RobinF]

I'm Robin and live in Beautiful Downtown Burbank. I just turned 50 and got back into skating about 8 months ago. I am working with a coach once a week to learn figure and dance and also go in a couple of times a week just to bop around. I go to the same rink as Maherwoman and Artisan and it's a really fun, relaxed place to hang out. I'd love to get my husband to skate--he is a writer and car reviewer and loves ANYTHING on wheels--but he broke both wrists in his youth and it's never gonna happen. He totally digs that I am into it, though.

I love this board, by the way. It's great to meet folks from so many places and so many backgrounds and it's great the way everyone is so generous in sharing knowledge and support. Thanks, Kathie!

[Quads4life]

Originally Posted by Guru

I'm 30 and have never done any skating of any kind. I do ride a bike, and have chatted with a local skate group. Skating seemed just as fast and fun as biking. So, I bought a pair of skates. I been on them about 6 hours. One hour of which was a free instructional class. I been reading about the drills and such.
I'm still scared, and I can't stop, or turn. How long will this take? Does everyone eventually get it? Because, I don't feel very confident.

Are you reffering to inline skates, or roller skates?

[MentalSam]

Where to start...guess it should be with my name, I'm Sam...been skating for a while, but have only just got that much better lmao...still practicing tho & trying to help my friend sarah at the same time..NIGHTMARE!!

I'm 21, from london, about 5'2 (shortass), like skating, music, my songwriting, poems, seeing my friends, playing xbox with them (nutta's), clothes shopping, playing my guitar, driving, watching DVD's, traveling, like watching animal documentaries on dicovery channel or whatever channel their on, tattoo's (got a scorpion on my lower right hand side of my back, getting another one for my b-day too) Piercings (got 8 of them now..thinking about getting my lip or my tongue done, not sure yet) ...well i guess that's all you need to know...if you want anything else, email me or visit my pages! http://www.bebo.com/mentalsam or http://www.myspace.com/mentalsamx

See ya, have fun

[janneman]

Technical details;
- born in 1964 in Rotterdam - september 20
- defenitely male
- married on september 26 in 1986 to Ada
- 3 kids (girl in '87, boy in '89, boy in '92)
- studied electronics & information technology (degree)
- studied marketing (degree)
- studied management - promoted on performance appraisal (BSc)
- living in a suburb of Rotterdam
- skating since 2002 - biggest achievement imho; skating the finline (400 km lapland - way above the arctic...)
- profession: product marketeer telecomms infrastructure

some hobbies; scetching in black and white (sceneries, buildings), play guitar and drums, use my little speedboat, speedskating.

Current favorite setup: FILA M100 (high shoe with carbon sole - 4 x 100 mm wheels). I do own Powerslide R2's (5 x 84mm) and Rollerblade Aero 9 (4 x 82 mm) - started off at Bauer V6 ( 4 x 78)...

[motosk8ter]

Incredible company in this thread, hope you do not mind my adding to it. I am an old guy, 58, and work as a High School Counselor. I have a Master's Degree in Counseling. My kids are the Special Education kids with behavioral problems. Most of them are pretty cool dudes who were dealt an unfair set of circumstances. I took all the Special Education Students to the rink once and earned my pay! It was great watching some of the big tough "gangsta's" smiling like little kids while they tried to steady themselves. I have done therapy for folks, big and little, almost all of my adult work life...so you know my vocation and know I am not rich! Since coming to education I have attempted to organize anti-drug programs and events. Skating plays a big role in that as I have found skating, along with music, reaches the inner person of the most damaged child.

When 9/11 took place I felt pretty angry and sad. I joined the Army Reserve to provide mental health services to soldiers, a true honor. It resulted in deployment once, ended up in Germany, for about 6 months, at the beginning of the Iraq conflict. I am up for deployment again so this forum will be a lifeline! Served in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division before most of you were born.

Athletics have been very important to me. In High School, wrestling and swimming were my sports. I skated a little at that time, mostly to meet girls. As a young adult I returned to the pool and began distance swimming and some running. Relocated to an area that had no pool so I began to bicycle and run. Bought a Trek 2300 which I still use! They built a pool in the area I went to and so I expanded to triathalons since I had a good base on the bike and the run. Nothing exceptional, like my skating, just dedicated. In 1999 I was invited to the local rink over Christmas Break. Soon became a regular and expanded to inlines, a little hockey and more distance. Currently skate on riedels with blue cannibals and some Swiss 6's doing absolutely nothing fancy...just as much speed as I can get. Also have some Rollerblade L10's, 4X100's for doing distance. I plan to upgrade the equipment looking for the extra mph in the near future. I have also raced motorcycles and show jumped horses although that is behind me. I do have a horse and a couple motorcycles for pleasure though.

Finally, I am writing a book, "High Road to Taos". It is a fictional work about a biker caught in socio-political/religious currents of our times. It is fun to write but talk about discipline! Have done some journalist work in the motorcycle world, mostly freelance.

Hope this is not too long, had more to say than I realized.

Phil

[chunchmeow]

hey guys! The name is Chunch (long story) and I'm a NYC chick.

I did quads as a kid, blades as a pre-teen, and have been a Quads-only addict for the past 4-5 years. I was trained by a competitive team in NJ that each taught their own levels of skill. I got to level 6 and decided to stop lessons because I wasn't training to compete and they ran out of people who could teach me. Right now I'm betting on The Roxy's wood floor to be my new home but we shall see.

I would really like to see freestyle artistic quad skating in the olympics too Major shout out to the team in NJ that trained me too!

[jpp]

Hi...

Living in suburban NY... and just here to visit every now and again.

