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From barely walking to Skates on the Haight

Throughout his childhood Cole was clumsy. Although he participated in a variety of events, including swimming and track, Cole was never quite adept at any of them. Then, at age 18, he developed a strange disability, preventing him from lifting his left leg at all. Walking was no longer a possibility for Cole.

Desperate, he consulted doctors throughout the area. These doctors tried various kinds treatment on Cole. Nothing seemed to work. They weren't even able to diagnose the ailment. The doctors all gave Cole the same advice: "Live with it."

But Cole wasn't the kind of guy who could live with not being able to walk.

"I wanted to walk. I just wanted to walk," said Cole. He began to research, scanning through books for an answer. Cole was so determined to walk again that he began to train himself physically in every way possible. Every day he was doing as many as 300 sit-ups, but nothing he did seemed to help.

"I became depressed," he said. "Everyone gets down when they're held back in their attempts for progress." Cole still required the aid of a cane in order to get around.

Fifteen years ago, during the winter, Cole was visiting Death Valley, a popular tourist place for old people suffering from ailments such as arthritis.

"The crisp air was great," said Cole. He watched the old people and noticed that they all seemed to suffer from the same disability that he was suffering from. He set out to find out what was wrong with him. Cole's research eventually led him to his revolutionary "3/32nd solution."

The "3/32nd solution" proposes that lengthwise, the human legs are usually equal. However, the pelvis in every human is tilted, making the right leg "functionally shorter." This skeletal feature gives an advantage to people who are right-handed. They are able to use the longer left leg as a brace for performing various functions. But left-handed people find themselves at a disadvantage because they are using the functionally shorter right leg. Cole, being both left-handed and tall (being tall often leads to weaker, thinner bones), believed that this was the source of his problem.

In order to correct it, he used a boost on his right shoe (3/32 of an inch long). Thus, Cole was able to raise the level of his right foot in order to establish a physical balance between his right and left legs. By doing so, at age 35, Cole re-taught himself to walk.

One day in 1986, he was taking a leisurely walk with his cane through Golden Gate Park when, "My left leg suddenly jumped up," said Cole. This boosted Cole's hopes of becoming physically whole again. Finally, Cole's efforts were paying off.

Now he is up and running. In 1974, Cole saw an ad, posted on a bulletin board at SF State, selling a small roller skate store. Cole removed the ad from the bulletin board to eliminate further competition. He didn't want other interested people to try to buy the store. Cole ended up being the only person who showed up for the interview. He bought the store for $3,000. From there, his business took off.

Coles' Skates-on-Haight delivers sports equipment to customers all around the world. He has established two stores, one in North San Francisco, 1818 Haight Street, and the other in South San Francisco, 384 Oyster Point Boulevard.

David Miles, head of the California Rollerblading Association, said, "Big companies like Big Five and Any Mountain are sprouting up in his area. Lee Cole had to stay innovative in order to stay on top. He has done that very well."

Cole has competed in rollerblading races which sometimes exceed 50 miles. He also participated in this year's "Bay to Breakers," finishing 767th out of approximately 70,000 participants. Amazingly, Cole completed the 7 1/2 mile run in 54 minutes and 33 seconds.

"Not bad for a 45-year-old man who couldn't walk until he was 35," laughed Cole.