Nearly ten years have flown by since Aimee Lyn "AdrenaLyn" Burns first laced up her quad skates and embraced the adrenaline-fueled world of roller derby. An avid outdoor trail skater, Lyn has enjoyed watching the Capital Trail grow and evolve over the last 9 years; from the early days of skating various sections before it was connected, to conquering the Trail in its entirety - not once, but three times! Despite challenges and setbacks along the way, her passion for skating has never wavered. From founding RVA Roll Patrol in 2021 to leading skate clinics and organizing inclusive weekly Trail skates (like the new Rollin’ on the River skate meetup series), Lyn continues to cultivate a welcoming and vibrant community for skating enthusiasts of all levels and abilities!
what inspired you to start skating and establish RVA Roll Patrol?
I started skating in August 2014, and first tried trail skating in March 2015 - it's been almost 10 years! The inspiration to start RVA Roll Patrol actually came from a profound place of sadness during 2021 - the entire sport of roller derby came to a screeching halt in March 2020, and our "return-to-play" date kept stretching farther into the future until it was simply "TBD." I was crushed to lose the sport and community that I loved so much, especially having been a Rookie Coach with River City Roller Derby (RCRD) since 2018.
But while derby was on hold, roller skating, in general, experienced another revival, fueled by social media during the pandemic - folks young and old were buying new roller skates or digging out their old 90’s inlines from the closet to discover (or re-discover) the joy and magic of skating as a form of outdoor-friendly exercise. My roller derby pals were also venturing out into many of our amazing local skate parks and newly-paved neighborhoods, to help keep their skate skills (and their sanities) somewhat sharp during the great derby hiatus. After almost two seasons of being extremely sad about no derby, in July 2021, I decided I was tired of being sad, and I organized my first public street skate meetup for Worldwide Rollout Day.
Photo by: Nathan Beard (Lowline tracks)
I made a flyer in MS Paint and shared it from my personal IG, with no idea how many people would show up for this summertime street skate through the Fan towards the empty VCU campus... and to my great surprise, 13 people came out for the very first proto-Roll Patrol event! From there, I kept organizing meetups, and folks kept showing up. Many of those people became my roller derby teammates once RCRD restarted operations in 2022, and many are also avid park skaters and outdoor/trail skaters - they often leave me in the dust! RVA Roll Patrol has become a magical skating community, and I'm excited to continue promoting safe and enjoyable trail skating opportunities in partnership with VCTF and RCRD.
What do you enjoy most about skating?
When I ask others this question, a common response is, "it makes me feel like a kid again," and "I feel free and carefree on skates." Many of us got dropped off at the local skating rink as kids (and now may drop our own kids off), or spent our summers blasting down neighborhood hills and homemade skate ramps on plastic rollerblades. One of my favorite things about skating is that it brings me back to my body - most of the day, I'm living in my head, and skating reminds me that I have a body that needs attention as well (which in turn helps my head become a nicer place to live and work.)
Skating helps me set and achieve goals, and I can apply those goal-setting & goal-crushing skills in other areas of life. I have plenty of scars and stories about hard slams, but knowing how to fall also unlocks the ability to get back up after life's hard slams.
Were there any specific challenges that you had to overcome?
When I first started learning how to skate in 2014, I had literally never put on a pair of quad skates in my life. My only prior experience was surfing local sidewalks in the 90s with a pink & white pair of Barbie rollerblades. Although I had basically zero skating experience on my first day of derby "skate school", I had marched in drumline for seven years throughout high school and college - so I knew a thing or two about multitasking in a chaotic environment, rapidly shifting my body weight through space, and trying not to collide with other people (all while making it look & sound good.) Despite taking to skating pretty naturally with all those prior marching skills, it took me several years to feel confident on skates, to the point of considering myself an athlete - something I didn't expect to call myself in my 30s, after being a band kid for most of my young life.
Any tips, tricks, or things you wish you would have known on day one?
