Hi, Nazar! This part “For the next 18 years I didn’t have any rollerblades, but I did occasionally skate on ice, maintaining the feeling that “I know how to skate“.” Really resonated with me. I grew up playing competitive travel ice hockey and to this day I throw on my roller skates to reassure myself that I still know how to skate! Great article!! 🙌🏼
So you don’t skate on ice any more? It’s pretty different from rollerblading in many aspects, especially sliding. Even after being very good on rollerblades I couldn’t do a parallel stop on ice at all. Had to learn it from scratch. So I feel like they only share the foundation, like balancing and muscle strength. The rest is quite different.
Skating in rain is still very much not recommended, mostly for 2 reasons:
It’s very slippery, so it’s much easier to fall
Water destroys bearings
I remember there were rain-friendly wheels, with particularly strong grip that makes them usable on wet surfaces, like Powerslide Torrent.
For the bearings - in principle there are some rustproof versions that can survive the rain, but water will inevitably push the lubricant out. So you’d need to lubricate them to keep rolling smoothly.
Hmm, then I would learn to skate in a skatepark. I know there an amazing one by the bridge with a stunning view. In a skatepark you can compress 365 days of joy into 175 days of proper thrill 👌🏼
Maybe Italy relaxed me too much, but when it rains - I choose couch 🙂
It's possible, but you do need a specialized setup. MPC Storm Surge wheels, any rustproof bearings, and a thick marine grease did it for me. It can still be quite slippery depending on the surface, but once you get used to it and get more comfortable with skating in general, it's actually not that bad. I'd recommend re-learning to skate while it's dry though.
Hi, Nazar! This part “For the next 18 years I didn’t have any rollerblades, but I did occasionally skate on ice, maintaining the feeling that “I know how to skate“.” Really resonated with me. I grew up playing competitive travel ice hockey and to this day I throw on my roller skates to reassure myself that I still know how to skate! Great article!! 🙌🏼
Interesting. It’s exactly the same but inverted 🙂
So you don’t skate on ice any more? It’s pretty different from rollerblading in many aspects, especially sliding. Even after being very good on rollerblades I couldn’t do a parallel stop on ice at all. Had to learn it from scratch. So I feel like they only share the foundation, like balancing and muscle strength. The rest is quite different.
And thank you for reading! 🙌🏼
I loved skating as a teenager! I almost got inspired to try again by reading your post :)
One thing I remember about my skates is that you couldn't skate in the rain - have they invented the waterproof skates yet?
I’m glad it made you almost inspired 🙃
Skating in rain is still very much not recommended, mostly for 2 reasons:
It’s very slippery, so it’s much easier to fall
Water destroys bearings
I remember there were rain-friendly wheels, with particularly strong grip that makes them usable on wet surfaces, like Powerslide Torrent.
For the bearings - in principle there are some rustproof versions that can survive the rain, but water will inevitably push the lubricant out. So you’d need to lubricate them to keep rolling smoothly.
So with enough dedication, it’s possible
Thank you! Yeah, I remember once being caught out in the rain and having to put lubricant on all the bearings afterwards :)
In Luxembourg it rains 190 days per year, so the bike+rain gear gets used fairly often...
Hmm, then I would learn to skate in a skatepark. I know there an amazing one by the bridge with a stunning view. In a skatepark you can compress 365 days of joy into 175 days of proper thrill 👌🏼
Maybe Italy relaxed me too much, but when it rains - I choose couch 🙂
It's possible, but you do need a specialized setup. MPC Storm Surge wheels, any rustproof bearings, and a thick marine grease did it for me. It can still be quite slippery depending on the surface, but once you get used to it and get more comfortable with skating in general, it's actually not that bad. I'd recommend re-learning to skate while it's dry though.
Thank you for the advice!
Thank you for reading. Did you think about starting yourself?