The nearby skate-bike track hasn't been paved in over 10 years, and is in horrible shape. I own rollerblade (astros maybe? with the auto lacing feature). I skate for fun/fitness but not often since my wheels get worn down super fast due to terrain. I kinda think LR skates might serve me better... but I want to see better options before I pay a premium price.

Ofcourse, my rollerblades would be awesome if the parks dept. would repave the track!... and I honestly think that's the single biggest barrier to sales in the industry.

I always see excited people with new skates have the experience ruined by poor terrain.

[cal_gundert05]

I posted a little intro elsewhere on the site, but figured I should do so here, too.

My name's Mike, I'm 19, and I live in Berkeley where I go to school (hence the "cal" in my username). I "rollerbladed" as a kid since I couldn't ride a bike, but haven't done it for years (except for once last year, which ended in me breaking my hand).
I bought some Rollerblade Bravoblade GLX's from a Goodwill the other day, and, despite being used, they fit/feel good.
I got back into skating mainly to tool around town and have fun. I have a bike, but don't use it much because most places are "too" close to be worth riding, and I wanted to do something more physically demanding than walking (unless you count walking and chewing gum as demanding).
I also love the freedom of skating as opposed to biking (better maneuverability, doing little tricks, etc).

[rwsz]

Originally Posted by chunchmeow

hey guys! The name is Chunch (long story) and I'm a NYC chick.

I did quads as a kid, blades as a pre-teen, and have been a Quads-only addict for the past 4-5 years. I was trained by a competitive team in NJ that each taught their own levels of skill. I got to level 6 and decided to stop lessons because I wasn't training to compete and they ran out of people who could teach me. Right now I'm betting on The Roxy's wood floor to be my new home but we shall see.

I would really like to see freestyle artistic quad skating in the olympics too Major shout out to the team in NJ that trained me too!

in singles freestyle what type of jumps and spins were you doing when you quit????/ what can you attempt now? did u ever compete competively? good luck with it

Rick

[chunchmeow]

Originally Posted by rwsz

in singles freestyle what type of jumps and spins were you doing when you quit????/ what can you attempt now? did u ever compete competively? good luck with it

Rick

I only had two jumps down by the time I quit plus a bunch of regular moves. The stuff I have down now are: edges, 2 foot turns, forward/backward stroking, crossovers back/forward, waltz jump, spread eagle, shoot the duck (easy), and one more that I can't friggen remember the name of. I never competed at all because I stopped at level 6, but I'm sure if I kept going I probably could have gotten there. What I'd really like to do is learn how to spin properly because mine always sucked.

[rwsz]

Originally Posted by chunchmeow

I only had two jumps down by the time I quit plus a bunch of regular moves. The stuff I have down now are: edges, 2 foot turns, forward/backward stroking, crossovers back/forward, waltz jump, spread eagle, shoot the duck (easy), and one more that I can't friggen remember the name of. I never competed at all because I stopped at level 6, but I'm sure if I kept going I probably could have gotten there. What I'd really like to do is learn how to spin properly because mine always sucked.

hi and good luck with it all,,,spinning is all about posture and being on the proper edge,,,takes time to learn and the best way is in a class or private lesson with a qualified coach. if you dont have the money or dont want to spend it you can learn from another skater that can already spin. have fun learning everything.

Rick

[chunchmeow]

Originally Posted by rwsz

hi and good luck with it all,,,spinning is all about posture and being on the proper edge,,,takes time to learn and the best way is in a class or private lesson with a qualified coach. if you dont have the money or dont want to spend it you can learn from another skater that can already spin. have fun learning everything.

Rick

hey R thanks for the info. Spinning is definately something I need to work on. My issue is there's only 1 skating coach I know of in the area and he only does basic stuff. Kind of in a wierd spot to be in, I know. Bleh I'll figure it out.

[rwsz]

Originally Posted by chunchmeow

hey R thanks for the info. Spinning is definately something I need to work on. My issue is there's only 1 skating coach I know of in the area and he only does basic stuff. Kind of in a wierd spot to be in, I know. Bleh I'll figure it out.

ok i hope it works Chunch,,,,,,,,wow only i coach,,,maybe he can do an upright and a sit spin to start,,,,see if you can see some online,,,,some of jaysons sutcliffs site show them or go to youtube and look some up,,,,if you watch ice its the same concept ,,,,only wheels and blades are different along with the edges.

Rick

[hungryrollerblader]

Hi. I'm Chris. I'm 14. I live in Post Falls, Idaho. I've been doing aggressive skating for about a year and a half. I skate on "Rollerblade Bladerunner Furys." Skating & girls is about all I think about.

[speedysktr]

JT is the alias. 41, married w/two kids: MsSpeedyJr will be 5 in January and Speedysktr2:Speedy's Revenge just turned 3. Skating since 1980, got inlines in '92, started racing in '95. Serious speed junkie. I mtn bike, roadride and run and generally like to be in motion for fun. Grew up riding dirtbikes and skating. I skate indoors every chance I get and still love to go to session. I consider myself a dyed in the wool skater as it is my first love.

[motosk8ter]

Hey Speedy, Beautiful family...Good for you! Phil

[Pepper Montana]

Awesome pictures, Speedy! Your daughters are cute, cute, cute! Wouldn't it be great if my son Max got married to one of your daughters and then you would have to pay for a big party where I made an ass of myself? Wouldn't that be great? Yeah, think about that...

Nice family!

[speedysktr]

Originally Posted by Dave Morgan

Wouldn't it be great if my son Max got married to one of your daughters and then you would have to pay for a big party where I made an ass of myself?

As opposed to here where we get to see it for free? BAM!!! sorry, couldn't resist.

Folks, speedy kids. The morgster and speedy go way back to, um, like August, they're like this <holds up crossed fingers> and they almost got drunk in Duluth. Some of actually did, btw, but hey, that's another story that speedy only partially remembers.