[SkateDC] Report About Today's Intermediate Skate (Jim Dillard Injured Wrist)

[Bill English]

On today's Intermediate Skate the following people came out:

Eryx
Jim Dillard
Cliff (not Cliff A, a different new guy)
Jackeline
Jon
Shawn
Bill (me)

About an equal number of advanced skaters followed Kent Gunlicks, including Rudy and Fabio. 

We got off to a slow start because the White House area including Lafayette Park was closed off. I found everyone at 16th and H at about 11:18. Then we had to skate through all the detoured traffic for a few blocks.

When we finally got to good pavement, Jim fell backwards (after he got used to bad pavement he failed to adjust to the good pavement quickly enough). It looked like he messed-up his left wrist pretty badly, possibly a break. We are hoping Jim heals up in time for the Chicago race he plans to enter in late Summer. The fall was at 11th and L Streets NW, near the Samuel Gompers statue.

Jon skated over to Pennsylvania Ave west of the White House to get Jim's car and bring it to him. The rest of us sat around with Jim while we waited for Jon. I decided to give Jim a washcloth from my pocket so he could clean up his two bloody elbos so they would not mess up his car too much. While skating about 7 feet over to him I lost my balance and did a prolonged crazy dance to avoid falling on my butt. During that stumbling, I moved toward Jim and I was afraid I would land on him. I grabbed onto Jim by the shoulders in an attempt to not fall directly on him. That was not working out too well and I was about to pull Jim down when a couple of other skaters reached over and saved us. Someone ended up with a strong grip on my belt, giving me a bit of a "wedgie". No harm done in the end from all that stumbling, but my confidence was reduced for a while.

After we said goodbye to Jim we skated five more blocks to our first scheduled regrouping stop, the Skate Park at 11th and Rhode Island Ave. I only skated the easiest ramp after all the previous excitement. Jon skated it too. We met a friendly skateboarder there for fist bump greetings.

The rest of the skate went smoothly. We got to Takoma Park using the planned route and it seemed like the least hilly way to get there, although a bit of up and down was necessary all along the way. Next time I use this route I will try to avoid most of 3rd Street since its pavement is bumpier than ever. We took the same route out and back because I was trying to make the route as easy as possible and fit under the 12 mile limits of an Intermediate Skate. 11th Street NW is one to remember for a civilized ride down into the city from the northern highlands. It is a great alternative to the steeper Meridian Hill on 15th Street or 18th Street in Adam Morgan now that 11th has some new pavement and a bike lane.

We had plenty of long regroups on the way to and from Takoma Park, including snack shopping in the Farmers' market and dealing with Jim's injury. But we still finished a few minutes before 1:30 pm so we must have had good speed during the times we were not sitting around gabbing. We hurt Eryx's feelings a little because we have all gotten quite a lot faster since his relocation to Colorado and he was not used to seeing Shawn, Jackeline, and me passing him on the uphill climbs. Jackeline passed me on some of the hill climbs also. Her new Bonts are working out great and she said she doesn't ever want to go back to her old Rollerblades. I explained to Eryx that we made good time today and he is as fast as ever, but the rest of us have been upgrading equipment and practicing since he went away. Since Eryx and I have the same shoe size, I let him try out my skates when I got back to my car and put my shoes on. He seemed to like my Rollerblade Fusions but
 one of them had a painful tight spot on the top of his foot. Eryx said he thinks he needs one skate in a 13.5 and the other in a 14. Hope he can find someone with the opposite foot asymetry to trade with! None of the Intermediate Skaters had time to go out to lunch with Eryx, so he made arrangements by phone to meet some of the Advanced guys at Harry's.

Our group of skaters stayed together in a compact pack most of the time. I looked back to check how they were doing a few times and was surprised to see five skaters breathing down my neck most of the time. Nice to see how fast all these people are skating so early in the season. I did not need to hold back my speed to accomodate the others.

When I got home, my son Billy immediately started nagging me to take him to a roller rink so I did not get to rest up at all. He wanted to go to Skate 'N Fun Zone in Manassas, VA. We had just been there last Friday. Sunday was a good day to go there, because they had scheduled their monthly Adult Skate for 7:30 pm. We had about 3 extra hours to waste until the rink opened. The whole time Billy was reminding me that we needed to get to the rink. Spent a lot of money at Willard's Barbeque and Hooters to distract Billy and help him endure the wait more calmly. Also tried to kill some time at Woody's Mini Golf and Wolf Trap Park but Billy turned those options down. Billy does not seem to completely understand the passage of time when it comes to waiting for something to open. I even had to go to the rink 90 minutes early to show him the locked doors to calm him down. After that Billy was happy and we ended up having a nice evening and he skated well.
 The crowd at Skate 'N Fun Zone was great, just big enough but not unpleasantly crowded, with a handful of really good skaters out showing off to entertain the rest of us. Women skaters outnumbered the men by about two to one (as usual for this place).

Bill



----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Bill English <english60 at yahoo.com>
To: WAR Listserv <skatedc at skatedc.org>
Sent: Sun, April 11, 2010 10:00:20 AM
Subject: [SkateDC] Today's Intermediate Skate Route

Skaters,
 
Now it is time for you to log-off your computer and come to the White House and skate!
 
Included below is the route for today's Intermediate Skate. It is a 12 mile round-trip to Takoma Park. It is the easiest way out and back that I know of.
 
Bill
 
Skate Leader: Bill, 240-988-5471
File name: Takoma Easiest Way- 11th & Kansas out & back 20100411
12 miles, moderately hilly, Metro Stations allow an early bail-out 
 
White House
Northeast New York Ave.
Right 11th St
Regroup at Skate Park just past Rhode Island Ave.
 
Continue North on 11th St
R Monroe
L 10th St. (and unnamed other little streets)
R Kansas Ave.
L 3rd St. 
Regroup when reaching Metro Train Tracks/Blair Road
 
L Blair Road
R Aspen St.
L (NE) Laurel 
Laurel runs into the Takoma Park Farmers’ Market. Take a 15 minute break to get a snack and drink
 
L (Southwest) Laurel Ave.
R Aspen
L Blair
Immediate R fork on 3rd St NW
R fork Kansas Ave (Regroup if necessary)
 
Continue on Kansas Ave
Sherman Circle
SW on Kansas Ave
Regroup when reaching 13th St NW
 
L 13th St NW
First L Spring Rd NW
First R 11th St NW
R New York Ave.Final regroup at the White House 


      
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