It was once said long ago, "flying without feathers is not easy; my wings have no feathers." You can prove this old passage quite easily these days with a trip to the famous Santa Monica Pier. Actually, you can make the same trip and same affirmation in just about any major U.S. city where trapeze schools have become the new playground for all things extreme and for that matter all things possible, even for an old ballplayer like me.

We set out on our assignment on a golden fall morning, daring and dressed to fly through the air above the famous pier. Wedged between the age-old arcade with bells and whistles blaring, hot dog smells drifting from the snack bars and beach-side rollercoaster, the 'Trapeze School New York' welcomes any and all to this famous Southern California landmark. Started upstate in the 'Empire State' a few years back, the motto is "forget fear, worry about the addiction." I can agree with at least part of it...forget fear...but I was more intense on making my first trick, than planning any return trip. You'll see from our report and from our pictures, that in fact my 215 pound, six-foot-three body was caught, by a very strong man. Maybe I can start planning that return trip after all.

The classes run about 2 and a half hours, with most schools charge around $50 per class/session. Surprisingly, you don't have to be a little, athletically strong, or even young to take part. Ages, sizes and physical fitness vary widely and our class was no exception. Ten of us went through a half hour of ground training, then latched in, chalked up and climbed the ladder about 40 feet or so into the air. Our toes hang just over the edge, arms locked onto the bar and chest pushed far forward. Ahead the stunning Santa Monica mountains and coastline. Below netting stretched to catch and tourists snapping photos mouths agape...obviously thinking we are professional or something.

Oh brother, here I go!

Beth , one of instructors, yells out "HEP"...and with that I jump and swing out across the pier at a speed much faster than I could have prepared for. Your heart races as the bar reaches its apex and in what seems like Yoga at 40 feet, you pull your legs into your chest and then bend them over the bar. In the meantime you swing back towards the platform, the maneuver has to come quick because as the bar swings back out towards the beach once more, you are supposed to bend backwards, let go of the bar and reach towards the sky, legs still wrapped around the bar. Why am I doing this again?!

By the third run of bar bending, the area behind my knees was killing me. As the instructor explained, it's not a normal place to hold your weight, but you'll get used to it. Used to it we did and we ended the session with an actual trick. That reach we practiced becomes a grab and yes I actually let go and swung free of the bar, holding on to our brave and visibly strong catcher....Randy.

As he hangs on, I swing out now fully extended even further across the netting. I noticed some tourists stare in amazement, yep the tall guy somehow got caught. Now all I could think about was sticking the landing into the net, without looking any more awkward than I already have.

From below, Fox photographer Eric Barnes grabs all the images and producer Nicole Busch already successful in her catch, watches with the others. I had to make this one look good and I had to walk away knowing that I wasn't the only one in the class not to pull the trick off. Thankfully....on try two....I had my hands in the right place and Randy held on.

In our class others out for the first time and several back for more. Including a Magali Boniface, who moved from France to the states a couple of years ago when her husband received a job transfer to the Golden State. Magali, a mother of two, dreams of spending a summer in a traveling circus and even her husband and young kids are a bit jealous. She flips and dives, obviously well more advanced than those of us in the beginning stages of aerial acrobatics. She says it reminds her of days when she was a gymnast, the muscles behind my knees ache even more. We never had to do this on the diamond!

So, while the circus may be in her near future and not in mine, at the very least a return trip to the pier for another class is more than a possibility. We walked away...a bit sore....and have the pictures and video to prove it!

In fact, here is a video of what it is like to swing on the pier. This video grabbed by one of our instructors Effe, who also mans our safety harness. FLYING OVER THE PIER VIDEO

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So now along with our crews we have run with the bulls, been inside a shark tank in the middle of the ocean with great whites, learned how to bull fight without swords or kills, swam with the dive team under the port of Los Angeles and flew with the Blue Angels. Blessings....all.