Hey there guys & gals, I have slightly disappeared as I was "vacationing" with my family over the spring break....loved visiting with my sister Shimen, and spending time with my nana Maggie in Regina!!. Oh, and by the way, (this might be short) today we will be talking about roller blading. If you don't know how to roller blade, thats perfectly fine. I love to roller blade. It makes me feel like I'm in space racing against the stars and light....it makes me feel like nothing else matters except going as fast as I can (and not falling of course) and winning my imaginary race.

Photo by A. Zuhri / Unsplash

HOW I LEARNED TO ROLLERBLADE...

When I was little I learned about roller blading...after that I wanted to learn how to roller blade so I went to my garage and found my brothers old pair of roller blades. I tried them on, and they fit perfectly. I took them off and ran upstairs to 1st show my parents and 2nd to try to roller blade.

AT FIRST I could NOT roller blade AT ALL!! It is a lot harder then it looks, and every bump and crack along the way made me fall forwards. At first I just went from furniture to furniture wobbling around like a mermaid with her first pair of land legs.

WHERE DID THE FIRST ROLLERBLADES COME FROM?

Fun Fact #1: The roller blade was already created in the early 1800's as an inline skate. The name Rollerblade, and the reconstructed idea of the inline skake, as invented by a 19 year old!

How a 19-year-old started the Rollerblade revolution

In a story on "marketplace.org", in 1980 Scott Olson...

"Olson was just 19 when he stumbled across a pair of inline skates in a catalog while playing junior hockey in Canada. He dreamed of being an NHL goalie, and thought they would be a great way to train in the summer. When he got home to his Minneapolis suburb, his brother had picked up a pair and was skating all over the driveway.

Olson tried them on and knew right away they would be a huge hit. But they hadn’t been so far - SSS had been producing the skates for years, and the guy who ran the local sporting goods shop said the few pairs he had in stock had been collecting dust for years. No one was buying them.

So Olson began tinkering. He made the wheels softer and faster, and put them on a track that could be attached to hockey skates. When he got nowhere peddling his new product at local sporting goods stores, he started approaching hockey players and coaches directly. He offered them a money back guarantee, and soon players all over the Minneapolis suburbs were zipping around on Olson’s creation.

Olson bought a patent off of a Chicago company and eventually crafted a more comfortable and sturdy boot. In 1981, he formed a company and named it Rollerblade, an obvious nod to the hybrid between roller and hockey skates."

“A lot of people thought Rollerblades must’ve started in Southern California,” Olson says. “But in reality, it started in Minneapolis, Minnesota, hockey capital of the world.”

First he wore them in and around his hockey world, and when people started to see how slick they were, and how smooth and fast you could go (my favorite part!), the Rollerblade, literally, took off.

Scott wrote a book called ROLLERBLADE: HOW THE WHEELS GOT ROLLING telling his story. It is hard to imagine that the roller blade wasn't popular with everyone, as they are so much fun!!
Fun Fact #2: Scott had rocks thrown at him while he roller bladed (then known as inline skates) through the countryside! PEOPLE THOUGHT HE WAS THAT ODD!

Fun Fact #3: "BLADING" is the name of the sport Scott recreated. With hiking poles, and a backpack, he just went about traveling on his blades!!

I like this story about someone's passion for something they love so much. Scott did not give up, and because of that I get to wear Rollerblades today, and enjoy that fun flying feeling!

OF COURSE ALL THINGS GIRL + COOL = LOVE LIFE

O my gosh.....I need to practice more!! But the best part is that I learned how to roller blade, and now get to share with you the history of roller blading. Also I hope you learn how to roller blade and love it as much as I do. Well it's time to say bye (until next time of course).As always....LIVE LOVE LEARN LIFE!!!!!