Speaker 1: 0:09

Hey there, welcome to how Do you Skate, the ultimate destination for all skating enthusiasts. We cater to everyone, from beginners to pros, whether you love inline and ice skating or prefer quads and skateboarding, we have it all covered, and we bring you exclusive interviews with professionals, talented amateurs and influencers in the industry.

Speaker 2: 0:39

So sit back, relax and get ready for an exciting journey into the world of skating. Welcome to this week's episode of how Do you Skate. I'm your host, sean Egan, and tonight's guest is also my friend, jared Moneo. So how are you doing, sir?

Speaker 3: 0:52

I am doing absolutely fantastic, thank you. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 2: 0:55

You're welcome. So let's get to the beginning. When did your skating start? How old were you?

Speaker 3: 1:02

Sure, sure I was. Wow, yeah, yeah, I was seven years old, uh, and I learned how to skate out of sheer. Terror for one, but but jealousy as well. Um, and of course now I'm gonna have to tell you the story. Um, I don't know how much time we have, but, um, as much as we need make a long story short. Um, third grade, I believe it was. Uh, we went for a skate outing for school. Well, I was jazzed, because you know me in third grade and the gym teacher we're gonna get married, right. So I had this like little crush on the gym teacher.

Speaker 3: 1:46

One of my favorite song came on. I looked out on the on the floor and I hadn't gone on the floor the whole session. I stayed on the outside in a snack bar playing pinball machines. I would not get on the floor because I didn't want to be embarrassed by falling Right. So jam comes on. I look at all my friends are out there skating with my future wife, my gym teacher, and so I'm like no, no, no, no, no, no, no. So I got out there on the floor and out of sheer, I didn't, I couldn't fall. There was no way I could fall. So and I didn't, and I kind of shoved them out of the way and I held the teacher's hand and we skated off into the sunset. Them out of the way and I held the teacher's hand and we skated off into the sunset. And, as they say, the rest is history. I took to skating immediately. My mom bought me my first pair of skates the next weekend and here I am 50 years later.

Speaker 2: 2:36

Okay Now, did she get you like most of us started off with, with the metal wheels, or did you have like real skates no I have metal wheels or did you have like real skates?

Speaker 3: 2:50

no, I have. No, I I did skate on some of those, but no they were real skates, they were.

Speaker 2: 2:52

Yeah, those metal wheel ones were brutal. You, you hit the slightest little thing and you go flying oh, it was horrible.

Speaker 3: 2:58

And then your feet would go to sleep too from the vibration of the asphalt and whatnot. Oh yeah, it was. They were horrible, horrible absolutely so.

Speaker 2: 3:06

Now, how often after that? First thing, because when you said the rest is history, I thought you were going to tell us you married your teacher.

Speaker 3: 3:11

So no, you know that never came to fruition. We just we didn't see eye to eye. Okay, never mind.

Speaker 2: 3:19

Um no I totally got the joke.

Speaker 3: 3:21

All right, no, I went. I basically the skating rink was a babysitter for my mom. Ok, bless her heart. She, she worked two jobs and it was me and my little sister. I took care of her and we discovered the skating rink, actually discovered us, and my mom just dropped us off. She'd drop us off, give us 10, 20 bucks and we'd be there like all day, every session, from 10 o'clock in the morning till six to eight o'clock at night.

Speaker 3: 3:52

Um this and it was, you know, all weekend, a couple of nights a week. Um, I joined the speed team, um, that was a lot of fun, learned a lot there, and then I just got in the whole dancing thing and, yeah, here I am, started coaching. I started my coaching and instructing career late, like just three, four years ago, um, competing and things. So I had already been skating more than any human should, um, before I started really getting serious with it.

Speaker 2: 4:24

Any human should before I started really getting serious with it. Yeah, Now did you grow up in Colorado?

Speaker 3: 4:28

No, I grew up outside of Chicago, in Aurora, illinois.

Speaker 2: 4:33

Actually is where.

Speaker 3: 4:34

I grew up.

Speaker 2: 4:40

And what was the skating culture like growing up?

Speaker 3: 4:41

Because it's kind of cool to get like the history of skating in different areas. Yeah, so, where I lived, um, we were very diverse. Um, there was, I can remember, one night, um, it was very rock and roll, pop music, if you will, back then, um, and then I remember the good nights, um, were were mostly, you know, people of color, if you will, I don't know. Those were the best nights because it was disco, it was R&B, it was a lot of Motown, a lot of JB, a lot of dancing, and I was just overwhelmed with joy when I saw this. I'm like, wait a second. The other night, the night before, everybody just skated around real fast. What is this? This is awesome, I have got to get into this. So, um, that's when, you know, um, I, as soon as I got to age 14, 15, 16, my mom would let me drive, so I would drive to areas that my mom would never even go in to go skating, and it upset her.

Speaker 3: 5:53

She was a little freaked out by it. But I'm like, ma, you know, I get along with everybody. Um, I'm learning, I'm getting better. And then she, you know, met some of my friends, you know, and it was awesome, it was just a big. I learned really, really early on about community. Yeah, um, and what that means, especially in our sport. Um, you know that's part of the whole style thing is community, you know skating together.

Speaker 2: 6:21

So yeah, and that's the one thing that I always loved about skating is, if you skated, it wasn't really all that dangerous, unless you did like the street skating and jumped over cars and stuff but for the most part, I can go to the roller rink and I can feel safe and I've said before, like you don't have cops sitting outside the roller rink waiting for you to leave, like you do bars, so yeah, it's a lot safer.

Speaker 2: 6:46

And it's just. It's always been like an amazing community and I think I met you probably what a year ago.

Speaker 3: 6:53

I think it's been about a year or so ago, yeah.

Speaker 2: 6:55

Yeah, and it's just like and that's the one thing I've loved about the skating community out here is that just everybody's so welcoming, even to new people, cause I've seen you out there and people want to learn something and you teach them and so oh yeah, that's what it's all about.

