What a great workout with the Philly Rollergirls! But boy, it was an adventure getting to Millennium Skate World from Philly.I woke up early, and to be sure I'd be there on time, I decided to take an earlier NJ transit bus. I arrived at 11th and Market to find a sign on the bus stop directing me to 5th and Race. I raced over there. On the way, I noticed some city workers cleaning up a hundreds of paper cups that were littered on one of the cross streets. I arrived at 5th and Race and found an NJ transit worker. I spoke to him and he told me that there was a race earlier that morning so it threw the bus schedule off for NJ transit and Septa. But now the streets were clear and the buses were being diverted back to normal!! But no worries, he said, I'll get you on a bus to Camden for free. So I hopped on a bus that took me to the Camden transit center. I walked over to the bus stop for the 405, but it took awhile to arrive. Meanwhile, a bunch of sketchy guys kept hitting on me or bothering me for money. Some girl even came up to me! I was freaked out, but willing to wait for the bus (I have lived in Kensington after all) until I realized it was almost 11am. A cab pulled up and I hopped in. It whisked me over to MSW just in time.
The workshop was lovely. It was the first time I put on roller skates since I was about 8 or 9 years old. And it was certainly the first time I ever wore protective gear. My mom was always after me to wear knee and elbow pads with wrist guards, especially after I switched to roller blades, but of course I refused on the basis that kids who wear them look like dorks. Plus, I never fell, so what did I need them for? I wore a helmet while riding a bike until I turned 13 years old. In PA, it's the law to wear a helmet until you're a teenager. My mom wouldn't have let me get away with it, but one morning I was riding my bike to church, I passed a large bush. I ripped the helmet off and threw it into the center of it, then rode off. I don't remember what I told my mom about what happened, but I managed to convince her not to buy me another helmet.
But during the workshop today, I put on full protective gear - although not a helmet due to the shortage of them. I didn't mind wearing the gear since everyone else had it on, and I sure was glad I had it on when I fell a couple of times on my knees. They made it easy to pop back up. Actually, one of the rollergirls, said with surprise after I fell the first time, that I "fell like a rollergirl!" So even that was neat. Oh, I also learned how to perform a crossover going counter clockwise. I can do it going clockwise really easily, but have never been able to manage it counter clockwise due to my lefthandedness and right brainedness :) I was very proud of myself!
After the workshop, I got changed, left the building, and started walking toward the bus stop. I watched a mini cooper pass me, it reached the end of the block, stopped, and then backed all the way up to me. I looked over and saw that in it were two Philly Rollergirls. The driver was Butterfly Stitches, aka Anastasia. She had helped me with the plow stop during the workshop. I guess she remembered me from that? They offered me a ride back to Philly - guess it was obvious that I was going to try to catch the bus. How nice is that??
At the end, Face or someone warned us that we'd be sore later or the next day due to the intense workout, but I ended up riding my bike to Maresa's for a steak bbq for a late lunch. I guess it's due to all my usual biking that I didn't get too sore. Or perhaps it was due to all the protein in the meat that I ate.
