Dave Plonka's %body

Inline Skates

Inline Skating Around the World

Inline Skating Around the World
    London
    Tokyo
    Atlanta
    San Francisco
    Vienna
    San Diego
    Cannes
    Nice
    Las Vegas
    Minneapolis
    Vancouver
    Paris
    Dallas
    Montreal
    Chicago
    Los Angeles

I enjoy recreational inline skating (a.k.a. "roller-blading"), especially when visiting cities around the world. Very many large cities have organized, weekly (though sometimes seasonal) skates. Just search the web to find when and where, then pack your skates or rent when you get there. It's a great way to see a lot at a quick pace while also meeting the locals and other visiting skaters. I've included some photos and notes on some of my skates below.

By the way, please wear protective gear. If you can't be convinced that you need it, then do this if only to set a good example. Especially on unfamilar streets, skating requires precautions. I've seen other skaters break their bones on what would otherwise have been awesomely fun street skates, simply because their lack of pads caused them to decide to fall wrong, rather than to their hands and knees.

I always wear wrist guards and knee pads. On night skates, be sure to wear lights. I use a flashing clip-on red bike tail-lamp, a reflective/flashing arm band, and sometimes a white head lamp - available where bike or outdoor accessories are sold. Also, note that some well organized skates require participants to wear helmets.

To pack my skating gear, I just use a large upright zippered Samsonite suitcase with large skate-wheel type rollers. The skates in a shoulder bag and equipment (including helmet) takes up about a third of the space, and then I have room left for clothes for 5-7 days.

London

In August 2001, I had a great time on the Wednesday and Friday London skates with hundreds of other skaters. This was my first skate outside the U.S. and I was introduced to it thanks to a local skater that went out of her way to let me know when I was just sitting in a hotel lobby. I'm forever grateful because it got me started on this extra fun while traveling.

If you're a skater and find yourself in London, check out these awesome skate events:
http://www.londonskate.com
http://www.londonskaters.com/misc/london_skate_links_night_skates.htm

Tokyo

In Tokyo, July 2002, I did a very friendly daytime street skate on Sunday called the City Run. The other skaters (about 25 total) were wonderful hosts. It was damn hot - something like 90 degrees Farenheit and very humid. We made many stops to fill up on fluids, and I got the impression that they often stop at an establishment (such as Starbucks!) along the way to eat and drink.

Also, there's nothing like being able to impress people solely based on the size of your skates! (Yes, I was the largest one there ;^)

Atlanta

I did a night street skate in Atlanta in November, 2002. This turned out to be interesting because, since I didn't realize that the locals thought the weather to be quite cold, only hard-core (mostly speed) skaters turned out. I could barely keep up with them, and we ended up playing roller-soccer on campus instead of returning to the starting point. This was a bit of a surprise for a visitor who doesn't know the local streets, so I begged a ride back to the starting point from a local skater at the end of the evening. Suffice to say, beware of supposed recreational skates during the off-season. I was in over my head, and a small group doesn't lend itself to much social interaction simply because there were few like-minded skaters.

San Francisco

In March 2003, I skated in San Francisco. I stayed in Golden Gate Park, though, because of the city's hills. I saw one street skater grabbing on to the cable cars, but that's a little too risky or me.

Vienna

Vienna has an awesome street skate on Friday nights. I was there in summer of 2003. The skate is actually affiliated with the Green (political) Party, and therefore has police escorts and such. Nice trick!

The local skaters were friendly, and took me out for beer at the outdoor garten in front of the city hall afterwards. Unfortunately, one of the local skaters I met fell (tripped on a rail for their trolley/train), and was left with a broken collar-bone. This was a good reminder to wear protective gear. Note that after Atlanta, I learned to were a helmet on night street skates, especially on streets unfamiliar to me.

San Diego

In August 2004, I skated in San Diego. Specifically, I skated San Diego Bay, then from there to the requisite Mission Beach area, and also some street skating to and from the Gaslamp Quarter. I don't recommend the street skate between the bays - there's a lot of cracked sidewalks and a busy 45 MPH road seemed to be the only direct path.

