Nickname: The Fonz (long story)

Age: 47

Marital Status: Happily Married

Have been skating for how long: Started skating with inline skates 20 or so years ago, but since then have gone through periods of more or less skating taking place on a consistent basis; currently I'm on a "less" cycle which is why none of you have met me yet :-)

Equipment Brand and Type: Rollerblade Aero's... old, but hardly ridden!

Life Philosophy: Life is short, and there's a lot of stupid in the world - enjoy or grow from every minute and tell the people you love, that you love them. You may not have another chance.

Favorite Time of Day to Skate: Afternoons when I'm done with work, either skating or mountain/road biking is a good transition for me from work to personal life.

Favorite Skating Events: Haven't done one in many years, so I'm gonna have to go with "moonlight skates/rides at the Veloway"

Awards / Competitive Wins: None, never skated competitively although I did win some mountain bike races years ago.

Most memorable incident / Biggest skating adventure:Memorable not because it's an exciting story, but just due to the sheer enjoyment I had: I worked in the oil field for a while (on land rigs) and once worked near the university in Lafayette, LA for a few months. They had a wide, smooth path around the campus that was designed for walking I believe, but no one ever used it so I started doing laps around it every other day. My form got to be better than it had ever been, my fitness level went through the roof, and I finished every day with a big grin on my face. Loved that time...

What do I get from skating: I love to move and love the outdoors - cycling, running (not any more), skating, hiking anything that keeps me active and gets me out from in front of a screen is good for me.

Would like to do this year in skating: Start again?

Coolest Accomplishment: Designed a software "robot" to perform a task that would have taken 106,000 HOURS of work for a human. At $30/hour which is on the low side for my company that's over 3 million dollars not spent... it took me 2 weeks to code. I think my job is safe for this year!

Other sports / hobbies you enjoy: gardening, racquetball, road & mountain biking, off-road running races (not big into road races anymore), swimming with my 3 year old b/c he's so fun!

Favorite skating gadget / tool: I don't have many gadgets or tools related to skating so I'm gonna have to go with the skates themselves; they allow me to fly!

Mentors:Oddly, most of my mentors were in the oil field. They weren't necessarily educated in the normal sense (but we did technical work not rough necking so they weren't dummies either), but some of them were full of wisdom. Although the job was dirty and isolating, I think I learned some key things about work, and self, in those years

What do you enjoy about being a member of HCIC:Supporting a sport that I still love, and wish would get the interest it deserves.

Helpful Advice to Beginners: wear pads & helmet, and when you fall look around to see if anyone saw you. If no one did, learn from it but don't tell anyone. If someone did, laugh it off and blame it on an errant rock on the path.

Favorite Quotes: "Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming "Wow! What a Ride!" - Hunter S. Thompson