Return to 4-wheel drive in a pair of roller skates

Over the last year, I’ve done a lot of things involving wheels -- bicycles, in-line skates and even a pair of Crosskates, which are designed for a skiing experience when there is no snow. This time around, I decided to go retro, to return to a sport of my youth, to go roller-skating.

I’m talking about the kind with four wheels that I used to wear as I zipped down neighborhood sidewalks and around roller rinks to rock ‘n’ roll music played by disc jockeys. I date back to the skate-key era. By my reckoning, it had been around 40 years since I’d laced up a pair of roller-skates.

But within the last year, they’ve become much more common, what with the minor craze over the Skechers skates -- a common sight these days on oceanfront boardwalks.

“Roller-skates seem to be making a comeback,” said Javier Cernas, the owner of J’s Rentals on the Venice Beach boardwalk. “I have people coming in all the time asking where they can buy them.”

Not only that, but a skate park around the corner draws an increasing number of roller-skaters on the weekend to dance to DJ music and strut their new tricks.

The first roller-skate was invented by a Belgian named Joseph Merlin in 1760. One of the first things he did was wear them to a party and crash into an expensive mirror. The roller-skate came to the United States in 1863, and within 20 years the sport had become a popular pastime, particularly among the wealthy. Then came rinks and plastic wheels and other improvements that increased its popularity. And then, finally, the in-line skate arrived on the scene, starting a 15-year craze that overshadowed the roller-skate.

But that may be changing. Dale Johnson of the Indianapolis-based Roller Skating Assn. International said that in rinks, at least, the standard four-wheeled skates -- known as quads -- are now preferred 2 to 1 over the in-lines, largely because they’re conducive to fancier footwork.

Cernas, who’s been renting beach items for the last 4 1/2 years, said he recommends in-line over roller-skates for beginners simply because their hard plastic shell gives more ankle support. The high-topped roller skates offer better support than the tennis shoe variety for the same reason, he said.

I started with the standard high-topped roller skate, lacing up and heading out the door. Compared to in-line skates, the roller-skates felt more solid underfoot, which might make them a better choice for beginners. But I also remember roller rink days when neophytes would hold the rail, for fear of the skates flying out from under them.

As I left the rental shop I saw a man standing in the square holding what looked like two cobras.

“Geez,” I asked Cernas. “Are those real?”

“No,” he replied with a chuckle. “Rubber.”

I started hesitantly, because the feel of roller-skates is definitely unlike that of in-line skates. It’s more difficult to push off, and balance at first was difficult. But after a few minutes I was rolling along, heading for Santa Monica. A tall, comely woman zipped past me on roller-skates, which made me feel that at least I was in good company. She was not the only person who passed me, though. It seemed like dozens of in-line skaters rolled by, easily outdistancing me.

After about 20 minutes of skating, I turned around and headed back to Venice, past the fortunetellers and what passed for art along the boardwalk. I turned in my rented skates and pulled out my new Skechers skates. I’d tried to find them for rent, but with no success. So I bought a pair for $92 and change. It was only after doing so that I learned from Skechers spokeswoman Jennifer Clay that sneakers on wheels were invented in Venice Beach in the 1970s. The new commercial version has been around for about a year, and more companies are offering the skates. Clay didn’t want to get into specific figures about their popularity, but did say the company is “extremely pleased” with sales.

I laced up and headed out again. The glide of the skate was much smoother than that of the standard variety lace-up, a fact I attributed to the Skechers’ newness. At first, there was little strain on the ankle, but I did begin to feel a twinge after about half an hour. And though I did go faster with the new skates, the in-liners were still passing me by the dozen. Their design just gives them more zip.

But there was plenty of exercise with both sets of skates -- more, in fact, than I’d gotten with the in-line version months before. At one point my heart rate climbed to 167 and was out of the recommended zone for much of the outing. I rolled back to J’s rentals and collected my things. The guy with the rubber cobras was still in the square.

One footnote about the Skechers’ skates: When I went to the Santa Monica store to buy them, I noticed that a new line is on sale. They are the familiar, traditional kind, like the ones I wore zipping around the rink, rock ‘n’ roll blaring, more than 40 years ago.

Retro is back.

*

Snapshot: Roller-skating

Duration of activity: 1 hour, 10 minutes

Calories burned: 749

Heart rate*: Average, 155 beats per minute; high, 167; target, 121-142

Time in target zone*: 13 minutes, 6 seconds

*This information was obtained using a heart-rate monitor. Time in the target heart-rate zone is a measure of the intensity of a workout. Target zone varies based on age and individual heart rate.

J. Michael Kennedy can be reached at j.michael.kennedy@latimes.com.