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January Skater of the Month

Name: Peter Benford

Age: Not yet 80

Marital Status: Married

Skating Since: 1939, off and on

Equipment: Powerslide boots with Venom Frames and 100mm wheels, borrowed from a friend.

Peter Photo
Life Philosophy: Let it happen. In principle it�s totally simple; in practice impossibly complicated. People controlled and directed by their likes and dislikes are busy going nowhere. Everybody -- no exceptions � deserves respect. (You don�t have to like them) I see my ability to respect all others as the measure of my own self respect. See poem, below.
Favorite Time of Day to Skate: If I had such, it would be the last two hours or so of daylight, then one more lap (couple of miles) in the dark, provided the night is clear and the weather favorable.
Favorite Skating Event: A bunch of guys and girls cruising around together, maybe doing winter night, or Christmas lights, looking forward to social dinner, telling stories (who you calling a liar??) and like that. Half marathons are good too.
Awards: Me? You GOT to be kidding. I will say though, if competition is restricted to good hearted games, searching for excellent performance and not for beating some other(s), I�ll go for it. If you can drum up some folks my age and state of awareness...
Most Memorable Skate: Going about a mile, at age about nine, (when skates clamped on to your street shoes) hanging on the back bumper of a car of that period in history, then having one of my wheels collapsing, requiring me to skate on one skate, with the broken one resting on top of the rolling one. It was more or less residential area, but with traffic lights, plenty of traffic and some definitely speedy areas. Nobody seemed to notice me; my friend (we started together...) dropped off at the first light when he realized there were cars running quite close behind us. My unaware drafter pulled me through quite a lot of green lights and I wasn�t about to let go at speed; so I hung grimly for about a mile before a friendly red one showed up. It was nothing really. I didn�t even bother to tell my dad.
Why Skate?: I have always enjoyed being in motion. I loved to (ballroom) dance as a child (didn�t care about picking up the chicks) I love most of the sports I have wasted more or less all of my money on, but have no real talent for winning. I have plenty of trophies for tennis, table tennis, running hurdles, etc. and I�ve done a ton of scuba diving, including gold prospecting in the Sacramento river. I had a definite chance of �farm team� professional soccer. Without any discussion at all, my first love is skiing. Love that deep powder! And since I see no snow, not even significant bumps in the terrain around here, I skate.
Skating Goal This Year: Well, assuming I don�t find the chance to be swooping down through the snowy canyons (in Utah), I hope to stay alive. Plus get out there, with or without the skaters I care about � you guys � and those I�ve yet to meet -- an even more sexy selection? Who knows?
Coolest Accomplishment: Really nothing, on skates. But I explored a many a highspeed mile in fighter aircraft, by the kindness of the British and Canadian taxpayers; and that�s a whole other book yet not written. Other sports/hobbies you enjoy: See above. But poetry is my latest love and it commands me. If I can possibly be the sayso, there will be a book.
Favorite Skating Gadget/Tool: Well my helmet, of course! Wouldn�t be without it.
Mentors: Had I the sense to seek mentors, back in the day, I�d probably be too important to pal around with you guys. Could still be quite friendly perhaps, but not the same...
Helpful Advice to Beginning Skaters: Look me up.
Favorite Quote: I�ll give you a poem instead:

What You See

Though piously I may say:
�These are my moments, this is my day
My work is my pleasure, my tools are my toys�
Blah blah! Is that music or just pompous noise?

Am I reaching for that which is deep within �
To my true Self now really awakening?
When the inner light shines, though be it but dim
Then the journey home can begin

I am what I am, I continue to grow
Sometimes, I grant you, it�s pitifully slow
It�s a tired old adage and yet
It�s true; what you see is what you get

In the ongoing process of growing
What you see is all there is there
And when, in frustration, you demand more
Well, you�re just grabbing at air

I am what I am that's all there is there
If you demand more you�re just grabbing at air
I frequently fall and land hard on the ground
But take me or leave me, don't jack me around

What can be done is to keep pushing on
Little by little gain ground
Until at some point, turn around
Observe we�re not moving ahead
Realize that we�re dead...

   At that juncture we will revise our strategy