So on my first day at the new job I saw a guy riding a pair of very weird skates. I had no idea what they were called, or how the hell did he even make them move at all. However, his movement was very calm and graceful, which made me very intrigued with the whole thing. A couple of days later, I’ve met another guy, Mike, who was finally able to shine the light at the origin of these babies:

They are called Freeline skates, and they were invented in San Francisco by a guy named Ryan Farrelly some time in 2003. According to Mike, he has personally meet Ryan a couple of months before and invited him to come to Pixar and teach people how to ride the Freelines. Ryan took up Mike on that offer, and that’s how many people at work ended up with these strange skates.

I didn’t even have to ask, and Mike offered me to try the Freelines out. We went into the parking lot, and to my utter disappointment, I couldn’t even move a meter. In fact, it was even hard to keep balance in the first place. Me feet kept rolling apart. I kept falling of the skates. It was pretty much a disaster.

Reluctant to give up, I asked Mike if he could let me borrow his Freelines for the weekend, so that I can really try to make something happen. He agreed, and as the result today I had my first real tackle at these gnarly inventions.

To better prepare my self for a day of learning, I watched Ryan Farrelly’s instructional video on YouTube. According to him, you can learn the trick in 3 easy steps. Let’s see how easy it really is. Mike told me that it took him around a month to really get comfortable with Freelines.

I also watch this trick video to really pump myself up:

After watching all these videos, I made my way to the park on the top of Nob Hill nearby Grace Cathedral. I found a nice slight downhill on the edge of the park with a long rail that I could use to hold myself. I spent about 3 hours trying to make myself move without holding the rail. Finally, after almost 4 hours since my first attemp, I was able to make it happen. I rolled downhill with the greastest sense of accomplishment. It was magical.

I figured at it was enough for the first day, and I decided to go home. Plus, it was getting kinda cold and foggy. San Fracisco weather doesn’t dissapoint . I can’t wait until tomorrow and make some more progress. I will aslo try to videotape the fun. Stay tuned!