So I did it! Last night I got my skate on! For 2.5 grueling hours I managed to stay vertical, which in the beginning, wasn't looking or feeling too promising.Now remember, my last blog said it had been 10 years... and my skates are about a size too small, but even with that to overcome I started out sucking worse than I expected to. Finally I asked Heidi if she knew if they ground wheels at this rink and she quickly went to find out.
She talked to an adorable man about half my age but obviously smitten with me :) who said that yes, he would grind my wheels for me and it wouldn't cost anything. Once I took my skates off though he had a slight change of confidence and asked me if these particular wheels had been done before. I assured him they had, probably before he was born, but none the less, yes. He made a disclaimer that he may mess them up, I said fine, and he returned with them a few minutes later all done.
He seemed pleased with the results, I was too- I could tell instantly that the grinding was going to make a world of difference. Then I talked to him a little bit about maybe making some replacements to my skates if I were to get back into going regularly. While he did look at the bearings with a ghastly expression, he said he would not replace the wheels. His exact words were "These are Kryptos wheels, they were revolutionary in their day, I have never even seen them before!" With that I took to the floor doing a 1000% better than I had been doing. I was so relieved! He even came to check on me and make sure I was satisfied with his work. Really I know he just found me hot and was trying to make conversation !!
Skating took a lot out of me though! The lights and the music took me mentally back in time but physically I was way past my prime. I watched kids whipping around the rink, some skating really well and it was overly apparent that time and the shift in my center of gravity had taken its toll on my gracefulness. I had to stop for breaks pretty often but I did not fall down, not even once and I even recovered from a couple of collisions without smacking into the wall. I broke no bones and no teeth and I was starting to regain some level of skill, momentum and confidence!
During my next break I found the cutie that had grinded my wheels (I knew it would make his day) and asked him about fixing up my skates- we looked through a catalog for new bearings and new boots. As I have mentioned, mine are tight, but also the leather is 30+ years old and its not would you would call supple anymore. He showed me some middle of the road ones, and the same with bearings. It will be about $200. I could get a whole new pair of skates for a third of that, but I want to keep my Douglass Snyder plates. (And for anyone interested, or not, there is a pair of Snyders all put together in this catalog and they are... $1,052 !! So really $200 to make mine like new is a bargain :) )
Of course in my world $200 may as well be $2000 BUT... my dad just emailed and said if it would get me out of the house and doing something fun with a friend that he would help me with the cost! So yippee! I am excited about that and hopefully in a few weeks I will be able to keep up with Heidi!
In the meantime I am going to be buying lots of Tony's pizzas because on the package there is a coupon to get in free to RSA approved rinks (the Bangor rink accepts it Sunday through Thursday) http://www.tonys.com/tonys-free-roller-skating.aspx and the pizzas are a fraction of the cost to skate! Maybe next time, I will even be able to treat Heidi!
Now if only I can get my feet and my legs to function, I am going to limp up the stairs, take a hot bath and go to bed!
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