"Matzger Goes Off-and On-the Wall"

MY ARM IS MADE OF RUBBER, WHICH IS TO say that it's easily twisted when presented with a tantalizing opportunity. When TWINCAM's Tom Lai called me to ask if I would go to China to skate the Great Wall on his bearings, I was so flabbergasted all I could say was "sure, twist my arm!"

Normally, if someone were to call me with such a seemingly far-fetched request, I'd respond incredulously with something tart like "You're pulling my leg!" But in the 3 years that I've known Tom, I've come to appreciate him as the most honest, straight-shooting person in the inline industry. So when he asked me a question that only dreams are made of, I knew it was no joke.

Tom's bearings are made in China, and his burning desire has always been to bring his bearings back to their land of origin. I was incredibly honored to be chosen to represent his product at such an exotic location, and more than happy to oblige his request.

I was only in China for 10 days, but it seems as if I had a lifetime of experiences. I barely slept at all, so excited was I to go touring on skates. The Chinese call westerners "wide-eyes", and no wonder, because my eyes were huge as I drank in all the sights of Beijing and the surrounding countryside. The hustle and bustle of the incomprehensibly huge mass of humanity in China was truly extraordinary.

It is said that China has been transformed into a modern society by three things: the vacuum flask, the two-stroke engine, and the bicycle, or "flying pigeon." Boiling water and keeping it hot in a thermos has halted the rampant spread of water-borne diseases. Tractors have allowed the country to feed itself. Bicycles have given the common man increased mobility and a means of transporting goods. The next revolutionary change in Chinese society, I venture to say, will be the introduction of the inline skate. Judging by the enthusiastic response of all the people I came into contact with, the time is ripe.

I can think of no better way to tour China than on skates. There are huge, well-paved bike lanes in Beijing and fresh, wide roads that radiate from the capital city out into the countryside. In the city, traffic is so fierce that getting around in a car is simply a waste of time. I made day trips on my skates and on each occasion saw three times as many attractions as I would have been able to had I been in a car.

China was an absolutely ideal place to train as well, for a number of reasons. The roads were immaculate, swept clean of debris on a daily basis. Any time I ventured out on the streets, I was guaranteed a workout. Cyclists and trishaw riders were all eager to make their commute into a race when they saw me on skates.

I also felt much safer skating in China than I ever do in the U.S. Since cyclists, trishaws and mule carts outnumber cars by 100,000 to 1, motor vehicles already have an awareness of non-motorized forms of transportation and as a consequence, skating in traffic is not such a dangerous proposition as it seems.

I drew inspirations from everybody around me wherever I went. Honks of encouragement, smiles, waves, and thumbs-up from trucks, taxis, cars and pedestrians kept me skating with a perpetual case of goose bumps crawling up my neck, something I rarely experience in the U.S. This kept my motivation level higher than a kite.

China is a skater's paradise because fuel is incredibly cheap. If you run out of PowerBars, you can have yourself an immense, healthy meal with all the beer you can drink for as little as 25c. And chances are you'll make friends with complete strangers who will insist on paying for your meal.

Skating on the Great Wall was probably the biggest thrill of my life to date. Seemingly, without beginning or end, the Wall stretched out from Horizon to Horizon. Although incredibly steep and very rugged, it was still very skateable.
There I was on the same stretch of Wall that Chinese foot soldiers patrolled thousands of years ago. Perhaps if those soldiers had been on skates, Genghis Kahn's invading army might never have succeeded in getting over that Wall.