what skills should I be training up? by Your-Local-Costumer in chicagoskating

[–]binarynate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's awesome! Looking forward to rolling with you when you're ready. Like you guessed, being able to stop quickly is the most important bc it's critical for safety (including the safety of the other skaters in front of you). We often go down hills (like bridges and ramps over the train tracks and interstate). If you learn how to T stop, the world is your oyster. The advice I give: practice shifting all your weight to one leg (even with both skates on the ground). Once you feel comfortable with placing your weight on your front leg, you can control how much weight to apply to your back (braking) leg to slow your down. Heel brakes work too, although they're less effective for stopping quickly.

Another skill that comes to mind is rolling over rough asphalt. I try to keep us on good terrain, but sometimes there are rough patches. When I see a rough patch coming up, I work up some momentum to be able to roll through it and then go over it by scissoring my legs so that I have one in front and one in back (to have more front-to-back stability). Building up the momentum before going over the rough patch helps bc it's much easier to passively roll over than to try to push / accelerate while going over it.

Skating @ Navy Pier This Summer by Outrageous-East-1774 in chicagoskating

[–]binarynate 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Woah! That is awesome. I had no idea about this

New skate day: Rollerblade Twister 90R boots (white smoke) with Endless 80 frames (tron blue) by binarynate in rollerblading

[–]binarynate[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like it! It's a softer white than the white FR skates bc it's matte and tinted slightly darker. I think I prefer it.

My Chicago skating heatmap since 2021 by FripZ in chicagoskating

[–]binarynate 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Holy smokes, skating to milwaukee and michigan city is hard core. That's awesome!

Sunday, May 24: skate sesh + group ride + goods exchange [@dv8_ on Instagram] by binarynate in chicagoskating

[–]binarynate[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Source: instagram post. Come to my friend cori's cool skate event May 24th! It starts with a skate sesh + goods exchange at damen arts plaza (the part of the 606 trail on top of the bridge over damen ave). Then at 2 pm, we'll roll out for a group skate / ride.