This site has some great maps for skates in San Diego:
http://www.sk8.org

On a subsequent trip I'd like to find if the Gilman bike path from Mission Bay to the University of California San Diego (UCSD) campus is skatable.

Cannes

This is the promenade along the beaches in Cannes. I skated here in September 2004. It's shorter and not as wide as the Promenade de Anglais in Nice (below), but it's a good skate and lots of great scenery.

This site has some skating info for Cannes:
http://www.cannesroller.com/

Nice

Here I'm on the Promenade de Anglais (the English Promenade) in Nice, September 2004. This is a great place to skate, with bike lanes. And the best of all, on a warm day like this, you take a dip in the sea afterwards to cool down.

This site has some skating info for Nice:
http://www.nice-roller-attitude.com/

Las Vegas

In January, 2005 I skated the strip in Las Vegas. If you've been there, you might wonder how one manages that with all the traffic. Well, you start by going out at 6AM; seems like this is about the low point for pedestrian traffic. Unfortunately I found it also to be the time the city workers are washing the sidewalks - so there were some slippery spots on the unusual surfaces, such as the wooden walks in from of Treasure Island.

As I read on the web, I found Vegas isn't much of an inline skating town, at least not for street or night skating. When it thins out, traffic is too fast on the strip, and the sidewalks are really pedestrian oriented. There are a few nice places, like the broad walk in front of the Bellagio and some of the circuitous routes around fountains and such.

Minneapolis

How does one manage to inline skate in Minneapolis in the winter? You skate indoors at the Metrodome, of course! Information about RollerDome can be found at http://www.roller-dome.com.

I skated there in March, 2005. There's a lot of turning left, sort of like Indy car racing, especially since the concrete floor in the hallways is exceptionally smooth encouraging you to skate fast. This was a night for adults only. It was as if there were three lanes, speed skaters on the inside, and medium and slower skaters in the middle and outside, respectively. It was fun, and a nice bout of exercise out of the freezing cold.

Vancouver

I skated in Vancouver, B.C. in June, 2005. One of the best places to skate is Stanley Park, but there are nice bike paths along the harbor, beaches, and False Creek too. You can put it all together into a reasonably long route.

Paris

I skated the huge Pari-Roller on a friday evening in late July, 2005. The biggest one yet and about 3 hours long - it was great fun! I tried to do this event on two consecutive fridays in 2002, but both were rained out. Not this time though! ;-)

Dallas

I did the Tuesday Night Street Skate in Dallas, Texas in March, 2006. It was cold (about 45 degrees F) so only a few skaters turned out but they were great hosts and I got a couple hour tour of the city. They knew the route and the street light timing so well that we could cruise down some hills and right through the intersections. ;-)

Montreal

I attempted to do Roller-Montreal's thursday night group skate in Montreal, Quebec in July, 2006. It was hot (about 32 degrees C) and very humid. Perhaps that was why no one from the group showed at the meeting spot I found on their web site. Oh well, I skated along the Lachine canal paths on my own. The paths are a bit rough for skating due to cracks running length-wise and some upheaval of the asphalt from tree roots and such. It's tolerable but more a bike path than skating path. I saw some nice things along the way such as kayakers and dragon boat teams practicing.

Chicago

I skated Chicago's lakefront path in July, 2007. The path is used heavily by bicyclists and runners as well, but is decent for skating in the off hours. I've heard the path is about 18 miles in total. Chicago has a street skate on some friday evenings in summertime but, alas, that was the one day of the week I wasn't in town. Check the National Skate Patrol Chicago's Chicago Road Rave and Thirstydog for details.

Los Angeles

I joined the L.A. Friday Night Skate in June, 2008. We did a Santa Monica route that night. What a great group of friendly folks! We even skated an eight-story parking structure, to the dismay of the police who tried to put the kibosh on that.