On any given weekend, you're likely to find Jim Wipff zooming along the Veloway like greased lightning. He's 60-years-old, but on wheels, it's safe to say he's a lot like butter because he's on a roll.
"There's an element of insanity in it," the speed skater says. "You don't go 25 miles an hour on skates and not be a little bit crazy."
With arms flying, legs clopping in fluid motion, he moves at high speeds that would likely scare most people away.
"Bliss for me is skating at night when I can't see the pavement with my headphones on and all of a sudden, I'm like floating," he said.
Wipff recently placed fourth in the nation in the Roller Sports National Championships. But where his story really begins is two years ago, when he and his wife decided to adopt a young girl.
"We befriended a single Mom who couldn't take care of her child," he said. "She kept leaving the child with us for longer and longer periods of time and pretty soon it became apparent that the child was at risk."
Wipff and his wife gained custody of Kylie. It was a decision that would change not only her life, but his as well.
"So I just started back into skating as a way to keep that commitment to this beautiful, beautiful perfect human being that deserved more than just a couch potato at 230 pounds," he said.
Now it's a bond they share together. Dad brings home trophies that quickly become her prizes.
Although his 61st birthday is quickly approaching, don't expect Wipff to hang up the skates away anytime soon.
Skating is more than just a hobby for Wipff. It's a passion that incorporates the grander aspects in life.
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Skating for two
In-line skater Jim Wipff skates because it's his passion and for his adopted daughter, Kylie.
 
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"My other scenario is that someday I get to skate Golden Gate Park again and I start at the top of the park and I skate all the way down to the Pacific Ocean … I watch the sunset, I skate back up to the top of the park and sit down on a bench and quietly pass on."