Speaker 3: 7:09

You know and style skate together. You learn excellence, it's, it's. You know, I do have a program. You know that people pay for it, so you can basically beginners, but they learn soon, they teach them their skills and then they're ready to go to sessions. And then, once they get there and now the intimidation level has come way down because they've learned some of these steps then they can go to the middle. They can start asking people hey, how do you do that? Can you show me that? And then they just start learning by watching everybody else. And everybody is so welcoming, everybody is eager to teach. So, yeah, I tell people all the time don't be afraid, there is. No, there shouldn't. I understand the intimidation, but we all had to learn Exactly.

Speaker 2: 8:01

We've all been there and we want you to skate because we want you to come back and be our friend and have a great time yeah, so yeah, I think the biggest fear that people, because even my girlfriend will tell me she doesn't want to fall, so I think that's like the biggest fear and it's funny because the guy that taught me, the first thing he did was teach me how to fall and then he kept knocking me over until I was comfortable with falling.

Speaker 3: 8:27

But it's like I hear that all the time, man, and you know I I learned how to fall. Do you know how many times I've actually fell correctly? I can probably count on my hand, you know, because it's one of those things you're going and you're you're focused on what you're doing and then things just happen quick and I guess I'm just slow with the two broken necks, the signal doesn't travel, I don't know, but I usually end up on crutches or out for a week or something.

Speaker 2: 9:01

So now, did the broken necks happen from skating?

Speaker 3: 9:05

no, no, they did not one. Uh. So I was into some extreme sports when I was a little younger, okay, and um one happened snowmobiling. We were filming some footage for a movie and I broke my neck, and then the second one was at work, um just a couple years ago oh, that sucks, I sucks, I don't want your job. Yeah, no, it sucked it did. I don't recommend it to anybody really.

Speaker 2: 9:30

Yeah, go ahead.

Speaker 3: 9:33

I think I told you the story of how I learned how to G-slide.

Speaker 2: 9:36

I don't think you have. Oh my gosh, go ahead, should we go? Into that, or is?

Speaker 3: 9:44

that coming. So I'm, I'm on the couch for three months with a broken XC collar. I'm I got myself in a nice comfortable position watching movies and stuff. Well, I decided to watch some skate videos one day. Now I have been trying to learn G slide by watching others right Skating together and I just couldn't get it. I couldn't understand it. So my skate hero, um Reggie Dillon, and St Louis juice I I came across a seven part instructional video on how to do the G slide and I watched that and it was amazing. Reggie is explains everything really good. He's a he should be an instructor and he's not. He's. He's my favorite skater in the whole world.

Speaker 3: 10:38

But as soon as I realized, or as soon as I learned, that it's a six count step, I hit, I was on it. I'm like, oh my gosh, I get it now, once I can count. You know, make it a count, then it's a little easier. So, uh, I got on the bus cause I couldn't drive. I hopped the bus into Frisco, went into Walmart, I got myself one of those, um, those extendable shower curtain rods Okay, right, and I brought it home and I put it in the kitchen in between, um, uh, the counters, the counter and the refrigerator I think is what it was it's small kitchen and I got it real tight and I got me a chair and I sat down in a chair, I put my skates on and I held onto that bar and I learned how to G slide in my C collar with a broken neck, um, cause I just couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't, just I was sitting there, it was. It was probably at this point about 10 weeks. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 11:35

Um, and I've been sitting with no skating and and you know me, I mean, I skate six days a week. Um 10, 10 weeks. It's like, oh, I'm gonna die. So, yeah, I, that's one of my favorite stories. I learned g slide in my kitchen with a broken neck in my pajamas too, but um, so that, that, that was fun, that was fun so yeah, I take that now and I I just I want everybody to know it.

Speaker 3: 12:01

it's my favorite step and everybody loves it and we get more and more people doing it. It's great.

Speaker 2: 12:07

Yeah, it's funny how many times we hear excuses, but with some of the stuff I've been through and the stuff you've been through and we still show up to skate is kind of and we're older than a lot of the people that make the excuses.

Speaker 3: 12:20

We are, we are, we are. I just got news today that I am now an urgent candidate for bilateral hip replacements. I just got that phone call today, so hopefully in the next few months I can get that done.

Speaker 2: 13:24

And I'm just going to let our audience know, it's not from skating.

Speaker 3: 13:29

No, heavens no, no, probably not.

Speaker 2: 13:32

We don't want to scare them away too quickly, right right, right, no, no, it's no.

Speaker 3: 13:37

Actually, I feel better when I skate yeah um, it's when I'm walking and lifting and stuff at work is when it really bothers me. But when I get on my skates, um, it's just different. You know, I get more of the side to side rather than forward and backward movement of my, of my legs. So it it, it it's not so bad, um, but you know, if we get into a lot of um, you know twisting, you know a lot of hip action stuff, you know I I go home pretty sore. But it's skating man, you just do it. I mean, even if I have to be putting a body cast, at least put some trucks on my feet, you know or at least on the backside, so we can push you around you know, plaster them in there.

Speaker 3: 14:17

You know it's just. You know you got. I gotta be able to roll so exactly skaters now you said you did the speed team.

Speaker 2: 14:25

Like was that before?

Speaker 3: 14:26

you started to get into the jam skating. That was way before, way before I started at seven. So I must have been eight, nine and ten years old. I can remember because 11 is that horrible trip to Arizona For about four years. There I was on the speed team and I did pretty good, but I was really really small. I was always the shortest kid in school, so I was really really really small. But I could move my feet real fast, um, so I was pretty quick. But if I got into more than um, I can't remember the distances we did back then, um, but a longer distance I, they just ate me up cause they're long strides, you know. So that only lasted a short while, um. And then, you know, I also rode motorcycles then as well. So I did a lot of motorcycling, a lot of skating. I did take a couple of years off. I, you know, had to do the dad thing, you know. But but no, it's always been, it's always been a part of me.

Speaker 2: 15:28

Nice. Now you mentioned a horrible trip to Arizona. Do you want to elaborate on that? Oh yeah, no, no, no, no, no, no, we're not going to get into that. That's not state related.

