Roller Skating

Anoneemoose · 27 June 2013 at 10:29PM

Hi,

I just wondered if anyone had any opinions on this...I would love to try roller skating again as I loved it as a child. I have found a club I can go to that is suitable for beginners but it is only one hour a week. If I like it, i would like to use it as a fitness tool.

My question is, do you think it would be safe to skate in a public park for e.g? We have a lovely park near us with great flat areas but I wod be a bit worried about kids etc being silly and knocking me over or something?? I suppose if I went during the day then there would be others about so probably unlikely.

Not sure if I would look a bit of a clip (37 yr old woman skating on her own)!

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flea72 · 27 June 2013 at 11:07PM

I would say, if the park allows cycles, then skating should be ok. However you will need different wheels for indoor and outdoor skating, as rinks dont like dirty wheels on their floors

mystra · 28 June 2013 at 2:08PM

Anoneemoose wrote: »

Hi,

I just wondered if anyone had any opinions on this...I would love to try roller skating again as I loved it as a child. I have found a club I can go to that is suitable for beginners but it is only one hour a week. If I like it, i would like to use it as a fitness tool.

My question is, do you think it would be safe to skate in a public park for e.g? We have a lovely park near us with great flat areas but I wod be a bit worried about kids etc being silly and knocking me over or something?? I suppose if I went during the day then there would be others about so probably unlikely.

Not sure if I would look a bit of a clip (37 yr old woman skating on her own)!

go for it - make sure you invest in some decent safety gear - especially knee pads and wrist guards.

Wheels wise you will want something soft to absorb all the bumps etc that even the most kind of outdoor surfaces can offer you. My favourites are Hyper Rollos and Kryptonic Trues (but they are discontinued, but you may find some second hand on ebay)Often the wheels that come with skates are very hard and designed for indoors.

(Sorry just realised you may mean roller blading, I'm talking about quad skates, but hey there's the info either way!

)

Anoneemoose · 28 June 2013 at 7:57PM

Thank you for the replies.

I think i might bite the bullet. I shall have a look at skates now. Do want quads, not inline.

Are there any other brands you can recommend if I can't find the ones you mentioned?

Thanks again!

vasseur · 3 July 2013 at 9:54PM

Just wanted to say go for it! I started roller skating again last summer after a break of about 30 years and within 10 minutes i was skating as fast as I was when i was 10. Best thing is my daughter is now hooked on skating and we are both now learning to skate backwards (and I am 41!!).

We usually go to an organised indoor session but last weekend we were bored so went to our local promenade and skated there. It is much harder work, the slightest slope is very noticeable (watch the downhills too!) and look out for small stones as they can cause a bit of a wobble.

I'm no expert on makes but I know that Bauer are good.

All in all I love it as it's so much fun you don't realise you're exercising.

sarah_2-2 · 9 July 2013 at 10:51PM

Agreed, I'd just give it a go! I taught myself to rollerblade as an adult about 10 years ago (in the local park) and haven't really done much since (so am still a little wobbly) but I went again yesterday morning and loved it! I wouldn't worry about other people, so long as you can laugh at yourself and have fun while doing it, you'll be fine. Enjoy it!

bagby · 10 July 2013 at 1:03AM

My son plays roller hockey but plenty of girls play as well. So if you or child get bored skating give roller hockey a go. It's a fast and very exciting game. We find that once the kids start playing they continue with it [what I mean is its not like other sports when the kids do it for a few months then give up). Most of our kids start then carry on until adulthood. We sometimes lose a few when they leave school and start to go out with mates but the majority stay. There are quite a few teams in Peterborough and Kent area and also halifax Manchester and Middlesbrough. We need more people joining the sport. I love it much better than watching football.

mystra · 10 July 2013 at 3:02PM

Anoneemoose wrote: »

Thank you for the replies.

I think i might bite the bullet. I shall have a look at skates now. Do want quads, not inline.

Are there any other brands you can recommend if I can't find the ones you mentioned?

Thanks again!

Basically all wheels come with a durometer rating - you want a wheel which is 78a ideally for outdoors skating.Hyper Rollos are available most skate shops online etc, Kryptonic make a few other outdoor wheels besides the Trues (the discontinued ones). Look for the 78a though and i doubt you will go far wrong

tuppy123 · 11 July 2013 at 12:18PM

I am 43 years old and go roller skating at a local rink every Sunday evening. I used to skate regularly when I was a teenager and only stopped when the rink closed down. It has now re-opened in a different location and I absolutely love it. It's great fun and great exercise too. My family now come with me and they are all good skaters. We all have our own skates and it's the one thing we do as family.

Go for it!! Love to know how you get on.

23rdspiral · 8 September 2013 at 8:40PM

I re-took up roller skating at age 31, I've been skating for a year and a half and Love it!
I started with a local roller derby teams intake programe... 6 weeks of how to skate instruction. I'm still with them, learning to play roller derby. I also have cheaper skates with hyper Rollos (78a duro), and skate in the park. I do wear my pads & mouth guard at the park though.
So maybe google Roller Derby in your county... It's the fastest growing female sport in the world!
(men do play too, there's some men's teams & a few co-ed teams)

shmeeko69 · 10 September 2013 at 10:44AM

You should go for it and build your confidence up. Whether you want to use a public park or somewhere with a good stretch of even ground to practise and hone you skills is up to you.

It amazes me that, there aren't more people roller skating in the UK, as the freedom and general good feeling it gives you are superb. If you go to the States especially LA - Venice Beach, there are hundreds of people all different ages, shapes and sizes roller skating/blading.

Roller Skating

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