Innovative gear guru adds color and excitement
I am honored to have had the chance to write about roller derby and the skate park but this feature is probably one of the coolest, most colorful skate stories I have ever had the pleasure to cover.
On an absolutely beautiful Sunday afternoon, Our Lady of Perpetual Motion hosts their third Outdoor Roller Skate Church, where anyone is welcome to adorn skates and rejoice in the breezy conversation as you lap the two-mile loop at Camp Jordan.
Skaters of all levels, from all backgrounds, gather in the parking lot by the baseball fields to gear up and prepare to skate the trail. Some find peace as the self-propelled wind clears their thoughts. Others converse and cackle like big hat wearing ladies catching up post sermon.
“This is how we worship,” says Danny Reyes, owner and sole employee of Our Lady of Perpetual Motion (OLOPM), a custom quad skate shop. Describing his product as “custom” doesn’t do justice to his unique business. Danny has crafted leopard print and magenta high-top Vans, black glittery Converse, Nike Air Force Ones, knee-high Doc Martens, and more into functional and formidable skates.
He officially went full time with OLOPM four months ago and the orders have not stopped. He designs every stitch from the custom plate that supports the foot to the toe stop or lack thereof.
For anyone wanting a custom build, he requires a consultation which may last anywhere from forty-five minutes to several days depending on the customers’ needs.
His clients range from beginners, usually gifts to themselves or others, to experienced skaters like those with Chattanooga Roller Derby, Chattanooga Chicks In Bowls, and the Moonlight Roller Lounge. With a turnaround time of about two weeks, a custom sneaker skate creation starts around $280. In my opinion, priceless.
His passion for designing one-of-a-kind skates expands beyond the boot as he has one patent pending for slide blocks (which are useful for skate park rails) and just this week, he locked down his patent for a unique high heel skate design and he will start taking orders.
Even as a one-man operation, he wants to “be involved with every aspect of skating in this town” and there is no doubt that he won’t be with his big heart, small shop and massive talent.
Originally from Peru, Danny’s says he’s a traveler and fell in love with this city when he visited so he moved here in 2000. With a background in archaeology, experienced in EMS work, and after owning a home remodeling business for years, Danny was diagnosed with an auto immune disease in 2007 and began to have complications working in his labor-heavy professions.
After a really rough patch two years ago, Danny decided to pursue a less labor-intensive career path and take control of his health. Thus began the mentally stimulating hobby of piano and the physically invigorating hobby of roller skating. The passion for piano never stuck but the skating took on a life of its own.
PerpetualMotionSkates.com is more of a gallery of his works “made with devotion” where customers can be inspired to schedule a consultation. SkateBlessings.com is for quick orders of prefabricated items like wheels, bearings, candles and other logoed merchandise. As if Danny couldn’t get any more creative, he screenprints the tees himself with a rig he designed using parts from an exercise machine and pallet truck which is attached to a stove so he can cure/broil the shirts.
Follow the OLOPM Facebook page and mark your calendars to visit his booth at the Chattanooga Roller Derby’s season opener on Saturday, April 4th and for the next Outdoor Roller Skate Church on April 12th.