Speaker 3: 15:41

Let me just tell you city slickers from outside of Chicago going out to the desert in Arizona to go camping for a summer, you can work out too well. Did not work out well, no, no you don't exactly have scorpions in chicago no scorpions. We have the scorpions, but not scorpions.

Speaker 2: 16:04

Yeah right, right, nice. And then so you said like 14, 15, you started, uh, with like the jam skating really getting into, you know.

Speaker 3: 16:16

You know we didn't. I don't even think we called it jam skating back there. You know it was just rhythm skating and dancing and rexing, you know shuffling and whatnot.

Speaker 2: 16:25

That's what I do, it as rexing.

Speaker 3: 16:27

Yeah, yeah, that's old school stuff. I've always known it as shuffling, you know, because there's so many different styles of shuffling, you know, for each region of the United States it kind of has their own little thing, but the whole rhythm skating thing, just, you know, for the longest time it was an individual thing and the way I grew up and you know my, my history and things like that it it really helped me with my confidence and my self-esteem and it was something that I could do. However, I wanted to do it. You know there weren't any rules. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 17:09

And, um, I dug that and it kept my mind busy and watching the big kids do it and then trying to do it myself. It was just a great confidence builder growing up. When jam skating came out like break dancing on skates man, I lost my mind because I was a break dancer in the mid 80s when it was really popular. I danced with the crew. I lived in Denver then and trying to convert it to skates did not go real well, so I never really thought about it. And then I saw you know James about it. And then I saw you know, uh, james, uh, what is it james? Is it wilson or who's the? Who's the jam skate academy guy down in florida kiss me, florida, I don't know, I can't remember. I think he anyway. Anyway, he really brought jam skating to light. Um, Um, that kind of it was like grunge music in the music industry.

Speaker 3: 18:17

Jam skating came out. It's like what is that? So I went through that whole thing too. Um, that was a lot of fun, Um, and I think that might've been where my knees started going, oh, cause that's a lot of a lot of stuff going on, but it was a lot of fun. And now you know, I, I as I got in my thirties and forties you know I was still doing it, just not as much. Um, then you get into your fifties and then you break your neck and it's. It's slowed me down a little bit, you know, but I still have all the passion that I had from day one. I still feel every time I'm driving to the rink here in just about an hour, you know I'll be heading to the rink. Which one Going to? Aurora tonight. Westminster for me tonight.

Speaker 3: 19:10

I haven't been doing a lot of skating here lately. We've been going through a little personal storm. Um so, and you know, with my physical condition I just haven't skated a whole bunch. Um, I'm down to like once a week maybe and it's kind of nice. I'm getting some things done and getting healed up a little bit. Um, you know, friday night, why not? You know I have my. Let's see if we can get her on here. There's my little baby. Aw.

Speaker 3: 19:45

Right there. So yeah, I've been hanging out with her at night. Oh, she's going to say hello.

Speaker 2: 19:50

Say hi, she's probably trying to figure out my face.

Speaker 3: 19:53

Yeah, that's Zoe. And so we had to give up her brother this past week to Jantel, and so I've just been kind of hanging out with her. We've been having a lot of fun I mean getting a lot of motorcycle racing watched and it's been good. I can't wait to get out there tonight.

Speaker 2: 20:11

Nice, now, which is your favorite rink? Because I know, because you teach at the Wagon Wheel right For four more weeks. Yes, okay, so which is one of your favorite rinks, or? What you're in trouble, yeah.

Speaker 3: 20:28

Here in Colorado. Well, that's a loaded question, man, I'm not trying to get you in trouble.

Speaker 3: 20:39

Even with my history, our history, skate City and I have quite the history and it's still ongoing. However, I skate at Skate City four nights a week. Yeah, I respect the owner immensely, immensely. I have nothing but the utmost respect for him. Um, the floor, floor wise, you know, wagon wheel has the best floor in the state period. Um, it's, it goes without saying, everybody knows it. Um, as as far as vibes go, you know, friday night, sunday night, used to be my favorite night. Yeah, and um, it's, it's, it's our premier adult night here in Denver. Um, but I I'm finding Fridays are a little less chaotic. Okay, um, and it, it's, it's just a really good vibe. The music pops, you know, we got dj dough boy. Um, he's a great dj. Um, we've got some fantastic skaters, um, that come out on friday night. They come out on sunday too, um, but sunday's been getting a little chaotic. Um, the etiquette, you know, and that's, that's probably another topic for another podcast, I don't know.

Speaker 2: 21:57

I don't want to get myself in trouble. I don't want to get myself in trouble now, and that's the funny thing is like we're a skating community, so we should be supporting each other and not not getting that, absolutely we do.

Speaker 3: 22:10

We do need to support each other, we need to teach each other. Yeah, and that's where my program came in and that was one of the things you know, when I sat down with skate city and they were really excited to have the program in there, that was kind of one of the things that I brought up was, you know, this program also will teach people some etiquette. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 22:29

Um, there's a lot to learn while you're out there on hands training type thing. But I think just simply, if people, some certain people, would just kind of let people know hey, we do that kind of stuff in the middle.

Speaker 3: 22:47

Yeah, Um or, you know, be aware of your surroundings. I don't mind the sitting on the wall, I don't mind that at all. I think it's really exciting rushing by while they're sitting there and they get a rush too. Um, but doing your line dancing and your dance moves there on the wall is dangerous, yep. And then if somebody's 10, 15 feet out from you videoing um is very dangerous, especially when, like, blow the whistles playing and people are coming around that corner at 100 miles an hour, it gets dangerous and I have a problem with that. You know, um, we've had this discussion before, um, you know there are people who don't come out skating because, you know they fear for their life yeah um, and that's not right.

Speaker 3: 23:38

We need to build skaters, not scare them away exactly so friday night's my night. Um, I can't wait to get out there tonight. Um, I'm hoping to get some ballroom in tonight. We haven't done much ballroom around here lately.

