The Pink Forum

[rythos42]

Hey guys,

I'm new here, and still in the womb on roller skating (just paid for a pair today). I inline every weekend that isn't raining, and have been doing for for about 3 years now, so I'm no stranger to wheel-feets in a skate park. (Although I've only had aggressive inlines for less than a year, so still consider myself a beginning on them).

Where abouts do you guys skate mostly? I would love to hang out with you and see these rollerskates in action!

I'm at Kirkstone in North Vancouver most mornings, usually starting around 9:30-10am these days and going until noonish. But I'm happy to travel around if there are people.

Have a good one!

[RollerGirl]

Hey rythos42,

It is great to hear from you

We have been skating at LBC in North Van, but unfortunately it closed recently

I haven't been ramp skating too much since LBC closed as I have my hands full with roller derby!

But I plan to start doing sessions at Hastings, Bonsor and China Creek since the weather is nice these days. The crew is getting anxious to start skating again.

If you would like, I can add you to our Ramp Skating email list, that way you will be contacted when something is being planned.
_________________
RollerGirl

[rythos42]

You already did, but thanks (<-- Craig)

I look forward to hearing from you. I've never skated off of the North Shore really. Just saw a picture of China Creek last Friday - it's pretty small .

Went to Parkgate for the first time yesterday (which I notice you have a blurb about on your web page) and despite the roughness of the concrete I had a great time. That little 6-7 foot half pipe was a lot of fun . And the lack of bikes...was a pleasant surprise. Kirkstone by 11am has a couple bikes - by noon there are so many it's hard to get a line in if you aren't pushy.

[RollerGirl]

Hey Craig!

I thought it might be you

You have never skated Hastings or Bonsor? It is worth making the trip over the bridge for those two. I bring people to China Creek as a starter park for new bowl skaters. It is a great place to begin. It is also a very cool ghetto park where everyone gets along. You will find skateboards, inline skaters, bmx'ers and quad skaters there.
_________________
RollerGirl

[rythos42]

No...unfortunately not. I ..uhhh..tend to avoid new skateparks for the most part. It's not the bridge trip that's bothersome, it's more because of people . When I first started at Kirkstone I had a couple encounters that had me waking up at 8am on weekends to go skating so I could avoid people. As I get better I'm sleeping in more now. But, as I found at Parkgate yesterday, just because you're getting ok in one park doesn't mean you'll do any good at another .

Anyway, I go new places when I find someone who will go to new places with me . Hence Parkgate yesterday, a friend of mine is just getting into aggressive inlining and he was ok with going somewhere new.

I suppose it must have been the angle of the photo, but it looked like you could only barely fit one person in that bowl! (China Creek).

[RollerGirl]

You can skate anywhere you want to, don't let dumb people get in your way of having fun.

When I first started skating the parks, I got my share of funny looks(actually I still do, there aren't that many aggressive quadders around!). People laughed at me for wearing roller skates, I was even told at a few places that I couldn't skate there because I wasn't a skateboarder.....but I took it all in stride and went to all the outdoor parks and had fun even if I was a beginner. I am so happy that I didn't let other people's attitudes stop me from skating ramps. It is seriously one of the most fun things to do in the whole world!!!

The bowl at China Creek is small, only one person fits in it at time, but it still is lots of fun. It has a nice roll in, so it is great for people who don't know how to drop in.
_________________
RollerGirl

[rythos42]

No, you're right of course, but I tend to solve the problem in a particular way . I show up early, and then greet every person who enters the park. Being there before others and being friendly has gone a long way towards getting accepted by the regulars . Unfortunately it's a long process, and doesn't move very well to other places.

This is the point in the conversation where my girlfriend would call me crazy and just tell me to get out there, somewhat similarly to what you're doing . Ah well. I enjoy myself, I just tend to enjoy myself in one place at a time .

It looks like you're doing a lot towards getting more aggressive quadders (it's good that you have a distinct name for yourselves...I tell people I was "skating" this weekend and they assume skateboard...or I tell them I was inlining and they assume I was on the seawall ) out in the world. Do you have very many people who quad with you on a regular basis?

[RollerGirl]

Well, I am involved in the local roller derby league which consists of about 60 quad skaters. I skate with them about 3 times a week. Which is why I have been neglecting the ramp skating these days!

There is a group of about 13 or 14 people who are learning to skate on quads that I skate with on a semi regular basis. They have been bugging me lately to go skate Hastings and Bonsor! Aggressive Quad skaters are normally pretty rare, but thanks to roller derby leagues across North America there are lots of people starting to skate the ramps.

I am going to RollerCon (a roller derby convention in Las Vegas) in August, as part of the event they will be having a skate park tour. I will be assisting with that tour, and giving basic instruction for those that need it. It will be great because it will be aggressive quad skaters from all over the continent. I am really excited to skate with that many other aggressive quad skaters.
_________________
RollerGirl

[rythos42]

Sweet!

To me it looks like an interesting combination of inlining and skateboarding as far as wheel placement...grinding...stuff. I mean, it's like you have two skateboards strapped to your feet, so I imagine you get the carving ability of that. But you have those bigger wheels, so it's more like two longboards strapped to your feet. Then you have the agility of inlines because you don't have this plank to deal with, and your wheels come with you when you jump. The only thing that worries me a little bit, is that I noticed in Parkgate on Sunday that I lost _a lot_ of speed when I was on my fitness blades (80mm, 86a wheels) just because of the rubber/concrete gripping factor. Do you find it an issue? Perhaps not - my friend didn't seem to have a problem, but he has really strong thighs from his job, whereas I sit here at a desk all day .

Well...I look forward to falling on my ass repeatedly in short order. Seriously, I'm so stoked that I've almost let the cat out of the bag twice now (for lurkers - I bought my girlfriend roller skates for her birthday), even after I went to all that trouble of measuring her insoles to keep her from knowing!

[RollerGirl]

The Kryptonic Route wheels that come on the Streetwise are not great for skating ramps. They are too big and sticky. They are fantastic for outdoor street skating, they are fast and super smooth over rough concrete.

For speed in the bowls, I like skateboard wheels. They are light, hard and rounded (which helps for passing easily over the coping when grinding). But this type of wheel doesn't work at all outside the ramps and bowls. If you ride them on the streets they shake and rattle your bones. This is why I suggested you start with the Krypto wheels. You can learn to use them in a more recreational setting and upgrade to harder smaller wheels when you are ready to get serious about the ramp skating.
_________________
RollerGirl

[rythos42]

Ahh, good to know. Do you find that you are able to carve pretty good with the hard wheels? I found that when I switched to aggressive inlines I lost my ability to carve - but I've never really known whether it was because I lost 2 wheels per foot, or whether it was because the wheels are small and hard. (This loss is ok, because they opened up a delightful number of other interesting things).

[RollerGirl]

I never noticed any lost of carving ability with hard wheels. It is the trucks that are responsible for the ability to carve, the harder wheels just give more speed. Hard wheels are a little difficult to get used to at first because you don't have the grip that you do with soft wheels. At first it feels a little out of control but once you are used to it you will never go back.
_________________
RollerGirl