On The Trail

IN THIS ISSUE...

• Publisher's Message
• Skating Tip
• Until Next Time
• Advertisement

Publisher's Message

Welcome to the fifth issue of On The Trail. As you already know, the best skating happens when the trails are dry, smooth, flat, clean, and uncrowded. However, this is an ideal set of conditions.

Normally, the trail skater needs to contend with road snakes, manholes, potholes, cracks, curbs, bridges, as well as high heat and strong winds.

In today's issue, we're going to look at the adjustments you need to make to handle road snakes. They're not that common on the trails per say, but often show up on the surface of the streets in residential areas that connect one section of a trail to another.

Skating Tip

A road snake is a strip of asphalt that has been laid on a section of road to cover up a crack and smooth out the surface. Road snakes come in various shapes, but we'll focus on the longer ones that run in a vertical or horizontal direction to your direction of travel.

Road snakes become a hazard, especially in hot weather, when they become soft and tacky. They grab on to the surface of your wheels, which means your skates have a tendency to stay behind while your upper body continues as normal. This abrupt shift in momentum can cause you to fall forward. The trick is to avoid skating on top of a road snake. Here's how!

When the snake runs horizontally to your direction of travel, apply your brake to slow down. When you're about two feet in front of the snake, quickly lift your right skate off the road and place it about twelve inches out in front of you. After you clear the snake, set your right skate down on the surface and at the same time lift your left skate up off the road. After your left skate clears the snake, place it back down on the road.

If the road snake is running vertically to your direction of travel, and you need to get to the other side for whatever reason, you have to employ a slightly, different tactic. This time you need to hop over the snake in a lateral direction. Let's assume the road snake is located on your right side. Skate to within six inches of the strip and then lift your right skate about three inches in the air and set it back down on the pavement about twelve inches on the other side of the snake. Quickly lift your left skate in the air and move it to the other side. When it's close to your right skate set it back down on the pavement.

Until Next Time

When you're on a street section of a trail in the middle of the summer, keep your head up, and look for any long, black strips of asphalt on the road ahead. If you see a road snake running in a horizontal direction in front of you, lift your right skate and then your left skate in quick succession and hop over the snake. On the other hand, if the road snake is running in a vertical direction on your right or left side, hop in a lateral direction, one skate at a time, to clear the obstacle.

In the next issue, we'll look at the adjustments you need to make when skating on steeper hills. Hills are very common on a lot of trails, so it's best to have a tactic or two that you can pull out of your skills box and put to use, if and when you need to on steeper hills.

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This issue deals exclusively with a trail surface condition called road snakes. To find out how to master the T-stop for emergency stopping, the crossover turn for handling sweeping curves, the short-radius parallel turn for blading down steeper hills, as well as how to sprint to enhance your aerobic endurance, refer to Lesson #3 Advanced Trail Skating.

To find out more about this lesson, click below:


Lesson #3 Advanced Trail Skating