Speaker 2: 23:56

Well, it's funny because the song blow the whistle. A lot of people don't know that too short. Used to go skate all the time. Oh yeah, oh yeah, like he would be at the roller rink with us because I'm from the Bay area.

Speaker 3: 24:11

So, yeah, yeah, no that rap music in general, rap artists in general, that's where they. That was for a long time back in the day. The only place they could rap and have their gigs was at a roller rink yeah um, so yeah, no, a lot of these guys are rollers og rollers, not new ones yeah, exactly a lot of the new artists. Today they're taking up skating because it's really really cool yeah and it looks good in videos oh, yeah, oh, absolutely yeah.

Speaker 3: 24:38

Um, there's some amazing um artists out there who have just now started skating and they're getting it and I love watching it, man, I love seeing it. You know, um, they put the, they put the work in, you know, and they want to learn and they have to master the craft. I mean, they're rap artists, you know. They have a lot on the line.

Speaker 2: 24:57

So to watch them put the work in, man, that's awesome because they don't have to yeah exactly um I was gonna say the nice thing about, like jam skating or artistic skating, the style that you do where I do the speed skating. So we have rules and that kind of stuff where what you guys can accomplish same thing with figure skaters or, you know, skateboarding or freestyle you guys don't have limits to what you can do. No, so just your imagination, yeah, and new things being invented all the time and it cracks me up when someone says, oh, I know how to do everything.

Speaker 3: 25:34

I'm like really no, there's no such thing, man. There's no such thing exactly. And that came, that became. I had a very humbling experience here a couple years ago when I started coaching artistic. I was an apprentice coach with skate city and I um studied, if you or worked under one of the most amazing skaters I've ever met, and she was a world competitor and an amazing coach. But coming from a rhythm background, I always viewed artistic skating, as you know, for the nerds. You know oh, you guys can't really skate, so you got to do this and then I'd watch you know, little girls do figures when I was young and go oh my gosh, are you kidding? That is so silly, how easy is that? Up until I was a two year I guess it's been three years now I remember getting on that figure circle in my low-cut speed skates because that's all I had and that's all I've skated in. Right, I couldn't do it I. I couldn't hold an inside edge on figure number two. I've been skating for 48 years and I can't go.

Speaker 3: 26:51

figure number two um, that's when I, you know, she told me about how the plates work and the boots and what have you. So I did some studying and I, you know, I threw down some coin on some skates because they were a tool for me. If I'm going to be coaching and competing, I need to learn this stuff. And artistic skating is the most hardcore roller skating I've ever done. I've done Derby, I've done speed. I've been a skater for 50 years. Artistic skating is the most hardcore skating I've ever done. It's not for everybody. It is not easy. It's not as easy as they make it look. Not easy. It's not as easy as they make it look. Um, I coached eight year old girls that do things that I was just now learning how to do Um, so it was very humbling but I learned so much.

Speaker 3: 27:47

It helped me with my rhythm, skating, um, and dancing and things. I took so much from there that I can now teach to others and it makes sense because of that coach that I had she, she, in my opinion and I'll say it right here in your podcast so that everybody knows and hopefully there's a lot of people listening Erin Gaber is the authority on roller skating. In my opinion, anything that has to do with roller skating, she would be my go-to. We don't talk right now for some silly reasons, but I learned so much from her and it opened my eyes. It helped me extend my imagination with roller skating because I learned edging. You know, I didn't know what edging was. I thought it was, you know, some kinky thing that we did, but no, that's a, that's, that's skating dude. Yeah, and it was like wow, what a difference the skates make a difference in the edge pressure and things like that. I learned so much, um, and I'm so grateful to have that time with skate city and aaron um hi, aaron for this we'll get her to listen.

Speaker 2: 29:10

So now, what exactly is edging?

Speaker 3: 29:15

edging, edging. You got inside and outside edges on your wheels, okay, on your skates, um, we can produce great power through our edging. Through edging, um, I I knew I was doing it when I was getting, but I didn't know what it was when I, when I was taught what it does and why it happens you know that your cushions, it's all physics it made a lot of sense to me and I was able to use that knowledge and do everything I've been doing do it different and do it better, do it more efficient, to give me a little more time, to give me a little more energy, roller skiing we can go on for hours. You know how I go on.

Speaker 2: 30:01

Exactly. That's why you're a perfect guest.

Speaker 3: 30:04

It is the most beautiful sport I've ever had the honor of doing. I mean it's. There is no limit, there is no right or wrong. You know there are no fouls. You know there are no penalties, there's no score to keep. You know there's no winning, there's no losing, it's just striving forward and I've seen it with my students. It carries over in life. You know, in every aspect of life, whether it be school, whether it be work, whether it be family, whether it be a death in the family I had a gal. That's another story, but it is a very emotional physical and mental sport.

Speaker 3: 30:55

It's very spiritual for me personally, but I've heard it from a ton of my students as well that it it's a great escape. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 31:01

It doesn't solve problems, of course, Right, we don't. I don't want to hear anybody use roller skating as an excuse to. Well, it didn't fix my problem. Well, no, it's not going to fix your problem, but it lets you process it, maybe a little different. You know, get your mind off of the actual stress and the anxiety of it and think about it as you're using your mind, being creative. You know, it's just a beautiful sport and I will do anything I can, um to prolong the sport. Um, the owner of skate city, his main mission right now is to get it an Olympic sport. Um, and it's not for any kind of glory, it's just to sustain the sport forever. You know, and you hear it everybody who's listening here why isn't it an Olympic sport? I don't know. I don't know.

Speaker 2: 31:49

I I mean, we got break dancing already, we got break dancing in the olympics now.

Speaker 3: 31:54

So yeah yeah well, I think that was a trial. I don't know if we're gonna do it again or not, but australia made a mockery of it.

Speaker 2: 32:01

I'm just gonna say, well, yeah unfortunately, that's the only.

Speaker 3: 32:06

Were they the only? Because I didn't see any other breakdancing in the Olympics. There was. I didn't watch the Olympics.

Speaker 2: 32:13

There was other breakdancers but, because of Ray Gunn or whatever, she stole all the spotlight and she got like a zero.

Speaker 3: 32:21

Right, right. No, that was absolutely horrible. I was excited, I was excited that it was there because it is a sport, your heart rate increases. It's a sport. Yeah. So that would have been cool, but why roller skating isn't is beyond me.

Speaker 2: 32:38

And there's like so many different variations because we got speed skating, figure skating and hockey in the. Olympics for the winter. So I mean, and you just translate that to summer, you can put in derby, because that would be really fun. Let out aggressions on other countries.

Speaker 3: 32:57

Derby keeps score, there's a time limit, there are a bunch of rules. I refed derby for a little bit A lot of rules. You know that could definitely be a huge sport actually. I think. I think that would be very popular actually. Yeah, and it is growing.

Speaker 2: 33:15

I found out one of the guests I had on is actually they have a roller derby team in my hometown and this is where I grew up skating and didn't even know we had a derby team, wow so it's just, it's one of those sports and there's a lot here in denver yeah, there are there's quite a few clubs here, cheyenne, so it's one of those sports and there's a lot here in Denver.

Speaker 3: 33:32

Yeah, there are. There's quite a few clubs here, cheyenne. It's exciting. It's not your dad's roller derby anymore, but it's exciting man. It's really exciting Once you learn the rules and know what's going on. It's cool man.

Speaker 2: 33:43

Yeah, and I think that's why the X Games has a lot of skating in it. So I think that's why, like the, X games has a lot of skating in it. So I think that kind of maybe, but like if you can make the X games and place in the X games and you're ready for the Olympics, that's all I'm saying. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 33:56

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You know, and that you know. That's interesting though too. You know that park skating. You know they used inlines. They actually used quads in the pipe years ago. I remember seeing some people still do, they do, and I am amazed by that. Now I can go to a park and I can do, like the snake thing you know, back and forth, I don't drop in. I can do it on my bmx bike, I I can't do it on skates or I won't do it on skates. It's just weird to me. Um, so when I see people doing it, dude, I cheer, I, I hoot and holler, because it's something that I, I'm sure is psychological.

Speaker 3: 34:37

Um, because I know how to do it yeah I think my brain just keeps me from doing it, to try to stay safe, stay in one piece. But um, you know it's, it's just another one, another aspect of skating, you know, and again, there, there's no limit, there's no limit. It's a little more dangerous, but um, as long as you're padded up though as. Long as you're padded up yeah, yeah, I'm not.

Speaker 3: 35:06

I won't be out there anytime soon. I I went and saw a couple of competitions here in Denver and it was. It was just mind blowing, absolutely Mind blowing. They were doing stuff that I would. I would never, ever attempt in a park. Just craziness and that's all.

Speaker 2: 35:24

But because of some of the stuff that I do, cause I was planning on doing Derby, but because of some of the medications I'm on, I can't take that risk of so yeah, so it's like a lot of it got limited for me, which kind of sucks, cause I was playing rink hockey at a skate city Westminster and so I mean, and my 17 year old was too, so we were out there together playing which was fun so fun, but, boy, you felt it the next day, didn't you?

Speaker 2: 35:51

not really. It's funny, because I found I can skate better backwards on quads than I can in lines right, right but, then, my my in lines. My smallest wheel is 100 millimeter wheels, so it's a little more awkward on bigger wheels.

Speaker 3: 36:05

Right right, right right right, but no, I was going to get into that, but it's fun, it's different.

Speaker 2: 36:12

And then you know chase, right from westminster yeah, he was the coach and he's like oh, you're actually doing better than I thought you would.

Speaker 3: 36:19

I'm the oldest person out there yeah, so he tried to get me to come, but I was just so busy at that point. Um, you know, but we'll see what happens in the future. A lot of things have been happening here this past week or two, yeah, um, so I don't know, we'll see. I'd like to get involved, but that depends on skate city exactly.

Speaker 2: 36:42

So now are you teaching at the wagon wheel, or are you still?

Speaker 3: 36:46

I am now just doing um the saturday and sunday mornings for just another four weeks um april. April will be sorry, april will be it. Um at the end of april, um, I'll be done. I'll be done at the wagon wheel. A little bittersweet, a little emotional. Sorry, no worries, that's another story.

Speaker 2: 37:16

I mean, that's what the podcast is for is to actually get the stories, Because when I started it, it was about the skating, and then it was like people's stories are so much.

Speaker 3: 37:28

The stories are awesome, awesome, aren't they? Yeah people's experiences. You know, when I went back, uh, the last storm that we experienced back in september, I went back home, um home to illinois, and I hung out with my mom for a month. The whole month I googled. I google mapped my home rink because I knew we were kind of close to aurora. I didn't know exactly how far away we were yeah, so I googled it.

Speaker 3: 37:54

It was only an hour away okay so I made a whole day and I I left. I left illinois in 1979 and from that point to now, actually up until September, on a regular basis I would dream about my old houses, my old schools, my old neighborhoods, you know. I would dream about going up and knocking on the door of my house and asking to walk in. I took I was longing for for this and I did it. And when I went back I did all the memories of neighborhoods and friends. But then I went to my rink where I started, where I learned how to skate, and as soon as I walked in the front doors I felt like I was a kid again. Everything seemed big. You know what I mean. Um, the memories just started flowing and getting emotional. And I walk into the pro shop and I stood right in the spot where I tried on my first pair of skates and I lost it. I just could not hold back the emotion. And it was so funny because Patty Patty, the great manager of Aurora Skate Center, aurora, illinois, got to go check them out. She came over. She's like sir, are you okay? I said yeah, I'm good. She's like do you need some ice or something? Did you fall, are you okay? I said no, I said I skated here back in the 70s. And she says, ok, I understand, I know what's fixing to happen here.

Speaker 3: 39:33

And then somebody else overheard that conversation and came over and said congratulations, man, congratulations. I got to do the same thing about five years ago and we just started talking. You know, we talked for about a half an hour. I'm like right, I'm here to skate, so let me get to skating. So I walk out and putting on my skates and the memories are just just running rampant. Well, I'm noticing that there are people a little older than me out there skating and people my age. So I went ahead and you know, you know me. I just say hello to everybody and start talking. So I just say, hey, my name's jared. They introduced themselves.

Speaker 3: 40:15

I said, hey, I used to skate back here in the 70s. They're like oh, yeah, we've been skating here since the 70s. I said, hey, what school did you go to? And they told me I'm like oh my god. I said, did you used to live over by? So? And so they're like yeah, I said I. I think we might've gone to school together Like shut up. I said no, man, my name is Jared Moneo.

Speaker 3: 40:35

I ran track, played basketball, played soccer and I skated and rode motorcycles. Like, oh my God, we remember you. You used to wear a Suzuki shirt to school all the time, didn't you? I said, said yes, that was me. And, oh my god, we started talking and memories and things like that. Now I'm an hour at the skating rink and I don't even have my skates on yet. Um, it was just amazing. It was an amazing experience. I finally skated and then the memories float again and, um, that was a really cool experience in in the midst of my storm. It was a. It was a storm. I had skating to bring me out of it again. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 41:15

And um it w, it was awesome, it was great. Then I came back home and things were great and going through another life change. It's just yeah.

Speaker 2: 41:28

And that's always been the nice thing. It's when I get like, when I have a rough moment and I got stuff to work out in my head, I'll go to the roller rink and put on headphones, because skating and able to do that just makes it so much easier. So now the important question is did you ever run into your gym teacher again?

Speaker 3: 41:48

You know, I never have, never, never have Mrs Hall. I'll never forget her name.

Speaker 2: 41:55

She was already married at the time. I think she was already married. You didn't have a chance.

Speaker 3: 42:00

No, no Little did she know Her loss, her loss.

Speaker 2: 42:05

Which is funny, because I had a crush on my third grade teacher teacher too, and I think it's got to be the third grade teacher thing. It must be.

Speaker 3: 42:13

It must be.

Speaker 2: 42:14

And her name was Mrs Trank Walter, and she is actually divorced now and still looks good.

Speaker 3: 42:20

Nice.

Speaker 2: 42:21

Just going to say. But so now, other than your gym teacher, who was your biggest influence for skating?

Speaker 3: 42:33

My, my biggest influence on skating um were two people who are still very much a part of the skate community Um, Leo white, um, out of St Louis, Um, my ballroom king, and Reggie. Reggie Dillon has been my skate hero. I refer to him as my national skate hero. Xavier Xavier here, our Xavier is like my local hero. I love watching him skate, him and Jabbar together. I always tell people I want to skate him and Jabbar together. Um, I always tell people I want to be like them when I grow up and stuff. Um, but, uh, Leo was huge for me.

Speaker 3: 43:15

I remember watching Leo years and years and years ago skating on his one wheel. You know I'm like man, that guy's crazy, that guy's crazy. So I just kind of watched them over the years. And then, you know, I met somebody who wanted to get into ballroom skating and I knew Leo did that and I never had the interest before. And here about again, about three years ago four, I guess, about four or five years now I started ballroom skating and fell in love with it, man, Because it was again something, something new, something that was very challenging. Um, because up until artistic, that ballroom had been the hardest thing that I've done on skates, um. But those two guys right there, along with aaron um, have got to be three of the most solid skaters I've ever known and had the pleasure to skate with. Learned a lot from those folks.

Speaker 2: 44:11

That's awesome. And now is ballroom. Like the way I'm thinking of it, like you're skating with a partner, or yeah, yeah, okay, yeah.

Speaker 3: 44:18

You know, we, we do a lot of pair skating. You know there's a lot of different styles of that too. Backward skating is very popular to skate in hold, but there's different. You know there's steps for, you know, going backwards, and then there's ballroom and and, and you know it's, it's. It's very different because now you have another body connected to you, um, that you have to keep track of. You know, and when I was learning ballroom, I was skating with Christina back then and, uh, I lived up in the mountains and she lived down here, so I would take my, my stepdaughter at the time. I'd take, she was a skateboarder, so I'd take her to the skate park and then there was always a little flat spot there that I would go ahead and I'd practice my ballroom okay well, you practice ballroom alone.

Speaker 3: 45:04

It's not the same. It's not the same once you get in hold. It's not the same. It's not the same. Once you get in hold, it's completely different. It is, I mean, it was good to know the step, I guess, but it was like relearning it all over again when you had somebody on your arm.

Speaker 2: 45:19

Okay.

Speaker 3: 45:25

So that was a. That was a great learning experience. And you know, I actually won a couple gold medals ballroom dancing one with Christina and one with Adrian.

Speaker 2: 45:31

Okay.

Speaker 3: 45:32

Yeah, yeah, it was pretty cool.

Speaker 2: 45:34

So they have some pretty good competitions for ballroom skating.

Speaker 3: 45:37

Yeah, we did a national competition, Adrian and I here at Colorado Springs, down at Xfinity. Okay.

Speaker 3: 45:45

Now Pepsi, something or other. That was the A, a, a R S. And then, um, christine and I did a local um skate city, had the their like, uh, artistic, invitational type thing was more of a local intramural, if you will, um, but we got to do some ballroom um there as well and that was really cool to to bring that to show people that, cause you don't see it a lot here in Denver. Um, definitely not. I mean, really, the only time you would see it in Denver is at an adult night. Nobody during the afternoon sessions are doing it. Um, nobody at wagon wheel, nobody at roller cities does it, you know. So you don't. People aren't exposed to it, the artistic folks don't see it, cause they don't even go to the rink. Um, so it was really cool to get it out and hearing the people hoot and holler a little bit, you know, and we're doing spins and things. It was really cool, really cool. So, yeah, I fell in love with it. Man, that's, that's kind of my main thing right now.

