ooo. eee. oww. i ache like a *****!

i decided to go skating again. it's been over five years since i dropped into a half-pipe. before last week, it had been three years since i went on ice, and before last month, i think i went on skates about eight times in three years.

sooo... let me see... i went skating in a blizzard at night, two weeks ago: the nice police officer wasn't too happy with me and he also demonstrated a total lack of knowledge of skating by saying that not having a brake is dangerous, and that being a 20mph pedestrian - on the pavement - is safer.

the fastest i, personally, have ever been on skates, is probably around aboouuut.... 50 mph. it was on "silver hill", on the athens to atlanta skate marathon. i'd heard about this hill: i specifically asked how long it was (about 1 mile) and it has places where it's a 1-in-4 gradient.

now, i figured that i'd be going nearly 40mph, so i did the maths, and worked out that i'd be counting to 90.

at around a count of 70, i hit the 1-in-4 gradient part and jeeezus: to feel the wind rushing _that_ fast past your ears, down a hill, trusting the marshalls to have cleared the road with your friggin life what a RUSHHH!

anyway.

that was seven years ago.

so i've been out in the past two months about once every two-to-three days.

then i discovered that the skating season is nearly over, and that there's an ice-rink one hour away by tram - i just _had_ to go. since sunday, i've been back four times. i'd never been on speed-blades before DANG they're scarily unstable until you get used to them and i'm _not_ used to them.

people whizzing past you in a train of 30 people, round the 300 metre track like you're standing still - you know they're doing over 30mph - it's such FUUNN!

oh, and last week, i went back to the UK to pick up my roces khuti's - and went down to the skate park i found hidden 400 metres from where i'm living.

i ended up in the bowl - it's about 12 metres across, and about... 1.5 metres deep... and i couldn't get out!!! i was SO not going to take my skates and pads off to get out. i'd have to take the pads off, because they're 6mm thick of pure polythene and they slide _really_ well against concrete :)

so my arms ache from pulling myself out. four times. my back aches from jarring it badly when i landed on one knee with my upper leg _straight_ rather than bent at the hip, i have a cut on my hand because idiots smash bottles around the area, not to mention the usual leg and lower-back muscle overexertion i keep pulling.

it's great! i'm going back tomorrow :) okay. mayyybe just to play on the 2 ft ramps.