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Roll on the TraiIs
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Tune-up your Skates
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Inline Skating Lessons

Rollerblade Maintenance Lessons

Rollerblading Trail Guides

About Us

Hi! My name is Jim Safianuk, the writer of and instructor for the inline skating lessons, modules, and guides, owner of this site, and an avid skater for the past six years. I average about forty, fitness rolls each summer. In addition, I’m a certified ski instructor and racing coach in Canada.

When I’m not skating or skiing, I work as a freelance writer and web developer out of my home in Newmarket, Ontario. I’m also a co-organizer of a local inline skating club named the Toronto Trailbladers during the summer months. I like to keep in shape throughout the year so I don’t have to spend a lot of time and effort ramping up each spring and fall.

I want to thank you in advance for venturing onto this page. Your patience in reading about me is appreciated. I just thought it would be best to introduce myself so you know something about my background, why I wrote the lessons, modules, and guides, and the goals I hope to achieve with the site.

Filling a Void

I decided to write and publish the skating lessons and modules because I wanted to fill a void that I feel exists in recreational skating. The lessons, For Beginners Only, Intermediate Trail Skating, and Advanced Trail Skating give the novice, inline skater a complete package so he or she can progress in a continuous manner. It has been our experience that too many skaters give up early, lose confidence after one season, or take way too long to advance in the sport. The above series was designed to address these needs and to take the recreational skater from the schoolyard to the trails in one season.

In addition, too many inline skaters tend to plateau out at the intermediate level. The intermediate and advanced trail skating lessons are geared to helping these inliners improve their technique, tactics, and skills so they become more effective and efficient skaters over longer distances and in varied terrain. The skater also learns to impart an element of style and fluidity to his or her skating, as well as how to improve his or her fitness level.

We also decided to add two skate maintenance lessons dubbed, Basic Maintenance and Advanced Maintenance for weekly inspections and annual tune-ups, respectively. It has been our experience that a lot of recreational skaters don’t know how to keep their equipment in top running condition. The major reason is that they just lack the necessary knowledge.

The first lesson shows the inline skater how to check and get acquainted with the various parts of his or her skates, while the second lesson delves deeper into wheel and brake inspections and replacements, as well as bearing inspection, cleaning, lubrication, and replacement. In this way, the inline skater can keep his or her skates in prime running order and maximize his or her performance while trail skating.

Enter the Inline Skating Center

The objective of the Inline Skating Center is to build a community of like-minded inliners who aspire to become fit, expert, trail skaters. Our vision is to expand the site into a hub where skaters can come to read an article, pick up a lesson or trail guide, or select an accessory for his or her particular brand of skates.

To further this end, we’ll be adding more articles and trail guides in the future, as well as kits containing tools and spare parts like wheels, bearings, and brakes, so you can do your own skate maintenance, when needed.

Pictures from the Present

I included the section, Pictures from the Present, to put a face to the person behind the pen. These pictures were taken for demonstration purposes to augment the written instructions for the heel stop, parallel turn, and speed skater’s stride and glide maneuvers in the skating lessons.

We have inline skating articles posted on the site. Here are the topics that we’ve covered so far:

To view, print, or use one or more articles on your web site and/or in your newsletter, click the Article Index button:

Article Index

We want to forge partnerships with related sites!

To add your link to our directory in exchange for a link on your site back to us, click Links Directory for instructions:

Links Directory

Visit us often to see what’s new in the world of inline skating. To add our site to your Favorites, click the link below:

Don’t forget to bookmark us! (CTRL-D)

We would really appreciate it if you told other inline skaters about our site. To tell your friends, just click below. Thanks!

Tell a Friend

Are you looking for a place to skate when you’re on vacation? The Inline Skating site at About.com has a category called the Best Places to Skate.

Over the coming months they’re going to feature the best of the best in the US and Canada. You’ll want to bookmark the site and check in before you head out on vacation.

Best Places