Hi, there! Welcome to Raw Meat Vancouver Roller Skating, Clickbait Edition!

At Raw Meat, we’ll teach you to roller skate, and, while it sounds cheesy, it’s true: you will amaze yourself. Come join us on Saturday nights from 5-7 pm at Thunderbird Community Centre, 2311 Cassiar St., and see what you are capable of.

Scared to skate? That’s completely logical. Standing upright on wheels is freaking terrifying. I started roller-skating three years ago, and it was horrible. I’d never ice-skated, never rollerbladed, nothing. When I first strapped on skates, I could barely stand up. My brain could simply not process why I had strapped eight vicious death wheels to my feet. It was a couple of weeks before I skate without holding onto a wall. I kept having to sit down, fighting off panic attacks. But, gradually, I got better. And I discovered why people do it: it’s so much fun!

Some skills came fairly easy, some didn’t. I could snow plow just about right away, but learning t-stops took a couple of months. I couldn’t do a decent crossover for a good six months, maybe more. And yes, I fell down more times that I can count.

Now, after three years, I have a few skills. But, there are still skills I’m working on, and a few I might never master. Every body is different, and everyone will have skills that come naturally, and others that take more time. I’ve seen people who can barely stop suddenly bust out in perfect backwards crossovers, and people who can’t skate backward run on their toe stops like Ginger Rogers. It doesn’t really matter how good you are, or how quickly or slowly you progress. All that matters is, are you enjoying yourself?

Regardless of where you are on the continuum of total noob to holy-shizznit-that’s-amazing, just grab your roller skates and come on out and have some fun with us!

See you Saturday!

What to bring:

You must have roller skates, and all safety gear: kneepads, elbow pads, wrist guards, helmet, and mouth guard. The venue also requires everyone to use white or light-coloured, non-marking toe stoppers. If your kneepads are black, please cover them with white, non-marking hockey tape. Vertical strips of tape work best.

Sessions are $7, and take place every Saturday from 5-7 PM at Thunderbird Community Centre, 2311 Cassiar St., Vancouver, very close to Rupert Skytrain Station.

Sessions are drop-in. Just grab your gear and come join us!

Raw Meat has two rules: 1. Be Safe, 2. Don’t be an asshat. There is zero tolerance for breaking these rules.