“They thought it was dangerous,” Miles remembers.
![lost ruins over roller disco jamberry lost ruins over roller disco jamberry](https://i.etsystatic.com/7079923/r/il/2ec0cb/446493724/il_794xN.446493724_p0fg.jpg)
But the new hype surrounding roller skating was met with apprehension by the city of San Francisco, which set out to ban it for good. In the early '80s, tens of thousands of skaters rolled out to the park every Sunday, hoisting boom boxes over their shoulders that blared the latest disco singles. “I was here for three days before I went to Golden Gate Park and saw people roller skating on the street. “When I first came here, I didn’t know anybody,” said Miles, who moved to San Francisco from Kansas City in 1979. He occasionally bellows into the mic to ask whether the crowd is having a good time, and is met with enthusiastic hollers of approval. Tonight, he’s entirely in his element, skating from person to person, bumping elbows with friends and warmly introducing himself to newbies. It’s a fitting accessory for someone touted as the Godfather of Skate and the Mayor of Golden Gate Park. I immediately locate David Miles Jr., who’s holding a microphone attached to a faux lightsaber that looks more like a king’s scepter. Hesitantly tightening my laces, I hobble onto the pavement like a newborn calf. "The Godfather of Skate" himself, David Miles Jr. (It’s worth clarifying: while roller skates and roller blades both serve their own respective functions and come down to preference, the popularity of roller skates preceded the trend of roller blades, and the wheels are structured differently.) I decided this would be best reported while attempting to roller blade for the first time in nearly two decades.
![lost ruins over roller disco jamberry lost ruins over roller disco jamberry](https://www.urbanghostsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/abandoned-australia-red-hill-skate-park-brisbane-7.jpg)
Not alarmingly so – there’s plenty of space for folks to keep their distance – but certainly enough to confirm what I’ve wondered about, and what brought me here in the first place: the possibility of yet another roller skating revival in San Francisco since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold.