A sport that gained a particular popularity during the mid-
90's. It involves either
soft- or
hard- shelled
boots mounted on top of rails attached to between three and five wheels each. There is often a level of malcontent associated with rollerblades in the minds of Average Joe, as the techniques required to become proficient take a fair amount of time and perseverance, all the while dwarfing the learner's superiority complex as he flails his arms and falls flat on his face time after time.
Many claim that rollerblading is a characteristically homosexual endeavor,though there is little evidence to support this unless redneck
logic is employed. On the contrary, a skilled
skater has proven to be more than averagely desirable to the opposite sex. The
sport endures endless scrutiny due to the before mentioned difficulties in the early stages of practice. It is most heavily bombarded in skateboarding culture (the one populated by teenaged stoners, rather than skilled athletes,) where claims are made that it's not as risky as skateboarding and therefor not as "
hardcore." This is not the case, as a skateboard solicits the option of detaching oneself from the convention of wheels in mid-fall, whereas inline or quad skates offer no such
puss-out ability, and one's folly yields full, painful consequences.
Rollerblading breaks down into several styles, among which are speed skating, urban skating in a fashion similar to
parkour, park skating in a skate park environment,
hockey skating, and figure/jam skating, the least common. Each style utilizes a specific variation of equipment with differences in wheel size, ankle flexibility, elevation of wheel rails, and quality of bearings and wheel material.
Rollerblades can be rented at rock-
bottom prices from your local roller rink, assuming that they are to be used in said rink. Often times there is a
DJ or professional
skater on duty that will be more than willing to help a beginner with the basics.
