Quirks and Perks of Rollerblading

Yes, I rollerblade on my own free will for fun outside to get around my city. A little strange right? You see everyone skateboarding nowadays so you'd think rollerblades are gone for good but that is not the case.

Rollerblading?

Rollerblading was a type of transportation via custom shoes popular in the 90's. Unlike rollerskates, rollerblades have all 4 wheels in a straight line, with the wheels being much thinner than skates. Rollerblades come in multiple styles, some for hockey, tricks, racing, and for athletics. They require balance and leg strength and let me tell you about leg strength, first time I rollerbladed I could barely walk the next day. So why did I choose rollerblades?

Why?

Rollerblades always intrigued me, unlike skateboards, which I won't deny are also cool. I know about scooter kids, skater kids, bikers, drivers, but where were the rollerbladers? Rollerblades are still fun to use and they can go pretty quick, if not being a safety hazard.

Risk

Trying to do essentially anything on rollerblades is either going to end up in you sticking the landing for falling, there is no middle ground. Skateboarders get to jump off of the board if need be and I just get to fall face first. Not the safest I will admit, but it takes a good amount of training to be able to blade outside and even on concrete.

Materials

Yes this matters. I first started skating, not blading, in a rink. The floor while rollerblading definitely matters, at least to me. Going from the glide of a skate rink to concrete is a scary transition but its not terrible. Rough road (road that hasn't been maintained or has a lot of pebbles littered on it) can really be a challenge for rollerblades, as your shoe will bounce like crazy. I was surprised to know that I could blade on bricks, as my mom rollerskated and specifically told me that bricks were a death sentence. The terrain of where you blade can easily determine what skill level you need to blade, as some places are just inherently more dangerous and difficult than other areas.

Slopes

Slopes are probably the worst thing for blading if the slope is steep enough. Please do not attempt slopes if you don't know how to slow down when going down on a slope. Slopes are dangerous and genuinely scary at steep enough angles that I've had to find alternate routes to get around some parts of my city without going down a steep slope next to a main road.

Inspiration?

You ever heard of Jet Set Radio? That's what I thought looked cool as hell and got me into this and I mean I wasn't wrong. I'll have my playlist going in the background while blading and you can spot the JSR in the playlist if you know the games.

Notes

I hate sweating and when I rollerblade I'm covered in it, but that could be because I'm blading in the summer. A lot of stores actually don't mind that I have blades on, as long as I look competent enough to enter the store in the first place. People will give you some odd looks but honestly I do not care at all.

With that said I am going to be Beat from Jet Set Radio for halloween. It's the perfect plan, I can already rollerblade so now I can use that knowledge to go faster than the other kids. I will have all the candy. Thanks for reading, tune in tomorrow for more posts from yours truly, or read yesterdays post. Take care.