[SkateDC] After-Skate Report, Sunday Intermediate

[Jubran Selim]

OK, I have to get nostalgic here for a minute and confess that as easy as the 12th Street tunnel is I wiped out there once.  It was my second WAR skate ever (and also my second street skate ever, until then it was just parking lots and trails for me) and it was my first Wednesday night skate way back in April of 1999 (can't remember who led that night).  The tunnel was closed then for construction, but of course that didn't stop us at all.  There was a cable extending across the onramp from Independence Ave.  It was really nothing at all, but I freaked.  I decided that is was necessary to jump over the damned thing, so I did.  And I succeeded....in jumping that is.  I failed the nail the landing though and came down pretty hard.  If I had footage, I'd put it up on YouTube.  Some road rash and a nice hole in both my gray Champion rugby shorts and my dark blue Ralph Lauren Chaps T-shirt (you always remember your first one, don't you?).  I kept those garments for years to ward off the evil spirits of road rash and wipeouts.

So there you have it, that was my first WAR story, first of many of course, and although the construction that night created some extenuating circumstances, it was a wipeout nonetheless.

One way to take that tunnel, for those who haven't tried this yet, is to start about a half a block or so south on 12th Street, time the light at 12th & Independence so that you are already going 15mph+ when you hit the top of the ramp.

Jubran
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Sent via Blackberry 8 year old Gateway desktop.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Bill English 
  To: WAR Listserv 
  Sent: Sunday, November 08, 2009 9:53 PM
  Subject: [SkateDC] After-Skate Report, Sunday Intermediate


  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


        
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