[SkateDC] After-Skate Report, Sunday Intermediate

[Bill English]

Ten of us enjoyed a warm, sunny November day on the Intermediate Skate. At least four went out with the Advanced Skate.

As leader, I had a hard time with directions today. Fortunately George and Allison were around to give me some timely help. I promised an easy route in order to encourage Friday skaters to participate. So I pulled an old route from 2006 out of my computer's collection of cue sheets. The route is titled "Five Bridges" and I remembered that some of the skaters liked it back then and it did not have big hills. But the route had more difficult little spots than I remembered. All of the participants today seemed to be ready to take it on and nobody fell down or got injured. I tripped and nearly fell coming down from the bridge toward the Jefferson Memorial in the same spot where Céline had a fall a couple of weeks ago, even though I had just warned everyone to watch out for the bump. It was right where the black bikepath met up with the white sidewalk and the color change masks an edge that sticks up partway across the path. The bumps between the
 Roosevelt bridge and the Mt. Vernon trail were also quite alarming. I will avoid that place until it gets re-paved. The other bit of excitement was getting yelled-at by an angry SUV driver in the 12th Street tunnel. I heard the very loud yelling but did not see where it was coming from. The driver was picking on the rear of the skater pack and I was near the front. Søren & Céline got the worst of it. I found out that Céline is not familiar with "Spamalot" or "Monty Python & the Holy Grail" after I suggested that she should have put her French accent to good use in taunting the angry driver. Céline can get clued-in by watching the segment at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V7zbWNznbs

Places we visited: Daughters of the American Revolution Hall, State Department, Kennedy Center, Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, Mt. Vernon Trail, Ronald Reagan National Airport, George Mason Bridge, Jefferson Memorial, East Potomac Park, Francis Case Bridge, Fish Market, Banneker Park Fountain with its new "no Rollerblading" signs, Gangplank Marina, Titanic Memorial, Nationals Ballpark, Marine Barracks, Eastern Market, and Freedom Plaza.  

Scott Weaver moved a few hours away so he does not get to skate with us much anymore. He looked very happy to be back in DC. He did a lot of extra hockey maneuvers while he skated along. He is enjoying a nice pair of Bont skates but he can still look like a hockey player even with the long frames. Allison has not come out on Sundays much but she made it out today for the first time all year. She was happy to skate through Eastern Market since she needed to buy something there anyway. We saved her the hassle of trying to find a parking spot. Tina got to see lots of things for the first time. She was mainly a Friday Skater until recently. She had no idea there was a Titanic memorial until today. She was the only one in our group who never tried the 12th street tunnel before. When I mentioned that we never had a skater get hurt in that tunnel since it is easier than it looks, Shawn quickly pointed out that saying such things could bring bad luck (but today
 it didn't). 

Intermediate participants:

Bill
George
Céline
Søren
Jon
Lisa
Allison
Tina
Shawn
Scott Weaver

Advanced participants:

Jeffrey
Rudy
Fabio
Scott Foley

Thanks to all participants. Looking forward to skating with you again someday.

Bill