By Jan Henrikson

There they go. Thirty skaters gliding around Davis Island, ablaze with reflector lights, hair rippling under their helmets - all at ten to twelve miles per hour. Nothing can stop them now. The earth is their roller rink.

But they're not out to cause trouble. "We don't skate around with ghetto blasters," says Ken Woliner, founder of Tampa Bay In-Line Skating. They are lawyers, doctors, and sheriffs, psychologists, computer programmers, and prison workers, men and women, ranging in age from 16-60, out to play.

"Those are our day jobs," quips Ken, referring to the growing fervor for in-line skating. This particular type of in-line skating is not some land version of Esther Williams' synchronized swimming. It is simply skating, any which way you can, in a large, and fortunately, friendly group.

Whether you are fearless and coordinated, or wobbly and breathless, you are welcome to gather at the Gasparilla Pirate Ship on Bayshore at 7pm on Tuesday nights to enjoy outdoor exercise and companionship. "This is open to anyone. We're nice people. We never leave anyone behind, we never ditch anyone. The only thing you need to know is how to stop."

From the pirate ship, the skaters roll a leisurely six miles over the course of an hour, although a nearby car once informed Ken he had shot up to 20 mph. He wasn't showing off, he was just chasing after a friend.

Speed is the not motivating factor here, though. Socializing is. "It's a great way to break barriers. A great way for guys to meet girls. Girls to meet girl friends. Guys to meet guy friends." After the skate, anyone who wants to, can meet at Wiired or Four Green Fields to chat and get to know each other.

The friendships formed here often spawn other groups - hockey and volleyball teams, bridge groups, Ybor City partyers. One couple hopes to start a skate-dancing group. They live on the top floor of a warehouse and have transformed the 10,000 square feet of their bottom floor into a roller rink.

All of this is happening because a few years ago, when Ken first moved to Ft. Lauderdale, "I was bored out of my mind. I didn't know anyone, not friends or dates, and I wasn't about to walk into a bar and meet a stranger. It's illegal to meet anyone at work anymore," he says wryly. "Then I discovered this skate club and the people were really neat."

When he moved to Tampa in '94, Ken, who is also a medical student at the University of South Florida, literally took the show on the road. Now, in addition to the Tuesday Night Skates, In-Line organizes Full Moon Skates, and Traveling Skates in different areas such as WestChase, Tampa Palms, Carrollwood, and Davis Island, and it's free.

With events like these, recreational skating has really come a long way from the days of clacking up and down cement driveways in those metal rollerskates and scraping an occasional knee. And it's a fairly safe sport, providing you wear light colored clothing and reflector lights clipped to your fanny pack or skate.

"When there are twenty or thirty skaters down the road, all with lights on, you can't avoid seeing them. A driver has to really go for you to hit you."

Since you want to break barriers, and not bones, padding and helmets are helpful. But they are not mandatory. "Everyone is responsible for their own safety," says Ken. "Skating is not as safe as bowling. It's safer than golf, and three times safer than bicycling, but I'm not stupid. I wear wrist guards. Wrist injuries are the number one injuries in skating."

If you're interested in in-line skating, but inexperienced, you can take free lessons at Blades and Bikes on Pratt St. and Bayshore on Saturday mornings. Instructor Erle Boynton, who co-owns the shop with wife, Sharon, has owned roller rinks in Tampa for years. Now he coaches Hyper's Speed- skating champion, Jonathon Webster, who has raced as fast as 85 mph.

Ironically, Erle first discovered in-line skates at a bike rally, when Brit Cottrell, another speedskating and bike-racing star, needed a place to work out on his skates. "He'd be on his skates at the bike rallies, and he'd pass us. He could go up hills faster than we could," says Erle. How fast? Between 50 and 60 mph. Today he is Blades and Bikes' top mechanic.

Don't worry, Blades and Bikes has plenty to offer those of you who only want to travel that fast in your car. In fact, although Erle is conducting a racing clinic the first weekend in March, most of their business is recreation-centered. All their employees are experienced and knowledgeable in either biking or skating. And they can get you anything you need.

"We have the biggest variety of wheels for in-line skating," says Erle. "Each does something different. The more pointed the wheel, the faster it rolls. The flatter the curve across the top, the more stable, but slower it is. The harder the wheel, the more vibration there is, but it's faster. We interview our customers to see what they're looking for."

While you're there, check out the selection of mountain bikes, the trail maps, and the frogs.

The frogs? Yes, toy frogs, dangling from the walls. "That's our logo and the story of how this store came about," says Erle. "Several years ago, my daughter decided to give me a shirt with a frog on in-line skates for my birthday. Six months later, she planned a Labor Day weekend hiking, camping and canoeing. All her friends backed out, so she asked us."

That weekend, while in Tallahassee, the three of them rented skates and off-road bikes, at a small shop. The shop was busy and the hours seemed reasonable, so they decided to give it a try. All they needed was a logo.

"I wanted a critter," says Erle. "To be honest, we just went to this artist, showed them the shirt and said, 'Like this. Something like this.' We tell people we interviewed all the animals in Florida. They had to be outdoors, had to be able to ride a bike and skate, and the frog was the only one native to Florida who could do it."

If a frog can do it, so can you.

For more info contact: Tampa Bay In-Line Skating, (813) 979-1636, Blades and Bikes Bayshore (813) 251-0178