When it comes to outdoor/trail skating, I like to say that skating outside "calls your bluff." It's one thing to know how to skate confidently indoors on a predictable surface, but skating outdoors has the potential to really take your skating and overall strength/endurance baseline to a new level. I've taken many hard slams (both in derby and outdoors), and I've made many miscalculations about food/water amounts, too much/not enough sunlight, not enough/too many layers, with agonizing blisters and road rash... but through it all, I find peace on the trail that I don't find anywhere else, I experience nature and companionship in a unique radical way, and I have discovered how strong and capable my body really is. I love helping others find confidence in themselves on their skates, whether that's outside on the trail, on their local sidewalks or roller rinks, or at derby practice.
I've skated the entire Capital Trail on three separate occasions - and I'm planning my fourth completion this April 27th as a participant in our upcoming "RCRD Conquers the Cap Trail" fundraiser!
what’s your favorite section to skate on the capital trail?
I first completed the trail in April 2019, then in June 2022 and April 2023. I also did a virtual skate marathon (solo 26m) in July 2020. I mainly skate the Riverfront section, because it's the closest section to the city and it really does have a little bit of everything for trail skate training (mild hills, wooden bridge, moderate pedestrian/cycling traffic, and some of the best city sunsets I've ever seen). Four Mile Creek is also a great spot for meetups of all levels, and we've hosted some successful Trail Skate 101 clinics out there. I love how lush the Dorey Park section is, but some of those hills and hidden turns can be deceptively tough for a newer skater.
What was your motivation to start weekly skate groups and clinics?
I have a lot of experience with planning/running practices designed for new skaters learning how to play roller derby - and it turns out that the skills required for long-distance/outdoor skating are very similar to the skills we learn for our on-skates full-contact sport (such as falling, stopping, and staying in control while going fast & smashing into other players). I also have several years of experience working as a summer camp counselor and administrator, organizing large groups of excited humans for outdoor team-building activities, while ensuring that SAFETY remains our top priority (closely followed by FUN!)
These outdoor programming & people management skills have easily blended with my rookie coaching/training experience, and I felt confident to start building a local skate meetup community with the focus of reaching out & including/supporting newer skaters, while also offering advanced skaters a chance to challenge themselves. Now that roller derby is back in full swing, I'm hoping that RVA Roll Patrol can experience a similar revival and make positive contributions to Richmond's thriving skate community. It's been such a joy to work with VCTF as a representative of both River City Roller Derby and RVA Roll Patrol, to help foster a safe and accepting community for skaters of all levels and abilities.
My goal is to have regular consistent programming for other disciplines and expressions of skating, such as park skating & jam/dance skating - Richmond has so many amazing skating spaces beyond the Virginia Capital Trail, including local skate parks (like Southside, Texas Beach, and the upcoming Taylor Farm Park ) and the gorgeous new Hotchkiss outdoor rink.
how did you get your skate name, AdrenaLyn?
Lyn is my middle name, so when I was originally thinking up a derby name for myself, I wanted something that could be shortened to "Lyn." As I was searching through words that ended in "-line", I came across "adrenaline" and - eureka! In a funny twist of cosmic fate, I was recently diagnosed with an anxiety disorder in my late 30s, and it turns out that the derby name I picked ended up being a weird back-to-the-future joke about living with a nervous system that is essentially hijacked by adrenaline.
Roller skating became my healthy outlet, to repurpose my anxiety and adrenaline into fuel for long endurance skates, both on the trail and at roller derby practice. Derby and trail skating helps me release that extra electricity and I feel more balanced in both body and mind; sharing this meditative muscle-building activity with others, on the trail and on the track, makes the experience even more rewarding.
Here are some of Lyn’s Cap Trail milestones!
For additional information:
Check out River City Roller Derby on Facebook, Instagram, TIkTok, and read the latest issue of RCRD's BRUISELetter on our website. RVA Roll Patrol is still waking up after hibernating for most of the winter, but keep an eye on our IG and our new FB page, as well as our new landing page with public calendar - featuring the upcoming Rollin' on the River events!
Thank you, Lyn, for sharing your inspiring journey with us! We are thrilled to partner with RVA Roll Patrol and River City Roller Derby to bring more skating opportunities and adventures to the Capital Trail! So lace or strap up those skates and join us on the Trail – the adventure is just getting started!
