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Davis Junction doctor pursues his speed skating passion - Rockford Register Star

Sure, there were skating parties in Retzer’s childhood, but his true love affair with skates didn’t come until he was in his 30s with young daughters at home. Then, he bought Rollerblades for himself and his daughter.

“Something clicked in me,” he said.

It wasn’t long before Retzer’s competitive side weighed in, and he began doing inline speed skating competitions. He trains with the Rockford Road Scholars and has competed for the past 20 years in places from Minnesota to Georgia. Some races are marathon-length.

Others are nearly 100 miles over hilly courses.

In good weather, Retzer skates daily and logs about 2,000 miles a year. He’s been clocked as fast as 43 miles an hour.

I found the link to this article pondering about do what you love and all that over on an inline instruction email list, and they were joking about running away with the circus, so I should credit them for the idea of my title, too! I never found any video of Katie Ketchum in Cirque du Soleil, but I found two nice ones of her burning up with some sweet style on one of her favorite indoor street courses...She seems to focus on intricate, precise landings, but can pop a spin (see 0:52 or so). Mostly though it's less rotational and more flowing moves with stylish finishes...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icfC53VJ7pE

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It's the helmet debate. I read this article to see if my thoughts might be changed. They were not. My thoughts are not based on numbers, but on my increasing belief over the years based on my experiences, mainly my failures if you'd like to think of them that way, but I think they were accidents far less under my control than I believed only seconds before, all in apparently very safe conditions. This doesn't make me right, but it makes me convinced. 

I'm glad to support specialized exercising opportunities, since I engage in a fringe sport, but sometimes I simply fail to understand. I do understand wanting to skate with your child, if they're on skates and you are too, and they are skating and not tethered to you.

I'm not sure what seems so great about skating while pushing a stroller. Certainly this is not an experience the child would see as any different, so it is for the parent. That's not bad, as long as it's safe, and that's not up to me to decide. So I support it but don't get it. 

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