Speaker 3: 46:44

Now are you still teaching it at all now, are you still teaching it at all? Um, trying, you know I'm trying to get people up to that level, yeah, you know. So, um, I do have a couple students that have been around from my beginning at skate city who still come on out and um, we dabble with it a little bit. I've been wanting to do some workshops and things. It's just time. You know time and now, a place to do it. I won't have up after april, I won't have a place to do any of it.

Speaker 2: 47:10

So yeah, so now is it like the end of the road for you as far as teaching goes, or okay?

Speaker 3: 47:18

no, no, no, I've been putting off some things. Um that we wanted to kick off at beginning of the year, um, with me and my my girlfriend. Um, we decided to do it slow. Um, unfortunately, it's been too slow because now things have happened and things have changed. I have a website ready to launch that I was going to do a virtual lesson. You know, do some videos, post some videos and things. So no, it's not done. Um, it's just going to do a virtual lesson. You know, do some videos, post some videos and things. So no, it's not done. Um, it's just going to be a little harder. You know, I gotta start from scratch again. Um, I've done it before and I'll do it again. Um, I do want people to know. Um, 5280 style Style Club isn't like a crew. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 48:08

We're not a competing crew competing against other crews in town. 5280 Style Club came about from that acronym, style, which was an actual program in the AARS, the artistic roller skating association. Um, it was a program focused on sessions, skating, so stuff that you would see at adult night the dancing, the rhythm skating part of it, which unfortunately doesn't use a lot of the rink unless you're shuffling, right, yeah, so a lot of what we do rhythm skating is because it's during session. We do it in the middle. So it was an opportunity to bring a lot of the middle work into the shuffle skating, because in artistic skating you need to use the whole floor and Xfinity is rather large. So practicing at Skate City Aurora is different than performing at Xfinity, because you have marks that you have to hit. Right Now those marks have to be made bigger, which means you have to go faster. Anyway, style was that Skate together, you learn excellence. I fell in love with that, so much so that I trademarked it.

Speaker 3: 49:37

It's mine, I, I own style as a trademark and I use that in my advertising and things. But what it is, it's a learn to skate program Everywhere, from very beginner, three-year-old, 70-year-old, it doesn't matter beginning to skate, learning how to skate up to elite level, basic fundamentals that everybody needs to learn. But then as your interests grow, whether it be ballroom, rhythm, jam, speed, artistic, whatever that may be, there's different fundamentals that you need to learn. Even with different maneuvers, there are steps to learning those maneuvers. So it's like an onion.

Speaker 3: 50:28

There's a lot of layers to just a simple arch and I say arch and people go what the hell is an arch? Arch is an actual artistic term. It's a fancy way of saying standing on one foot, putting your weight on one foot, on your engaged, gauged foot. So just from an arch you get pivots, you get um, mohawks you get. You know it. It just builds just off that one simple little maneuver. So it's more of a learn to skate pro, it is a learn to skate program. Yeah, um, that goes, you know, like I said, from beginning to into all the dancing and ballroom and all that stuff. I'm spinning, jumping, um, and it's a program that I don't know if I'm at liberty to say any of this stuff or not, but skate city was very excited to have um at all 11 of their rinks. Our skate community was very receptive to it. They were very excited that I was coming back um because there was a fallout um with the head coach of skate city back in february, um last february. That caused me to not be there anymore. So it was exciting to be back and then, unfortunately, due to a certain individual's drama, that didn't happen so I had to start all over again.

Speaker 3: 51:52

So we started again, slower this time. I reached 70 students in my first eight nine weeks last year when I started this. This year, much slower, I've got about 10 returning and growing each week. I think I'm up to about 20 students total right now. That's comfortable. It's comfortable. I was, I was overwhelmed, so I called a friend in to come help for a few weeks Um, and that was a big help. But it's a great program. It's not over Um. I'm just taking another pause Um. So if anybody out there has some room for rent um storefront, whatever, a garage, I'm looking for a space um. Um doesn't need to be big.

Speaker 3: 52:49

So as we like to say, you're doing a reset yeah, yeah, you know, it was nice when I had the rink at my disposal. Yeah, um, I made it kind of easy. Um, I don't have that right now, so it's okay, it's all good. It's all good.

Speaker 2: 53:05

Things happen for a reason all good Things happen for a reason, and usually the next door.

Speaker 3: 53:10

The next door is much bigger, it is and it's going to be a lot easier to walk through.

Speaker 2: 53:16

Yeah, you know it's it's again another discussion, but well then we'll have to have you back on once you reset, so that way we can find out what's going on.

Speaker 3: 53:28

No, I'm doing really good, um I'm. My spirits are high, not like last time you know last time was pretty dark.

Speaker 3: 53:36

This time it's like, hey, you made your choice, I'm gonna go on with my life and this is what my life is. Skating has been my life man. Yeah, um, my pretty much my whole life and it's it's been good to me. The people have been good to me. My skate community got, um, my pretty much my whole life and it's it's been good to me that people have been good to me. My skate community got me through my, my divorce. Um, friends you know showed up, you know, and they cared.

Speaker 3: 54:00

Um, it was good to go to the rink and get that, get that, I don't know that. Uh, compassion, get the, the caring, the feeling, the support, support, there you go, support. Um, yeah, we have a great community here in Denver, great community that's growing. Um, our, our second annual um parties coming up here next month. I'm ready for that one. Almost we could turn this into heck, a four-day event and use the whole city simultaneously, type thing. If we can grow it, most of these parties that we go to, there's 1,500 people, 2,000 people at these parties inside of one rink. What if we got, I don't know, 10,000 and split them between six, six ranks?

Speaker 2: 55:13

all at the same time or just rent ball arena yeah, but that's, that's not the same.

Speaker 3: 55:20

This is not the same. Yeah, you know that's one big, huge event, that's, that's cool. But to maybe rotate the djs from rink to rink each night, to give because you know, here in Denver each rink has its own little vibe, has its own certain vibe If we could introduce something different each night to each of those rinks and expose a little different culture to their skating. I think that would be awesome. I think that's something that hasn't been done before. Yeah, so we'll see. There's another idea out there, folks.

