I never learned to ride a bike and every attempt has been met with injuries as soon as I build a modicum of confidence. But I can rollerblade like nobody’s business, so I got that going for me.
I know – same! I fall constantly on traditional skates.
My wife is the opposite. She can’t figure out in-line skates, but traditional skates just work for her.
How do you slow down / stop with rollerblades? I had the reverse experience: any kind of hill, I’m fine on a bike but I always crash on rollerblades. I would love to learn though.
Most common way is to put one foot behind and angle it perpendicular to the way you going, this cause friction between the wheels and the surface causing you to slow down. Experienced rollerbladers can do this with both feet at the same time.
I’ve never really thought about it. I’m not a fancy skater – my skates do have brakes, so my technique isn’t such that I have to plan for never using them.
If I have the width I’ll slalom down hills to bleed speed - even doing little loops up the hill at the turn of each switchback to bleed off speed. If there’s not enough room to slow down, I might bomb though if it’s safe to do so (because that’s why roller blading is so fun, anyway). I might skate on one foot and drag a wheel behind or make my toes point toward each other slightly, just out of parallel - the greater the angle, the more drag the out of alignment wheels produce. I often tend to drag a wheel or use the brake, then spin to stop, before resuming.
There are other techniques for stopping or slowing down, but those are my go to’s.
I guess I also want to add that when I go out, I’m always in a helmet, knee and elbow pads, and wrist guards.
You never quite know what’s going to happen out there —
A few years ago on a wide trail, someone in front of me panicked right as I was about to pass them and they moved directly into my path. I had to bail off the trail to try to “run off” my momentum, but they stepped more into the way and caught my skate with theirs just before I could get a foot down. I wound up in a semi-uncontrolled fall that saw my wrist guards taking the brunt of a tree I was going to dodge if I’d had my feet.
Last year on a freshly paved road, my wife let out blood curdling scream from behind me as we were bombing down a hill. I swung into a power slide to stop but instead of sliding, my wheels just kept traction and I suddenly found myself heading for a curb at about 20 mph with only a few feet to maneuver. It was bad, too. Curb, couple feet of grass, then broken and uneven sidewalk, followed by mangled and rusty metal fence. Clipped the curb and went down hard on my pads and helmet – cracked my helmet on the sidewalk. Walked away fine. (Buy good helmets and always replace your helmet after a crash.) My wife was fine. She hit a small rock and panicked. Didn’t even fall.
I never learned to ride a bike and every attempt has been met with injuries as soon as I build a modicum of confidence. But I can rollerblade like nobody’s business, so I got that going for me.
I can roller blade (in-line wheels), but roller skate? Impossible. Last time I tried was a disaster, I just can’t get the hang of them.
I know – same! I fall constantly on traditional skates.
My wife is the opposite. She can’t figure out in-line skates, but traditional skates just work for her.
I had a dream I was rollerblading last night… the last time I put on roller blades was in 2006!
How do you slow down / stop with rollerblades? I had the reverse experience: any kind of hill, I’m fine on a bike but I always crash on rollerblades. I would love to learn though.
Most common way is to put one foot behind and angle it perpendicular to the way you going, this cause friction between the wheels and the surface causing you to slow down. Experienced rollerbladers can do this with both feet at the same time.
I’ve never really thought about it. I’m not a fancy skater – my skates do have brakes, so my technique isn’t such that I have to plan for never using them.
If I have the width I’ll slalom down hills to bleed speed - even doing little loops up the hill at the turn of each switchback to bleed off speed. If there’s not enough room to slow down, I might bomb though if it’s safe to do so (because that’s why roller blading is so fun, anyway). I might skate on one foot and drag a wheel behind or make my toes point toward each other slightly, just out of parallel - the greater the angle, the more drag the out of alignment wheels produce. I often tend to drag a wheel or use the brake, then spin to stop, before resuming.
There are other techniques for stopping or slowing down, but those are my go to’s.
If there was a sidewalks width path going down a hill with grass on the sides, could you go down it? Or would you have to go another way?
I crashed pretty hard doing that but I didn’t know how to slow down.
I’ll have to get some rollerblades and try those techniques on a road.
In that instance. I’d probably drag a wheel, or use the alignment of my feet to slow myself down, paired with an occasional spin stop.
That sounds super cool
I guess I also want to add that when I go out, I’m always in a helmet, knee and elbow pads, and wrist guards.
You never quite know what’s going to happen out there —
A few years ago on a wide trail, someone in front of me panicked right as I was about to pass them and they moved directly into my path. I had to bail off the trail to try to “run off” my momentum, but they stepped more into the way and caught my skate with theirs just before I could get a foot down. I wound up in a semi-uncontrolled fall that saw my wrist guards taking the brunt of a tree I was going to dodge if I’d had my feet.
Last year on a freshly paved road, my wife let out blood curdling scream from behind me as we were bombing down a hill. I swung into a power slide to stop but instead of sliding, my wheels just kept traction and I suddenly found myself heading for a curb at about 20 mph with only a few feet to maneuver. It was bad, too. Curb, couple feet of grass, then broken and uneven sidewalk, followed by mangled and rusty metal fence. Clipped the curb and went down hard on my pads and helmet – cracked my helmet on the sidewalk. Walked away fine. (Buy good helmets and always replace your helmet after a crash.) My wife was fine. She hit a small rock and panicked. Didn’t even fall.