We haven't had much of a Summer this year. Rain, perhaps a week of hot sunshine in June, but that has since departed and left us with so much rain and showers they surely can't have the cheek to say 'hose pipe ban' anytime soon!
With the weather improving and the weekends sunny, yes sunny, it was time to make the most of it instead of spending hourless weekends playing 'Grand Theft Auto'. I take my bike for a spin around the lake and on the way back something catches my eye.
'Oh. My. God. Are those rollerskates????!' When I was 13 (quite a few moons ago now) my Sister and I would go to our local leisure centre every Sunday for 3hrs, and roller skate, play 'bulldog' games and enter competitions to win a mars bar each week. Not quite a golden trophy, but none the less, still a prize to be won! The DJ was comical, a white guy, average height, but with quite an afro. Simply amazing. All those Sunday mornings came flooding back in an instant and I knew that I had to get my hands on some skates again!
As soon as I cycled home, I loaded up my PC and typed 'roller skates milton keynes' in to 'Google'. There has to be a local stockist!! There has to be!! YES! Bingo! I've found one and only 10 min cycle from my house! Before I knew it I was back on my bike and on my way to get some rollerskates! I find the ice rink and head towards the shop, I see the skates on wall - 35 pounds, nice design, nice price and the old school 2 x 2 wheels not the 'inline' style. Perfect for someone who want's to get back into skating!
I wonder across to the counter and ask the shop assistant
'I'd like to purchase those 'quad' boots please'. Yes, I had just looked up the phrase on Google 10 minutes ago and felt quite proud of myself.
I get a weird look and he wonders in to the back room and comes back with the boots:
'These ones yeh?'
I try them on and the fit nice and snug. Brilliant! I also require pads and enquire if I can get any discount as I've just spent 60 pounds on the boots:
'These pads are 25' he says
'25 - thats the standard RRP! No discount?'
'They're 25 pounds'.
Ok, this guy is not going to budge, so E-bay is the next stop once I'm home. I buy the boots, cycle home and find a helmet and pads combo in ebay for 35 pounds. I Click 'Buy it now' and job done! I can't wait to get started!
The pads arrive a few days later and the weather is perfect, sunny and clear. It could have almost been a scene from 'Top Gun', If only I had some cool aviators and written 'Goose' on my helmet.
It takes me 10 minutes to attach all the knee and elbow pads and then the skates are on and it's time to rock!! Well, I was all over the place balance wise! No falls, and only a couple since in the last three weeks so I'm definately getting back in to it again! There's a great industrial estate about 10 min walk from our house and I take a wonder with my gear, I set up and this is a great place to skate! It's almost completely quiet - minus a few cars. Some poor bastards are still working on the weekend! The entire place is tarmac. A nice smooth surface to skate on and away we go! I spent 2hrs that day skating around with my ipod and making the most of the free space and the beautiful weather.
I've been going back there for the past couple of weeks, but now as we're heading towards November, it's been solid raining all week and the chances of me getting outside again soon are next to none. On the other hand, I have found a local 'skaters club' that runs on a Sunday at my local leisure centre - roller disco and tips on how to improve. It'll be like im 13 all over again. Let's hope I'm not the only one over the age of 13! I'm looking to attend an event shortly, update will follow :)
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