Google Ads and the early skating years

I've been terribly busy at work and haven't had time today to make my little lunch time journal entry. But one thing I had to comment on, Google Advertises on my site, hey if it'll pay for a hot dog down at city hall it's all good. Anyway seeing as I keep referring to skating today's Google ad mentions the Therma Blade. I'm inline speed, not inline hockey, but I'd like to try inline ice one day, mostly because there are lots of rinks in the city but not many indoor tracks.

A self heating skate blade? That sounds like a really dumb idea to me. Maybe for hockey players who need to turn on a dime and don't have to go very far the issues are different but as far as I can tell, wouldn't ice speed skaters want about the coldest blade possible to ensure minimal friction between the ice and their skate?

Anyway its a curious concept but not one I particularly go for. Personally the big recent revolution in skating technology had to be the MPC Storm Surge, MPC Street Fighter Gold wheels, and in the dry weather the Matter Juice wheels. Give me Juice or give me rain!

On an unrelated note, I was going to post pictures of my cats. (I'd post pictures of my wife, but she has to be home for me to take pictures of her.) Instead, in honour of the HBO T.V. mini-series, From the Earth to the Moon which I am watching a replay of as I type this, I'd like to devote this post to my first pair of inlines. Mostly because... well I'm inspired to do so, don't ask me to explain my thought processes, it can be pretty ugly.

In the summer of 1991 the day I came back from summer camp my parents took me first to Sporting Life, back in those days they did not have any franchise, then to see The Rocketeer. I remember being jealous of the hero, he had a rocket pack, but then I would remember, but I have brand new Rollerblades in my parents car! They were Lightnings with probably 76mm (maybe 80mm) wheels that were solid purple urethane. I remember the first time I put them on I didn't realise that unlike ice skating, inline skating really required the ability to stop. That took some getting used to. My very first crash was on Ava Road, just a few blocks from our home, on a hill, it was a good thing I was wearing wrist and knee pads.

I kept skating until, I think 1995. By that time I had switched from the Rollerblade Lightnings to a brand called Oxygen, they were green and I still think they were ugly. (I actually just found a pair on sale on eBay.) I decided that I could get to school faster on a bike then on skates and so I did not skate again until my wife saw a pair in a store in Shanghai in 2004 and decided I should buy them.

Since 2004 I have had the following skates:

1. Radius Sports (do not remember a model name) Radius is some small company in China, when last I checked, they had a web site and were resisted with a domain, but it was all blank. (Just checked, for the first time in three years, the web site is gone.)
2. Rollerblade Lightning 05s - could not find replacement brakes for the Radius Sports skates and was going through the original pads pretty fast, wanted K2 Mod 8.5s but it was too late in the season and they were all sold. Had to settle for Lightnings.
3. K2 Radical 100s, wanted big wheels, got big wheels, good for long distance, not so good for speed.
4. Rollerblade Promarathons, (had an accident, I was unhurt, but the skates were done in pretty bad)
5. Rollerblade Problades, my first racing skate, very fancy, too many bells and whistles.
6. My Custom Bont Vaypors. With three point frame mounting and 110mm wheels, I sure have come a long way from those first lightnings, 16 years ago.

Anyway Saturday late in the morning I am skating, its going to be cold, it might be windy but I don't care! I love the feeling of freedom I get on skates.