im in that stage at the moment,i love to roll but daren’t push myself,if im injured and cant work then my life will be screwed.

if i cant push myself,then it sort of loses something vital. i still come out every now and then to keep my old tricks at a skatepark and maybe the occassional semi-hammer if im feeling complacent. but its not like the last 13yrs,its no longer a priority..and for good reason.

iam sore and physically limited due to years of skating injuries, it doesnt stop me but makes me CAREFUL. i dont want to be near crippled when my kids are growing up.
if any younger crew are reading this,you are not invincible,listen to your body,make sure its respected.if it hurts,there’s a reason..let it heal..

AND WEAR WRISTGUARDS!!!! YOUR HANDS AND WRISTS ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOLS YOU’LL EVER HAVE.

thanks for the inspiring article nick, but i hope you understand why many of us “fall off”.
(p.s:i havnt quit though!)

To all those he believe I was a little to militant, I must say, I totally agree. I took a harsh stance, but I think that is because I love rolling so much and have seen far too many people come and go. Having said that, I understand where everyone is coming from. Like most of you I have other hobbies, it is just that rollerblading has been my main for for quite some time now.

I do think people who quit and tell me “I used to rollerblade” are still bitches though. There is no reason to drop it completely. I don’t necessarily think you have to rollerblade, but like “andy” pointed out he still participated be either staying involved, buying merchandise etc etc…

I think Oli Bennet and Garret raise good points, which makes sense because I respect both of them very much. I remember Garret’s surfing and it brought him a lot of joy, which I agree with. However, I don’t think you ever stopped loving blading. For Oli, I totally understand where you are coming from. You may be right, I may still be in a bitter stage where watching people drop out of rollerblading still annoys me, and chances are I will move passed this phase, but for right now I am just writing down my feelings for people to read.

What I do love is the discussion that this whole article brought along. The different points of view, the different stories. Everything. It was all great to read in the comments section. I value everyone that posted something up, especially people who offered valid counter points to my argument. Looking at things from a different perspective always helps to bring clarity.

Now a year later I have fallen back in love, gotten my game back, gained new tricks, and it’s fun all over again. I’m sure people said the same thing about me “he’s a bitch, good thanks for quitting!” like a bitter ex girlfriend you’ve cheated on. So instead of getting bitter about someone who quit, take it with a grain of salt, maybe it just stopped being enjoyable, maybe they fell out of love, maybe it’s just a stage and they will eventually come back. Everyone has their reasons, and if you don’t enjoy it anymore, you shouldn’t be doing it, I don’t think that constitutes someone being a bitch, that’s them accepting what has happened and taking a step back to reevaluate themselves. Just my opinion from the other side.

Whether people who I have grown up with or once admired quit skating due to whatever their reasons might be does not bother me though. For me skating is personal, I do it for my own enjoyment and as my escape from the everyday stress and responsibilities that come with life on life’s terms. Ironically, despite the danger involved and damage it has done to my body, rollerblading has been my fountain of youth and I know will always be able to find a new friend in anyone who shares these feelings.

Last night I decided to go out to skate because a good friend of mine is helping me make a new section and we almost have enough footage to start editing. Despite being extremely sore from a full day of skating and filming over the weekend I forced myself to go out to try to get some more clips because I have been overly anxious to see the final product. Of course I should have listened to my sore body because as soon as I put my skates on I fell which resulted in a couple staples in my head. I took my skates off a little while later and decided to call it a night. While driving home I told myself that I need to do a better job of listening to my body when it’s telling me not to go skating if I want to continue doing this in the future. Besides being frustrated from waiting at the clinic until 2:00am and being a little embarrassed coming into work this morning with some messy, blood-soaked, greasy looking hair, I am grateful to be ok and hopeful that with a little luck nothing will ever stop me from doing what I love.

Anyways, I just wanted to say thank you for the article. Hopefully I’ll be skating again next week and should have a new section online in the next couple weeks. I am proud to say this new section will be one of my biggest personal accomplishments and I can’t wait to share it with everyone who loves rollerblading as much as I do.

my body is screwed, and up until a couple of years ago i disrespected it with a lack of streching.

KIDS: you should stretch…yoyu may consider it gay, but when your as inflexible as me when your my age and you feel like 50 not 26 then you will question why you didnt.

i also work as a P.T and have learned so much about my nutrition and correct stretching technique that i have battled all those aches out of my system. I have a plate and seven screws in myankle, a mashed spine cartlidge damage in my knees and my wrists have been fractured about 10 times over my career!
but its all good, cause i love what i do and im taking great pleasure passing it down to the youf! (spelt purposly with an f!)

so props for that article, alot of it rang true to me.
If you can turn something you love into a business, id say go with that too!

leo oppenheim

http://www.flowskate.co.uk