roadskater's blog

This should be quick but I wanted all to know that two human (and wind) powered sports are shining brightly in Italy. 

Now and then we like to stand up for skateboarders, who we don't always understand in terms of their love for wheels not attached to their feet, but don't need to understand...just support with some skateylove. All over ever day we see people jealously looking at the little wheels. Ours. The street boarders'. Even the big wheels and carbon fibre. We just want to say it again. Yes you can. Get a helmet and some wrist guards. Wear some old jeans and even knee and elbow pads if you like. But yes you can. And if you survive a few times at inline skating, skateboarding or cycling with an ending of fun and safety, you can do it for decades. Don't just try it out wherever. Go somewhere safe and flat and prepared. It's important to have fun and be safe so you won't freak out and never try again. So yes that's all repeated thought, but OK. 

Meanwhile, take a look at what a skateboarder has to say...

This is just a brief note to point out another place on Department of Interior land where inline skating is specifically encouraged, unlike out beautiful Guilford Courthouse National Military Park.

But what a beautiful place to travel to for inline skating! Click the photo for another article on this subject...

Locations

Oh boy I love my excuses. I need them! But some people have the genetics, psychosis, or whatever it is to overcome the challenges and keep seeking the Olympic dream.

TWO ARTICLES! FIRST ONE...

Check out this article on a guy who can't hear the competition, but seems ready to beat them. An inliner, then a swimmer, then to drinks and drugs, back to inline, then he saw a buddy from inline skating on television in the Olympics...

It was time to transition to ice, a path already blazed by other inline skaters who'd gone on to race in the Olympics on the ice. He sold everything, including his car, and bought a one-way ticket to the Olympic Training Center in Utah.

And yes as we often admit, there can be an addiction there...a good one, we hope...

I haven't seen our buddy Jack in awhile (hope to soon!) so I was thrilled to see him skating in a local park...on YouTube. He seems to have gotten a new camera/videocam lately and has been posting lots of demo shots of zooms and time lapses and effects to show us why we should be jealous of his hardware! Also he has some RC flying gear and some videos of flights. But my fave as one who has skated with him is just to see him skate in this tripod vid of some skating in a parking lot.

Location

It's a tough combination of teaching rink ice sessions, boardwalk running along the beaches of Long Island, NY, inline skating on multiuse pathways, and all the rigors of training (which is at least fun work), but not much time of 400m world class arenas. Many would like to have such a tough life of skating focus. But after early promise and years of challenges, a former bulemic ice figure skater who qualified for trials in 1984 believes she may have it all coming together after just two years on ice speed skates.

She may find the 15 seconds of speed to get her 15 minutes of fame to make it into the 2014 Winter Olympics. Even if she doesn't, the pursuit of that dream will keep her life skateyfied and that has to be supersweet, indeed.

I don't care to get too political here, because I'm not going to change your mind about anything, and you're not so likely to change anyone else's, perhaps. Everyone has their views, but here's one view from someone who has lived around the world and now lives back in the US, back in the US, back in the USA.

Take it with whatever grain or block of salt or poison you'd like, but...

I found it inspiring...

to hear that there are some people in the United States of America trying to find ways to bring the most and best care per dollar to everyone who needs it, in an effort to reduce the costs to all and improve the care to all. There are so many saying we can not do it. It is nice to hear some people are trying...and doing.

http://video.pbs.org/video/2198039605/

Hello out there. Yes it's nice sitting with the laptop and reading all sorts of stuff, checking in with your efriends or ifriends, maybe even watching PBS or some awesome, enlightening movie from before you were geborn. And everybody needs some time off, but when you are tired of your time off spinning down the drain, let me repeat that there's something about the wind in your face when you're on wheels, or even skis or shoes.