And Watch The World Roll On By...

It's a beautiful afternoon: sunshine, sky, temperature, whatever - it's exactly what I have been waiting for. Grab my rollerblades (well actually they are always in the back of my car) and head for the park.

OK, time to stop and say that, hopefully, this is not going to sound like the ravings of some after-work fitness-obsessed past-it-really kinda person...nor of some skater chick, because frankly both of those descriptions are a bit funny when you apply them to me. I love rollerblading for the freedom; for the thrill of doing something that you enjoy doing well, for the exhilaration of air in your face and the scenery racing past and the sense that you control the danger level, there's nothing to malfunction (unless a wheel falls off) and you're relying totally on your own skill to ride it out. And something I have only found with rollerblading and never with any other sport: you never get physically tired until you stop and sit down. If you don't stop, you never need to stop!

The park where I blade these days is huge - it's like a playground for the whole side of the city, with netball and tennis courts, numerous sports fields and clubs, kids' playgrounds, an exercise circuit you can do in the course of your afternoon jog, a dog off-leash area and of course, the bike track - my playground. :) There are always people, people and more people - I smile at all of them, I say hello to those who smile back, I thank those that clear a way for me on the path and when I come home I often feel like I have been at some great social occasion, not off in my own little world....It pays to be nice to people; if I pass someone walking along the track, it's almost guaranteed I will meet them when I turn to go back in the other direction.

It only takes a second to get up to a fun speed, then you can stand still and coast...a regular afternoon walking track turned into a travellator ride through a leafy suburban landscape. Eyes on the track watching for sticks that fall from the trees; hard wheels on the blades means that the smallest objects can unbalance you (my second-worst rollerblading accident was caused by a pin on the ground at a skating rink. My worst was caused by a car...). Slow down behind couples walking two abreast behind the track until they hear your wheels and sidestep so you can pass...smile at small children on their three-wheeled bikes who look at you with eyes wide open...coast past middle-aged joggers who are breathing harder than you but moving at a third of your speed...wonder at the younger joggers plugged firmly into their Walkmans who don't even seem to realise they are outside (catch me in one of those lycra outfits!!).

There are a few bridges along the track, so you can stop and look for ducks, except when the bridges are old and wooden and slowing means falling over the cracks...today a young couple with a baby in a backpack have paused on the track to look at the water and you slow down and step into the grass beside the track to hold your wheels steady so you can walk alongside the path to the bridge (some people might use their brakes here; I removed my brakes. They're inhibiting...)

Closer to the end of the track I pass a man who is just letting his dog off the leash...the dog gives a big grin and shoots down the path towards me, going straight for the blades as many dogs do. He snarls at my ankles from behind and I stumble to a stop to avoid hitting him...the man laughs and calls the dog off with no apology. It will take them a few minutes to move far enough away for me to not overtake on the way back, so I stop at the playground at the end of the track and sit on the swing, ignoring the glances from the afternoon walkers unused to the site of a 23 year old on the kiddie swings, blades scraping the ground which is somewhat closer to me than I prefer. ;)

Back on the track the slope allows me to take a few strokes forward then coast for over a minute along the concrete...Denis makes videos by strapping a camera to the tank of a bike and I've often wondered if I should try the same for the blades...strap a camera to my head and try to capture the moment, the day, the sunshine, the sky, and the world lazily rolling on by.

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