Off we go, scooting around. Gather speed (man, my legs are tired), one two, three, second foot on the scooter and hold “as long as it rolls” – check. I need to pause a bit in-between, but I do shoot off further away today, so that I actually have to hurry back to the instructor each time she announces a new exercise. But why walk when you can scoot.

This exercise was the basis of today’s session. We try three more combinations in varying degrees of complexity. Scoot off, both feet on the scooter, then bend one leg behind you and stand on the other one as long as you can – check. Imagine yourself looking down and, gasp, seeing a spider (bees were also suggested) on your foot and needing to shake it off.

Mostly check – not so much shake, but definitely some off. “And now,” our instructor says, “write in the air with your foot. It can be a zero, or the letter A…” I optimistically imagine myself “writing” a V, but as soon as I take off, jump on and extend my left leg, it becomes clear that I’ll have to start smaller. “A one is also OK!” our instructor shouts. A one it is. But a “quick” one, without the top bit.

At this point it starts to rain heavily and we take cover in the shed. It stops after ten minutes and we resume training. We were lucky – the kids practicing soccer in the distance were running laps with no breaks. “This next one is a partner exercise!” And for a minute we’re all in school again – because the people I would rather not partner with are eyeballing me. They rush over and start yelling something, so I pretend to be confused and ask a lady who seemed to have a sense of humour. Same – gather speed, scoot along with both feet on the scooter, during which time your partner runs alongside you and gives you math problems to solve. You do so while staying on the scooter. This is fun – I discover I’m better at speeding up and standing longer on the scooter.

The next exercise is also with a partner. Same base, only without the speed, both feet on the scooter, and as soon as you start to slow down, the partner holds you around the waist and carefully pushes. Your job is to steer. Half-check.

Last challenge: each of us gets a coloured cardboard circle which we lay on the ground. We’re supposed to ride along it, then loop back to it, and then loop from there in another direction. Brows are furrowed as we listen. “Basically make a figure 8. Small 8, large 8, doesn’t matter.” I make a whole potpourri of eights, at least as far as I can tell. Small, large, crooked, half-done, eights that fold in on each other, eights that unravel towards the end.

It rains again and we take cover. Since the clouds above still look threatening, the instructor lets us off early. But I ask for a few more minutes and do some joyful one-legged gliding.

I’m a beginner, so I signed up for a course for beginners. There’s a small butterfly fluttering in my stomach as I approach the sports center where the training takes place. Our instructor tells us to grab a scooter.

“You’ll simply do as I say. Every exercise has a purpose.” I keep a close watch on her hands and feet as she shows us the first basics – how to step on and off, how to do this with one leg crossed behind you, and how to step off with a turn. Then we start to scoot, the difficulty increasing with each exercise. I quickly discover the part that’s most fun for me – right foot on the scooter and pushing with my left. I’m careful to scoot in short bursts of speed, braking cautiously.

Within minutes most of us take off our jackets and continue to work up a sweat on the football field sized training ground. “Yes, yes, it’s exercise!” our calls instructor encouragingly. Jump on and off the scooter, holding for a few seconds – check. Scoot gathering speed, one, two, three, both feet on the scooter and hold as long as you can – check. Ride around a circle on the ground, one foot in, scooter stays outside of the circle – half check. That one was harder. Ride around small coloured circles laid out in a line on the ground, swaying the handlebar – mostly check. I look back expecting to see a mess, but the circles are still there. Push your scooter along a curvy line two times, making sure first the front and then the back wheels follow it. Scoot around in small and large circles – check. At least it felt like a circle. Gather speed, both feet on, squat once (more if you can, but I’m saving up my ambition) – check. Wow! And then the same, only standing on tiptoe instead of squatting – check.

Ride around in larger circles, not looking down, but around. Check!

Main impressions – I did not fall off, coordinating my feet around the scooter took some time, as did finding a good grip for the handlebar. “You’ll feel your leg muscles tonight”, says our instructor by the end. Oh, yes.