Greetings fellow LandRollers! Hope the New Year finds you happy and rolling on your MOJO’s.

One of the biggest items sold during the holiday season, besides skates, was safety pads. I wanted to take a moment and just advocate getting a good set of pads, either from us or somewhere else and WEAR THEM!

I am writing this blog with a reconstructed knee that I got about 15 years ago while not wearing my knee pads. I have been skating since I was 5, you would think I knew better. However I didn’t. Mainly because I didn’t think I would fall. You never do, until it happens. And then you have to deal with what an impact does to your bones.

On old fashioned quad-skates, if you fell, you fell on your butt. The reason for this is that the bottom of the wheels touch the ground at the base of your toes. So, when you fall forward, the toe stop touches down and you have a solid footing on the toe stop. However, the back wheels touch down in the middle of the heel, so when you tip back, you are on your way to your bottom.

Inline skates and LandRollers have wheels that touch down in the same place, the back of the heel, which helps prevent falling backwards, and the tip of the toes, which gives you more toe stability. However, when you start to fall, your instinct is to fall forward, going to your knees and putting your palms out. Kneecaps and wrist bones are not designed to come in contact with asphalt. Something needs to absorb the shock. This is where knee pads and wrist guards come in.

To sum up, be good to yourself and take the precautions that will keep you healthy, happy, and rolling.