Today was a public holiday in South Australia, 'Adelaide Cup Day' to be precise. Hence, a Monday to rest and recuperate from what was a pretty draining week last week. By late afternoon, the few things that absolutely needed to be done around the house had been, so it was on with the inlines and out onto the road.
Earlier, the missus had enquired about whether I was going ice skating today (something I often do on public holidays) and I, after a moment's hesitation, said 'no'. Perhaps to her surprise, and mine, I am sticking to my 'plan'. It would have been easy to also decide to not go for an inline skate (the body's tired, it's humid and warm, I've reached the level in inline hockey I see as the minimum for enjoyment, I can do it tomorrow, etc). It came down to being stubborn and getting the skates etc on and heading out, regardless of what I felt.
What made it a little easier to do was my decision to go for a skate along linear park (a network of trails following Adelaide's only 'river', the Torrens) rather than down the primary school for drills. I look at my river skates as being about recreation rather than 'improvement', skating for skating's sake. Like I used to do with my bike once upon a time. Good move. I even put on my fluoro yellow tank top in case I went further than usual and came back in the gloom.
For the first kilometre, even though it's the easiest kilometre, my body was regretting my decision. My legs ached, mental energy was relatively low, skates required a bit of concentration. Then I eased up and was soon cruising - just in time to make the decision to take the 'long' route (5-6km) over the short one (2-3km). And then, when I got to my usual turning point to loop around to come back the other side of the river, I started to wonder where the trail went if I kept following it. So, follow it I did.
And ended up going through an area I've never been in before along paths and tracks never before travelled by me. At one point in the mazing network of bike paths, busways, bridges, rivers and parks I was begining to think that I'd absolutely no idea which way to go next to get home when I fortuitously spotted an old faded sign painted on the trackway indicating the way. It was pointing in a direction that my internal compass would have sworn was wrong, but I followed it anyway and ended up getting home about an hour after departure. Endorphin high followed. Mission accomplished. It will be easier to skate tomorrow (I think back to puck and stick) than it was today. All good fun. All good.
The highlight today was just after I decided to go into new and uncharted territory, with the little doubt in the mind about the wisdom of it all. Coming the other way on the track were four kids, probable ages 7-10. They had their fishing gear with them (coulda been me a few decades ago). As I approached in the power stride, the second kid called our "High Five, Mister?", sticking his hand out as he did so. He gave me enough time to process events, so I slapped as I went by. The kids behind also had their hands out, so it was a bit like getting a goal! Especially as I heard their whoops of glee behind me as I powered on into the unknown.
An omen. Good skate.
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