West El Paso’s ‘Slick Rick’ skates his way into neighborhood fame

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Ricky Delgadillo didn't just learn to Rollerblade — he fell in love with it.

After five years of skating, he's become West El Paso's local celebrity, known to neighbors and fellow skaters alike.

"Slick Rick. And sometimes people call me, and this other guy calls me Ricky Blades," he said.

Ricky says the skating keeps him grounded in his own way.

"It keeps me... kinda, kinda, kinda grounded. Like, not grounded at home, but, like, it keeps me busy," said Rick.

While most of us are stuck in traffic, Ricky's last five years have been full of laps and waves as the neighborhood's friendly "Ricky the Rollerblader."

Ricky still remembers his very first day skating back in 2018, at a Rhinos game.

"They have this thing called, like, skating with the players, so I, that's where I learned to skate on ice," he said.

What started as a fun hobby quickly turned into something bigger.

"I eventually taught myself how to Rollerblade because I figured, you know what? I might want to try a rollerblading because they're basically the same," Ricky said.

Today, Ricky is the local celebrity the neighbors look forward to seeing — and even the heat can't keep him off his blades.

"Everybody's been telling me, Ricky, you need to stay hydrated. You're going to, we don't want you to pass out. So that's just a way of them saying we care about you, Ricky, and we can't lose our rollerblader," Ricky said.

So next time you're in West El Paso, keep an eye out.

From one night at a Rhinos game to almost every day on the streets of West El Paso, Ricky's been gliding ever since.