Freeline Skates - or - I'm not crazy... Really!

So a few weeks ago, bored and surfing the web, I happened across a youtube vid of a guy on some new skates. I can't really do justice to the vid in a simple description, but I was astonished at the freedom of movement displayed by the skater, as well as the incredible design of the skate.

Having been a bit of a skater in my rugrat years (shout out to Little Ben my skate partner in crime) I was immediately intrigued.

To make a long story short, I had some birthday cash hidden under the ol mattress, and I had a decision to make. More woodworking tools (I still need to finish my nightstands...) or dedicate some time on the street with my son Greyson, learning to "skate" while he does tricks on his trike.

The adrenalyne junky / good father in me won out. Enter the skates. They arrived the DAY I came down with the worst strain of the flu I have ever had. I was down a full week. Skating was right out.

Still, pride in ownership right? Greyson calls these my "wheels" and I have to admit they look pretty snazzy. Shown is the box as well, skates side profile, and then top down bottom up shot.





One week later, 12 lbs. less, (yup, nothing like having a throat so sore you can't swallow food to lose big weight!) I was ready to try them out. I had done considerable reading onthe difficulty of learning to ride on these skates, and went out with a realistic thought that it was going to take me a week or two to get proficient on these babies.

So to follow is my experience learning to ride freelines, with more posts to follow as I have progress to report.

I spotted a place right in front of our house to begin. A nice ribbed light post, new asphalt, and a slight slope formed the perfect combination for the push off.

So I lined up the left and right skates in front of the post. One foot up at a time, while keeping a death grip on the light post with my right hand. First discovery, those wheels look big, but they in no way provide a perfectly stable surface. There is a tendancy to tip front or back out of the gate... my first push off I made it about 4 feet before stepping off the skates.

The good part, even after only 4 feet I had this HUGE smile on my face. These skates are going to be FUN.

I was out in the street for a good half an hour, and I had a huge smile pasted on my face the whole time. I even *shhhh* giggled a number of times... actually, probably every time I stepped off the skates.

Towards the end of my 30 min training session I was regularly going 15 feet or so before stepping off, I had a few good 30 foot runs, and one run everything came together and I was 40 feet out and gaining speed. Mind you, I know very little useable technique at this point, I have by no stretch of the imagination gained skill with the skates yet, and yes I was picking up speed... so I stepped off the skates.

Yup, not one fall, not one embarrasing moment (unless you count only going 4 feet embarrasing, I thought it was fun lol).

So verdict day 1. AWESOME.

Tune in later for more updates!