I don’t really know why you’d go skating when you could go cycling instead? (which is objectively waaaaaay better, obvs.)

@smudge why do you love it? (more than cycling?) Genuinely interested.

Sorry I’m not meaning to be negative here but maybe I am a bit….good luck to you 👍

I only did a couple of sessions, but I can say that as a newbie it was far more scary and felt more dangerous than MTBing.

So maybe just the ticket for thrillseekers.

This reminds me that I’ve still got my old set of Rollerblade blades back at my parent’s house, bought them in California back in 1998! Only used them for a summer before they got relegated to the cupboard, should still fit me.

Good question,

Don’t get me wrong I do also like/love mountain biking, but the ease of just keeping a pair of skates in the van and popping them on when I have a spare hour or so when I am out is probably the key for me.. I would not even look at  turning a crank over if only out for an hour tbh.

Time has been limited biking wise this year as my parter broke her hip (not from blading!) so I have been pretty much full time carer for most if it, now she has started rehab and starting small walks I can rollerblade at the same time 🙂 just making sure I don’t knock her over off course!

It’s also a great community to part off,  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a miserable skater 😉

They also do marshalled Friday Night Skates in London which I would love to one day be a part off https://youtu.be/1OEAMeY8t2A?si=qVfI4nf2zaLS8JZx

I like the Skatefresh Asha recommendation on YouTube

Edwina Ellis started skating at 69

Love her attitude. “When I get old” 👌💪

I did consider trying blades once upon a time, but never followed through, however I did buy a longboard a couple of years ago. Tried riding it, and because of my shonky left knee, and me being goofy-footed, I just couldn’t keep a steady stance on it, my knee kept wobbling and making me feel really unstable and unsafe. 🙁

I’ve now taken up archery, that just involves me standing in one spot, no danger of falling over and causing myself any more damage than I already have.

I started blading because we suddenly started a magazine about it. I bought skates, pads and guards and loved it.
The guys who taught me encouraged me to throw myself onto my knees and just slide to see how easy it was to get low and slide to a halt.
Once I felt confident, could steer well enough and could control my speed he dragged out some hockey sticks and a ball and we played VERY slow hockey. That was a real eye-opener as you were focussed on the ball and playing hockey, NOT on trying to skate. That just came as part of the deal…

Hi Eddie, was that called ‘skatermag’?
I used to roller hockey too, loved it, even if I was rubbish lol I still have my sticks somewhere too.

I bought a set 2 years back to teach myself the skills I would need for ice skating as my wife and kids can all skate. Decathlon, pads, wrist guards, they’ve sat unused hidden in my shed the entire time

Long time inline skater here, 20+ years.
Mines the “aggressive” version though i.e. skateparks etc.

Love it, though hard work making time.
I’m from the town that was discussed in that lancs telegraph online news article listed on the previous page and I can confidently say nobody else here does it (anymore).
Used to be loads in this town when I was a kid. Not generally a good look for somebody in their mid 30s but so what.
It’s hard on the body and when I was doing it regular I had a very stable and strong core and lower body. So much so that when I first started going to a gym I managed to get a 100kg squat for several repetitions within maybe 2 months of going. I stopped after that as it was boring.

Use wrist guards as that’s the first thing to break for most skaters. Helmet and kneepads also being my main forms of protection.

If there’s ever anybody in the northwest doing something then get a post up here, wouldn’t mind joining any sort of social roll about.

There’s an element of freedom to blading that doesn’t exist on any other form of sport. Being attached to you, they are a direct extension and the possibilities for movements are almost endless.

@poolman yeah I normally park up next to happy mount park and skate all the way down til the hill, the first bit and later bits are wonderful but the red section in the middle is pretty awful, I’m just hoping that it’ll all get redone when the eden bit is built!

@smudge cheers makes sense.

I bought a DJ bike recently not really knowing what I would use it for.

Turns out it’s great for the same sort of thing.

Can just go and cock about on it for an hour at the pump track or attempting/failing to manual.

A good mess about when no time for a proper ride.

smudge
Free Member
Hi Eddie, was that called ‘skatermag’?
I used to roller hockey too, loved it, even if I was rubbish lol I still have my sticks somewhere too.

Yep, Inline (in small type) SKATERMAG

@keefezza – it’s the adults only skating at Wigan rink on Wednesday 27th from 7 – pm.

I quite fancy getting skating again if you fancy it?

Anyone else interested in that? @MrSparkle – are you up for that?

@eddiebaby wow congrats, that was a brilliant magazine  👌👏 nothing really replaced it.

I wasn’t aware of the Wigan rink so might try to get over soon if I can blag an evenings dog free pass.

I’d need to arrange something for my son to not be home alone, shouldn’t be too difficult to do though.

Now try adding in hockey to the roller mix and it’s a recipe for extreme fun.

smudge
Free Member

@eddiebaby wow congrats, that was a brilliant magazine 👌👏 nothing really replaced it.

I can’t take credit for it. That was all down to Aldie Chalmers (the editor) and his missus.

@binners – I’ve not even got the skates yet! 😆

Just out of interest I had a look on a Facebook marketplace for skates. The amount of decent sets of Bauers for sale with the ‘only used once’ tag suggest many have been this way before 😂

Check out the stuttering skater on YT.

<span style=”color: #000000; font-family: Roboto, ‘Helvetica Neue’, Arial, ‘Noto Sans’, sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, ‘Segoe UI’, ‘Apple Color Emoji’, ‘Segoe UI Emoji’, ‘Segoe UI Symbol’, ‘Noto Color Emoji’;”>Just out of interest I had a look on a Facebook marketplace for skates. The amount of decent sets of Bauers for sale with the ‘only used once’ tag suggest many have been this way before 😂</span>

I got mine off ebay ‘used once’ probably by some other old duffer who broke his wrist. Not stopping me tho

Nah mate, go for it. Pat took up MTB at 60 something and still going down race tracks at 80, you’re never too young to start a new hobby!

The 360 cameras bring a new viewing dimension to the films.

Once you get addicted the N=N+1 becomes a S=S+1 🙂

Update: they’re arrived. And only took a week… thanks Yodel. :0/

I’ve already progressed from falling over in two steps in the living room (hard surface) to not falling over in the bedroom (carpet). I think that as long as I confine myself to skating in bedrooms I am going to smash this!

Its all progress, my friend 🙂

I was just about to revisit this thread actually as I’m going to head over to Wigan Rink tomorrow night (7-9) for their twice-monthly kid-free session

Anyone else fancy joining me? I’ve had a straight ‘NO!’ from Mrs Binners

This is great to hear.

My girlfriend and I made an impulse purchase at Decathlon. Our main intent was to blade down the sea front on Puerta Pollenca, north Mollarca in the summer holidays. We found roller blading the best way to get around in the 35deg heat. Lots of breeze generated for very little effort.

We purchased our blades in June and went to the local muga to practice (the cage is great for those out of control moments). We also found the pitch markings great for practicing turns, stops etc.

She used youtube, I used my experience as a kid from the 90s, I can’t believe what came back to me after 20 years!

Really good fun.