There simply aren’t enough exclamation points to convey my excitement about this post. If you’re looking for statistics, come back in a year. I’m writing about a tipping point. I noticed it first in Miami. Fritz’s was busy selling the newest Rollerblades and K2s (next to a growing wall of derby skates). I asked the main guy if he was seeing more skaters this year. “Oh yeah, definitely.” At the Skate DC event in May we saw a bunch of 12+ year olds tagging along with us for miles. Road skaters who occasionally hit a park for tricks. A catch-up chat with Trish Alexander later in the month confirmed it – her classes are filling up. In fact, some are doubling up. A stop in a Utah sporting goods shop to get some wrist guards for my brother who’s still using his 80′s Lightnings – they are doubling their orders of Rollerblades. Can’t keep them in. Why? A beautiful new rail trail – the Legacy – that stretches from Ogden to Salt Lake City and more on the way. A brand new meetup group for Boston generates 25 members in a few short weeks. Our first free lessons on Sunday drew a crowd of about 30 people who learned how to slow, stop and skate.
We skaters face some obstacles. It’s harder to find skate shops. But we have so many choices online and sites like skates.com, inline warehouse, and others are making it easier for us to get the right fit with free shipping offers. It’s a bit tough to get your friends to start skating if they missed the mad rush of the 80′s. Find new friends to skate with. Hook them up with one of the dozens of active skate instructors that still teach. Get involved with your local trail planning community and make sure your voice is heard. Get out your skates, find other skaters, start a meetup group. There’s a reason we love to skate. Share the love and be part of the skate renaissance.
RS Customs | Custom Rollerskates 
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