So far I love falling.  Probably because it is the most natural physical thing a person can do other then breath.  Falling was also the first skill I felt comfortable completing, and now I look for any chance to do a 180 knee drag.  Really, its a rush for me.   But as much as I adore gravity tipping me over, there is nothing which compares to my obsession for practical application.  This weekend I got to put those suicide fall drills to use.

Grand Rapids is my second home.  Last weekend my husband, derby darling Hermione Gank'ya and I got to make the trip up there for a crazy birthday party for a few of our unrelated family members.  It meant missing one of the few practices I can take part in, but you know, you sacrifice for family.   Hermi and I look for any excuse to bring our skates whereever we go.  This trip freed up her weekend and allowed a few days off skates.  I need new wheels and Hermi owns a set of the Poisons I have been eying.  So it was decided, we HAD to bring our skates along, because I HAD to try out those wheels.  Because skating on the streets of Grand Rapids is a very accurate way to get the feel for new wheels . . . yes . . . exactly.

So on Sunday morning, while our teammates were sweating off a few pounds in an air-conditioning-less roller rink, Hermi and I laced up and took to the streets.  We were functioning on to much "orange juice" and to little sleep.  But the weather was brilliant, the traffic non-existent and to their credit the roads were slightly better then dirt.  Hermi was tearing it up, dancing along the asphalt, vaulting manhole covers.  I felt like I was riding a jack-hammer, it certainly shook me out of the post-party haze, and after a few minutes my feet mercifully went numb.   Once I felt more stable we began attacking side roads.

I often joke to friends unfamiliar with Roller Derby that it is much like NASCAR, full of left turns and crashes (But unlike NASCAR there is a point); so out in the open Grand Rapids air I savored skating in a straight line.  Breeze in my face, the strobe of trees shadows and the hum of an active city just getting moving in the morning.  It was a blending of warm, hazy memories and crisp sensations I will strive never to forget.

After trying out a few very bumpy streets, we found a smooth gem of a road which had escaped the torture of salt, winter and poor maintenance which pock-mark most of Michigan. Grand Rapids was carved from the stone by glaciers, so most streets have an incline, this one was no different.  We worked hard, pushing to get to the top.  However dangerous it may be my heart was racing with excitement over the coming decent.  More speed then I had ever been able to achieve on a rink was stretching downwards before me.  Judging by the gleam in Hermi's eye I am sure she was just a eager.  And we pushed off! Doing our best impressions of Apollo Anton Ohno we really began picking up speed.  There were far to many girlish giggles for women of our age, but it was to much fun.

As the road leveled we let our speed slowly drain away and gave a few smiling nods to three guy standing on the sidewalk who obviously had no idea what to make of people on roller skates.  It was then when gravity decided to stop giving me its gentle shoves Earthwards and punched me in the back.  I tipped forward, lost my balance and fell. . . right on my knees, keeping my hands in the air and letting my momentum carry me forwards!  A perfect Rock Star Fall!  I gave a "Woot!"  Who cares that I tripped, I fell correctly! (Thank goodness I had my knee pads on, or I would not have been shouting in glee) Practical application! Oh yes!

It ended up I hadn't tripped.  A wheel had flown off, with its bearings escaping like life-pods from the mothership.  I hobbled to the grass, under the bemused stares of the guys on the sidewalk, took off my skates and jogged back in my socks.  Over all a very exhilarating morning.