I walked the route (1.5 miles) to check for sticks, stones and other debris on the country road. Then, I adorned all protective gear, except the elbow pads (I forgot them) and hit the road. The downhill, half-mile slope made me gain way TOO much speed, even though I carved. Then, the uphill skate tested my conditioning. Happily, I'm in better shape than I thought. 😁 I did this hill twice. Would have completed it more times, but a dog decided to join me and was nipping at my skates. 😳

I was so excited to get home from work today to have my new sure grip skates oxfords waiting for me. I bought two sizes 8 and 9. The8 was right length but I had so much room in ball of foot and I had the ankle portion laced to touching and still loose.. I am a new skater who used to skate in the 80s. I m looking for a women’s narrow skate but not cheapies but not a thousand dollars either. Please help.

Feb 23, 2026. My crazy arm waving on these cross-pulls is my mistake and throwing off my balance. See my follow up correction videos where I fix that.