The victim of my own ego!

As mentioned a few posts ago I fell for the rollerblading craze of the 1990's in part because I saw the ease with which my teen-aged son was able to skate around the neighborhood. If you will remember my first experience on those instruments of torture was very exciting but not quite what I had hoped for. After a few outings I had become somewhat competent at moving around the neighborhood, though never with the ease and fluid grace the teenager displayed. When I had the most fun and gained the greatest comfort on those wheels was as I was following him. When he would skate in front of me and I could attempt to mimic his technique I could do very well; the problems arose when I was on my own.

I remember one fall evening when I went out to skate around the retention pond across from our home about dusk. I was the only person on the trail that circled the pond and I was feeling pretty confident as I was gliding around on the new concrete sidewalk that had been poured earlier in the summer. The one thing I really did not like about going out that time of evening was the clouds of gnats that appeared and swarmed around the edge of the pond. The project to beautify the retention pond area and make it friendly for local children and families to walk and have a pleasant outdoor experience had just been completed. The sidewalk all the way around the pond, several metal and wood bridges for pedestrian traffic, freshly planted trees and shrubs, and newly planted grassy areas with some mulch to help retain the seed until it could germinate and begin to grow. This was a much needed improvement to the neighborhood and we all benefited from the work that had been done.

As I was skating that evening I noticed that some of the mulch that had been scattered had made its way up onto the sidewalk in a couple of spots (in particular around the aforementioned foot bridges) and as I approached those areas I coasted so I could keep an eye on the sidewalk without worrying about trying to watch for wheel obstructions while skating. The distance around the pond on the sidewalk was approximately nine tenths of a mile, and if I circled around six or seven times I could get my heart rate up and get a good sweat going.

I enjoyed going out that late in the evening because I knew that I would not encounter many other people. I was alone that night enjoying the few minutes it took to skate around the pond in the near darkness. Each passing lap it was a little darker and my confidence on my feet was greater. The final lap I decided I would go all out and as I passed in front of the house I picked up the pace to my maximum effort. I was flying as I rounded the first turn and crossed the first foot bridge, I never slowed for the turn to the left that would take me across the backside of the pond, and I even tried to pick up the pace as I approached the second foot bridge. I was cruising like never before as I approached and crossed the bridge. As I came off the bridge my right foot struck a large chunk of mulch with a rock in it and immediately stopped rolling. When I bought the roller-blades I was skeptical of the need for the wrist guards and knee pads that the young clerk recommended I include with my purchase, after all I had been riding bicycles and skateboards without any safety equipment (all through my younger years) and had suffered no injuries.
That night I was really glad that I had put on those guards and pads along with a pair of thick leather gloves because when I landed flat on the sidewalk I was saved from injury. The only injury was to my pride (which, as many of you know, is substantial).

I rolled over onto my back and looked up at a young boy (11 or 12 years old) who had seen the crash.
Him; "Mister are you OK?"
Me;"Yeah, I'm fine"
Him; "Do you need me to help you get up?"
Me; "No, I think I'll sleep here tonight."
Him; "Are you sure?"
Me; "Yes, I'll be OK, thanks, though."

I started to laugh a few moments later as I thought about what had just happened. I had so carefully coasted over those foot bridges just a few minutes earlier because I realized the potential danger. I only lost my focus for a few moments of enjoyment and ended up there flat on my back the unfortunate victim of my own ego. I did, eventually get up and skate home where I shared the story with those assembled in the living room.

A few months later our family was visiting our extended family in the Grand Junction, Colorado area and Adam (my son) and I brought along our roller-blades so we could skate along a stretch of the Colorado Riverfront Trail from 24 Road east to Highway 340. Once again I let him take the lead and I attempted to mimic his fluid motion by focusing on his movement in front of me. We skated out to near the highway and then turned around to skate back to the parking lot at the 24 Road/River Road intersection. No problems out or back. It felt good to be skating with my son. I was able to match his stride for much of the skate and was very pleased with my effort. As we got back to the van we skated around to the back doors and I unlocked and opened them. We both grabbed our shoes and walked to the front of the vehicle to change into them. I looked over at Adam through the open windows and said, "I think I'm starting to get the hang...." I never finished the sentence because my feet had slipped out from under me, my shoes flew straight up in the air, and I landed flat on my back. I don't think Adam stopped laughing all weekend.

Thanks for checking in. More to come soon. See you then.