Speaker 2: 56:02

We definitely one rink needs to have a night for adults with rock music.

Speaker 3: 56:08

Well, Sean, you haven't been coming on our Monday nights, have you?

Speaker 2: 56:14

No, because you stopped for a little while and then so it's monday night rock night we.

Speaker 3: 56:17

We started again at the beginning of the year okay and I've been, I've been basically being the dj. Just go from spotify request, only it gotten out of the point where you know six to seven has always been kind of oldies night you know, we still have the older crowd that comes out that have been skating there for 50 years, right seven to eight.

Speaker 3: 56:39

I'll ramp that up a little bit because I have some folks that come in that want to listen to some classic rock. That's what they used to do as a kid. So yeah, dude, we got white snake, billy squire, lover boy um okay, journey um reo.

Speaker 3: 56:53

I mean we're playing I'm led zeppelin, we got Whitesnake, billy Squire, loverboy, journey, reo. I mean we're playing Led Zeppelin, I've been playing a lot of rock and roll and then we get into. Then we start getting into some dance stuff, getting into some R&B, disco, r&b funk. Then that last hour we've been going later too, it's six to nine, but we've been going to like 9, 30 ish type thing, because everybody's been having a good time on a school night on a school night.

Speaker 3: 57:21

Yep, yep, you betcha, you betcha, um. So it's been a really good night, it's been a really good time. I don't know if that's gonna continue or not. Um, you'd have to stay tuned, or, you know, go search uh, go uh on to uh skatewagonwheelcom. Um, I'm sure she'll post something there okay it's been a really good. It's been a really good time, man. Um, I'm planning on being there again on monday, okay?

Speaker 3: 57:43

I haven't heard differently, so come on out man this is a rock and roll and skate there we go and now a little bit, a little something for literally everybody, whatever your musical taste is. You will hear it on a monday night um we're at wagon wheel. Yeah, it's crazy. I mean, uh, what's the um? Somebody turned me on to a band called uh the green and they compared. They call it like polynesian or Hawaiian reggae or something. It's like reggae music, but it's a little, I don't know, mellower, a little slower, I don't know, but it's been, it's pretty cool Nice.

Speaker 3: 58:23

You know we get a lot of alternative, a lot of punk, everything. People have been requesting things that I haven't heard of in decades, so it's been a lot of fun, a lot of fun yeah, it was one of those days where I heard some songs, like I heard the butthole surfers earlier.

Speaker 2: 58:38

I'm like dude. I have not heard that song probably in 20 years, right, right, you know, especially at a rink. You don't hear that stuff at a rink this is at a supply house for hvac, so nice, all right well, I'm like I walked in. I'm like I'll put that on the list. I'll put that on the list for monday so now, earlier you mentioned, you dropped some coin on some skates. What are you skating on now?

Speaker 3: 59:01

um, I have uh rydell 3200s. Okay, um, color labbed. Um, if any of y'all out there know me, I'm orange and purple. So I got inner sole, inner panel purple, outer panel orange or black, orange tongue, orange heel, orange vents. Yeah, pretty simple.

Speaker 2: 59:23

There you go. So now, what is your advice to upcoming skaters? It doesn't matter what age they are, because people pick up things different times in their lives, and I've seen a lot of older skaters getting out there now too they do and I have, um, a lot of my students are older actually.

Speaker 3: 59:42

Um, I'm seeing a lot more adults out there. Um, learning. Keep going really. Um, it's very. It's a. It's a terrifying thing to put wheels on your feet. So stay focused, stay intentional, do a lot of sit-ups and stand on one foot a lot when you're at home, when you're're at work, playing video games, folding laundry, brushing your teeth, whatever it is stand on one foot. This balance and being able to get your weight centered in between your axles is key. Nothing happens in roller skating without balance, and physics, physics will always be there. It's the balance. Balance has to be first and we see it all the time. As soon as they learn how to do a crossover, they're ready for jumps and spins. Yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:00:46

Because they're eager to learn and they see people do it and it looks easy.

Speaker 2: 1:00:51

It's not easy, so baby steps balance and let the skates do the work. There you go. So now, how can my listeners follow you or find you, or?

Speaker 3: 1:01:05

Right now, really, I'm just 5280. Style Club Facebook, instagram.

Speaker 2: 1:01:10

Okay.

Speaker 3: 1:01:11

I do have a group page that is for members. Um, that I've been kind of opening up to some other folks. But yeah, 5280 style club, come check us out. Um, if you got some videos to drop on there, we can drop some videos on there. Um, I try to keep it clean, though, as possible, um, cause my mom's still alive and she sees these things too. So there you go. She loves my. She loved my. Mom loves skating. She loves it. Every time I go visit she wants to go watch her favorite skaters, griffin brothers love those guys I want to get them.

Speaker 3: 1:01:50

He loves the griffin brothers. Well, when I told her, okay, when I was in that competition a couple years ago, they were there, I skated with the griffin brothers so I got to meet them, get pictures and I told them the story about my mom loving them um, more so than me, I felt, you know, and I I took it kind of personal there, but um, so I asked them when I met that one my guys, you know, my mom is like your number one fan. When I was out there visiting with her every single morning she would show me one of your videos. Can you do that? Can you do that?

Speaker 3: 1:02:28

No, mom, only they can and they do it well. So I asked them if they would message my mom. Only they can and they do it well. So I asked them if they would message my mom and they did, and it was awesome. It was awesome. Um made her day. Um, so, yeah, 52, where were we?

Speaker 2: 1:02:44

I can't remember what you just asked me 52 5280 style club is how to get a hold of you 52 80 style club.

Speaker 3: 1:02:50

Right now is it um drop some vids, come say hello, um come learn, come roll with us there you go.

Speaker 2: 1:03:02

Well, I appreciate you coming on the show today. Yeah, man, anytime anytime man all right, thank you. All right, thank you, thank you.