Skater inline with tradition

By day, Rodi Steindl is a lab technician at the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. But on Saturday nights, she is Violet Femme, a Carolina Rollergirl.

Steindl, 37, is a skater on the Tai Chi-tahs team of the Rollergirls.

She gets her skills honestly.

Her dad, Abby Sales, is a street skater who says his parents met while roller-skating.

Father and daughter may have wheels in common, but they diverge on style.

"I don't usually skate with Dad," Steindl said. "He enjoys skating and singing, while my thing is to get on a track and bump people."

Sales, 66, started inline skating four years ago.

"I borrowed some skates, put them on, skated 10 yards and fell down," he said. "I got up, skated 15 more yards and fell down."

Eventually his balance improved, and he's been going strong ever since.

"He's had a few bad falls, so I make him wear pads and a helmet," Steindl said.

Steindl got involved with roller derby in 2004.

"I had no idea what it was about, but it sounded like fun," she said. "It's a legitimate competition, but we get to ham it up. Before this, I had never worn fishnet hose in my life."

Violet Femme is Steindl's track persona, and while she is a recognizable figure on the roller derby circuit, her father is a striking figure on the streets of North Raleigh.

Cutting a short robust silhouette, Sales runs errands on blades.

Sales is his daughter's biggest fan, and proves it by treating the team to drinks after home bouts and making bandannas for them to wear to away competitions.

The Carolina Rollergirls are ranked seventh in the East, according to the Women's Flat Track Derby Association. For information, visit www.carolinarollergirls.com.