By night lights, they skate city's streets
Thirty rollerbladers zip past in a stream of blinking red lights along a tranquil East Broadway in South Boston on a Tuesday night. Cars honk. Children stop and stare. Teenagers whistle or taunt the group.
The mixed reactions are no surprise to the Inline Club of Boston.
Nancy Capparelli, a physical therapist and club president, said some people have asked the skaters if they're a gang.
The 36-year-old -- wearing wrist guards, elbow pads and a helmet plastered with stickers -- laughs at the idea.
``We're a pretty dorky gang," Capparelli said.
Since 1992, Inline Club members have glided along the streets of Boston looking for a good workout and the chance to make friends while touring the city. As the only local skating club, it draws members from as far as Carlisle and Waltham for weekly events.
``It's more about just having fun and enjoying the sport of it," Capparelli said.
Members organize at least three weekly skates: Wednesdays are the Minuteman Trail in Arlington; Sundays they start from JFK Park in Cambridge; and Tuesdays -- well, Tuesdays' urban tours are not for the faint of heart. These treks through Boston and surrounding towns, averaging 13 miles or so, change weekly and usually take two hours.
Around 7 p.m. on a recent Tuesday, skaters rolled up to the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade prepared for adventure . Equipped with fanny packs, headlamps, and helmet-mounted rearview mirrors, they faced a 10-mile round trip trek to Castle Island in South Boston, a familiar run for club diehards over the years and for many, their favorite. After Capparelli gave a quick review of hand signals, the group pushed off, accompanied by tunes pumped from one member's mobile speaker system.
Navigating Boston's streets at night is frightening enough in a vehicle. Careening along those same potholed paths on rollerblades can seem like a death wish.
But these skaters don't think so. Because most work during the day, skating at night is their only option, and the city also has less traffic then. Moonlight, headlamps and knowledge of the terrain also help to avoid accidents. Capparelli said there have been no serious accidents ``for a really long time."
Several Inline Club members belong to the National Skate Patrol. Identified by their red shirts, patrol skaters ensure the group's safety by flanking front, side and back positions, guarding busy intersections and shouting directions to other skaters, said Capparelli.
At 70, Paul Reinhardt is the oldest Inline Club member. He joined five years ago after receiving a pair of rollerblades and skating lessons from his daughters. He works in municipal finance for the town of Concord during the day; at night, he straps on skates.
``I was really tentative about going at night at first," Reinhardt admitted.
But he said skating with an experienced group makes him feel safer and has challenged him physically.
Late-night skating tours appeal to members for different reasons.
Geoff Hull, an Inline Club veteran who works in the semiconductor field, said they are a way to ``get into the underworld of the city." For another skater, night tours are his time to shine.
Terry Murray, a 48-year-old engineering consultant and self-proclaimed inventor, has a skating alter ego -- ``Fire Blader." With a propane tank strapped to his back and rigged to his blades, Murray can shoot 2-foot flames as he cuts sharp corners around town. His flames have helped the group through some sticky situations.
Although Murray said most neighborhoods are ``overwhelmingly supportive" of the club, some bystanders occasionally react by ``dissing" the skaters as they pass.
His reaction: Cue the flames. Jeers instantly turn to cheers.
Murray said he takes those opportunities to stop and explain his invention to the awed crowd. ``You're skating through their turf, and you're giving something back."
