Ghana Speedskaters Need You

June 26th, 2010

Using the Inline Planet Skaters social network, I have been corresponding with Paul Korankye in Ghana, Africa for the past year. Although he’s only 20 years old, he is as passionate about his speed skating group as he is about his Christianity. Last year I sent them a carton of Get Rolling books, plus a few stickers and other spare skating-related items.

I have been deleting spam from Nigeria for years, and I encountered many opportunists in my trip to Tanzania in February, so I react with suspicion to requests from Africa. But it is clear from our exchanges on the Inline Planet community and the photographs under his profile that Paul and his team are definitely enthusiastic about this sport!  Read more... (333 words, 1 image, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

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New Orbit Blog Ends Get Rolling Drought

June 26th, 2010
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Downtown Nantucket Town, the day before our Zephyr Skating Adventure was to begin

I apologize for the lack of fresh Orbit newsletter stories I normally use to keep the Get Rolling home page fresh and interesting. Since my last Orbit announcement, my active lifestyle and passion for travel and being outdoors were in direct conflict with the hours of PC face time needed to generate, illustrate, index and announce a quarterly batch of stories.  Read more... (328 words, 1 image, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)

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4XS Brake Technology Update

June 26th, 2010

Last year I conducted a small survey asking people “How much extra would you pay for a new pair of skates if they had the 4XS installed? ” referring to a new cuff-activated braking technology I tested and loved.  I am still getting a trickle of responses, with the overwhelming majority willing to pay at least $20 more — and a few who said they’d pay $100!

Latest 4XS disk brake prototype  Read more... (194 words, 1 image, estimated 47 secs reading time)

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Support Your / Our Trails!

June 21st, 2010

In northern California where I live, the East Bay Regional Park District maintains miles and miles of multi-use trails that residents use for recreation, commuting and exercise. When I relocated from Alameda County to Contra Costa county, I was sad to leave the Alameda Creek Trail behind but ecstatic to find the Iron Horse Trail, a converted rail trail that Dan and I use on a weekly basis. We are so devoted to persuading others to come out and play on skates that we maintain a website called CASkating.com with these trails plus over 300 other routes in our home state.  Read more... (306 words, 1 image, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)

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Posted in Fitness, Sk8 Links, Skating | 1 Comment »

Skating in Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard

June 21st, 2010

I felt extremely lucky to be a co-guide for Zephyr Adventures’ Nantucket & Martha’s Vineyard Skate Tour from June 6-10, 2010. Despite thunder and lightening and epic downpours, we managed to skate nearly all of the planned routes on both islands. What a fantastic place to skate!

The ever-changing weather painted some unforgettably beautiful skies that week. The springtime blossoms were perfect in their freshness and and the bleached sand beaches were simply dreamy. Although my duties kept me very busy for over a week, I made time to capture some of these images to share with those who have not had a chance to discover the wonders of skating on these two historic New England hideaways.  Read more... (252 words, 9 images, estimated 1:00 mins reading time)

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Rollerblade Spark Pro Review

June 20th, 2010

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I really like my new skates, the women’s model of the Rollerblade Spark Pro.

A box arrived mid winter when the days were short, the pavement wet and the season’s snow skiing  was at is best. By May, I’d barely gotten the chance to try them out with a decent pair of replacement insoles. (Customizing the foot bed is a standard with me; I get the feeling skate manufacturers expect users to toss away their wimpy stock insoles.)

 Read more... (393 words, 1 image, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

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Notes from Mammoth Lakes California on Memorial Day Weekend – Part Two

June 1st, 2010

On Sunday morning we carved turns on the east-facing corduroy groomed slopes until the surface became perfectly buttery. By 9:30 it was beginning to ripen all over the mountain, and the next two hours were “magic time” where every turn made us feel like the best skiers in the world!  We continued to follow the sun as it gradually softened the hard snow on the western slopes of Mammoth Mountain. By early afternoon, it finally became too soft to be enjoyable and we decided to quit so we could save our legs for more fun on Monday.  Read more... (266 words, 2 images, estimated 1:04 mins reading time)

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Notes from Mammoth Lakes California on Memorial Day Weekend

May 28th, 2010

Friday: Despite temps in the low 40’s it is beautiful weather here. Dan and I expect to ski for the next 3 days because there’s plenty of snow. With daylight saving time, the days are long and the skiing ends early, leaving lots of time for other outdoors recreation. The night life here is just as fun as the day life.

image  Read more... (367 words, 3 images, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

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Unchained!

May 23rd, 2010

Living with a Techie definitely has its advantages.

My work has intruded in to my home office, where I have less ability to tear myself away and get a breath of fresh air in our beautiful backyard habitat.

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But we are entering a new era!  Read more... (319 words, 1 image, estimated 1:17 mins reading time)

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Lefties! How To Swap Your Heel Brake

May 18th, 2010

Which foot leads when you pull on a pair of pants, start up a stairway or kick a ball? Do you have an injury that changed your original habits? Could you be one of those oddballs who is right handed but left footed?

Knowing the answer to this question is very important to the first-time skater. Since new skates are always sold with the brake mounted on the right, left-footed beginners never find out that swapping the brake would make it ten times easier to learn the essential safety skills of braking and preventing unwanted speed.  Read more... (331 words, 9 images, estimated 1:19 mins reading time)

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