[SkateDC] After-Skate Report, Sunday 9:00 am Intermediate Skate

[Bill English]

WAR moved its Sunday Intermediate Skate up to 9:00 am to see if people would be happier with that. The Advanced Sunday Skate will remain at 11:00 am. Comments have been flowing in to Carl & George, and eventually they will decide which time works better.

These were the participants for today's Intermediate Skate:

Céline

Søren
 
Shaun
 
George
 
Jackeline
 
Tom
 
Bill (me)
 
The new Andrew (recently moved here from Paris) would have joined us also but he did not get the word about the time change so he reluctantly joined the 11:00 advanced group instead.
 
I was planning to use either an embassy row or a Pentagon route, and while talking it over with the group to see if they were in the mood for hills, Céline said she really liked the Navy Museum route that we used a few weeks ago for the WAR Season Inaugural Skate. So we went back to the Navy Museum. Shawn was the only person who had not been there the first time around. I think he enjoyed it, based upon the large number of photos he was taking there. Shawn was breaking in a new pair of skates, K2 Moto 100's, with 100 mm wheels in back and 90 mm wheels in front. He said he was happy with the new skates, and he was a lot faster than he used to be on his old skates. Shawn said he picked this type of skate because the frame is shorter than other 100 mm skate frames so he is not giving up much maneuverability.
 
9:00 seemed like a good time to go skating. The traffic was noticably lighter and the air even seemed fresher. We had very comfortable temperatures. The wind was kind of strong but not really annoying until our return trip going west on Independence Avenue.
 
I did not exactly follow the earlier Navy Museum route, since I did not have a written copy of that on me. The differences today involved taking F street away from the White House rather than New York and H Street, skipping the Law Enforcement Memorial, getting closer to the yachts in the Soutwest Waterfront Marina, and taking our traditional favorite way back from Eastern Market using South Carolina Ave instead of playing around between Capitol Hill and Union Station. We also took the 12th street tunnel today, mainly to evade the wind which was slowing down our return trip. Cutting through the Ronald Reagan building courtyard, we encountered a police ceremony with a bagpipe & drum marching band, which seemed to be a rehearsal but still interesting. We finished up the skate by crossing through the middle of Freedom Plaza. We did all this, plus some Eastern Market loitering, in only 95 minutes, so we must have been skating quite well today. We met Carl
 at the White House preparing for the Advanced Skate, and hung around to chat with the other advanced skaters until they rolled away.
 
All the Intermediate Skaters today said they are happy with a 9:00 am start time. Shawn said he liked getting out to skate early, but can't guarantee that he will be successful in waking up early enough to do that on a regular basis due to his work schedule. Tom said he and MyeongHee won't be able to skate at 11:00 very often but would participate regularly if we stick with 9:00.
 
All the skaters had an easy time keeping up with their leader (me) and we were bunched up in a compact group nearly the whole time. Guess it is time for me to start ingesting performance enhancing substances in order to keep out ahead of the others! Or at least begin a regular exercise program.
 
None of us fell down today, but George told us about a bad crash from the Saturday skate around BWI airport. The Saturday leader (Patricia) tripped on some sand at the bottom of the hill through farmland. Patricia told me today that she is eager to get back on her skates again, but her doctor recommended taking it easy for a week. Patricia was not pleased to learn about the new 9:00 start time, but indicated that she will give the Intermediate Skate a try anyway in a week or two.
 
Jackeline cracked a helmet when she tripped on curb cut "safety" bumps near the Lincoln Memorial during Skate DC Weekend but she was back out skating with us a week later and showing off her nice new helmet. She said she had been concerned about neck pain after the crash, but her neck felt better after a couple of days.
 
Patricia & Jackeline are both excellent skaters who are faster than me. Crashes can happen to any of us. Be prepared for the worst and bring your protective gear. 
 
Céline, Søren, Andrew, and Jackeline have just begun skating with WAR this spring. They are great additions to our group, and it would be nice if some more of our long-time intermediate skaters could come out to skate with them one of these days.
 
Bill