Rink Rat

Skating is my new addiction.  It came to me this summer that I wanted a reward, and what better way to feel good than to go zooming around on 8 wheels?  I live 0.6 miles from Moonlight Rollerway, so it's crazy I didn't start frequenting it sooner.

Remembering the days of my childhood, I knew what I had to do: Find a "play it again sports" and get a pair of used skates.  I went to the location in Sherman Oaks first.  Although they had a bunch of great fitness equipment, I didn't see or try on any skates that got me excited.  Then I tried the location in Pasadena.  I found the skates pictured above in perfect condition.  They're a size 10 and I generally wear a size 9 in shoes, but hey I could wear thicker socks.  Or just tighten the laces.

Skate rental at Moonlight is $5 and I got the skates for $50 so I only needed to use them 10 times for the purchase to make up for itself.  I'm proud to say I've skated 11 times already.

The boots of my skates are Riedell, which has been making figure, speed, in-line and roller skates since the 1940s. The wheels are Powell, a Stanford-educated engineer who started making his own wheels in the 1970s.  He's associated with skateboarding more than rollerskating.  But I think it's cool that the skates I eventually settled on are so infused with skating history.  Also, I might put a pom-pom on there (that's what the chain is there for).

From Bloglovin' The nostalgic building that houses Moonlight Rollerway was built in the 1940’s and before Harry’s Roller Rink opened there in 1956, it was used to make airplane parts for the great war. The skating floor is the original Harry’s maple flooring, “with no nails all tongue and groove”– it’s basically a living artifact of 20th century American leisure.

I'm getting my skating muscles back, practicing starts and stops by doing "Red Light, Green Light" and practicing turns by doing the "Hokey Pokey" and practicing skating backwards during the "Beginner and Intermediate Backwards Skate."  I might eventually try this type of skate dancing.  There's so much talent at Moonlight.

Monday - adult night - [not yet]

Tuesday - adult class + live organ music - 9/13, 9/20, 9/27

Wednesday - skate dancing class + rainbow night - 8/17, 10/19

Thursday - roller derby practice + throwback music - 8/25

Friday - all ages afternoon - 9/9, 10/21

Saturday - all ages afternoon + evening session - 9/24

Sunday - all ages afternoon + family night - 7/31, 10/2

Clearly, live organ music is my favorite night~!  It's not crowded.  The video above shows the ambiance of that night.  Really good skaters come out, too.  Someday I want to go skating in Northridge.  Rainbow Night is so indescribably amazing, you have to experience it for yourself.  It's like an aerobics class, where everyone's REALLY INTO IT.  At some point, the fog machines start blowing and the lights dim and people really let go of their inhibitions.

I don't remember too much about Thursday, except to say that the derby girls scare me.  They train hard, skate low to the ground, and circle for hours.  Maybe it scares me because I'm interested in it, but maybe it scares me because I hear that they get pretty severe life-changing injuries.  Friday (all ages) skate is mostly kids.  But as long as you don't run them over, it's fun.  The kiddos had a meltdown when the Jacob Sartorius - Sweatshirt song came on.  It was like the Beatles!

Our neighbor offered to sew me something one time, and the pattern I picked out was for a skating dress.  She said "I don't need a pattern to make you a circle skirt."  Well, she never sewed the skirt, but now that I have my sewing machine out, I can make it for myself!  I can see why people like skating in dresses or short skirts, skating really gets your muscles working.  I've noticed my booty has lifted in the past several months.  I attribute it to skating.

I was walking home from the rink last night and snapped the shadow picture above.  The sun was setting and it struck me that I could see a cool shadow of me and my skates.  A few blocks later, a Jeep slowed down next to me and yelled something out the window.  I pretended not to hear it, but the driver was so persistent.  He didn't pull forward to the stop sign, instead yelling again: "It's hot that you skate."

I don't particularly love being yelled at by passing cars, it makes me feel unsafe, but I think the truth is that active transportation is hot.  It's awesome to walk around, take the bus, skate through CicLAvia, bike LA, it's all hot.  I will definitely get my skates on for Glendale meets Atwater Village (Spring 2017).  I'll make a follow-up post about CicLAvia-Heart of LA in October.  But what I want to say is that getting active is attractive.  Moving gets you feeling good, and that's hot!