the Get Rolling Orbit

I joined co-instructor Janet Miller to teach at Hilton Head Camp Rollerblade on May 14-18, 2011.

Fourteen women aged 34 to 62 met each other for the first time to share inline instruction, smooth pavement and new friendships. Here is what they had to say in a Zephyr survey taken immediately afterwards.  Read more... (295 words, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)

Overall experience

• Camp Rollerblade was absolutely incredible and I had the time of my life. Liz and Janet were phenomenal and very supportive.
• Very good camp, perfectly suited for beginners and those with just a little experience.

Burning calves and tingly arches are very common for the beginning skater. Your muscles need time to get used to any new activity.

Your arches may cramp if:

• your feet are tensed up inside the boot,
• the boot is laced or buckled too tight, or
• you haven’t skated for a few months and your skating muscles have gotten out of shape.

A dull pain may also be the result of feeling a little scared. As a beginner, your knees may be too straight (very common) and that causes a tendency to bend forward at the waist, which forces your lower legs to work harder to support that weight.  Read more... (354 words, 1 image, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

Inline skating is a really great low-impact exercise  for aging joints. My main worry for older people, especially women, is bone density. The undeniable truth is that it’s not really a matter of if you fall, but when you fall. If you do have brittle bones or have not been exercising regularly for a few years, the impact of a fall is more likely to lead to injury. This is a serious consideration before going out and buying the gear.  Read more... (405 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

California Outdoor Rollerskating Association (C.O.R.A.)

Join a weekend of rolling fun and help Reboot Outdoor Skating on April 8, 9 & 10, 2011 in San Francisco!

C.O.R.A. the California Outdoor Rollerskating Association, is presenting a weekend of skating activities intended to mark a new beginning in the development of recreational and fitness skating in the San Francisco Bay area and beyond. Planned activities include the infamous Friday Night Skate, Saturday seminars, Saturday Night Roller Disco and Sunday Streets. To top it off, there will be a Guinness World Record attempt: the World’s Longest Skating Serpentine (a line of skaters linked hand to hand).  Read more... (664 words, 1 image, estimated 2:39 mins reading time)

In February, I joined my fellow Zephyr Adventures guides (here’s a complete list with bios) for our semi-regular guide training weekend, where we brainstormed ideas for giving even better customer service while skating the local trails and goofing off between meetings. To find out more about why we met, read Zephyr owner Allan Wright’s blog about the weekend.

I can say without reservation that nobody else I know can beat the charisma and antics of the “life-of-the-party” mates I find myself so lucky to be associated with!  Read more... (194 words, 6 images, estimated 47 secs reading time)