LONDON FRIDAY NIGHT SKATE TM
& SUNDAY STROLL TM

From: Week on Wheels <wow /at/ lfns.co.uk>
Subject: [wow] Witch on Wheels: things that go Bump! in the road
Date: Thu, 26 Oct 2006 16:37:07 +0100

This Week, on Wheels -

* This week: LFNS and please be later skaters on Sunday
* Last week: Hip to be Square
* Marshal profile: Tod
* Behind the lens: our cameraman steps into the limelight
* Going that little bit faster


== THIS WEEK ==

This week we hand the LFNS back into the capable hands of
cobblemeister Markus. However, those of you expecting his usual mix of
challenging surfaces may well be disappointed. Rumours have reached us
that he's going soft in his old age and might actually have
planned a route that offers smooth surfaces. See what happens when he
steers us through Pimlico and Lambeth and on to half time at the
Elephant and Castle. The black section then runs over London Bridge
and a nice dash through the West End and back to the Park.

                                 
http://www.lfns.co.uk/route.php/20061027

The SUNDAY STROLL this week is a bit shorter than usual, to allow time
for people to get dressed up afterwards for the Halloween Skate. Under
the watchful eye of LM Dan, we'll be taking a trip of around 5 miles
around Chelsea, aiming to be back at Hyde Park between 3 and 3:30pm.

                                 
http://www.lfns.co.uk/route.php/20061029

Oh, and remember: "spring forward, fall back". No, we're not talking
about stacking while vert skating, or even about plyometric
exercises. This is your friendly reminder that the clocks go back on
Sunday, giving you an extra hour in bed. If you turn up to the Stroll
and nobody else is there, either we've cancelled it due to weather
(check the web site), or it's still only 1pm.


== HALLOWEEN SPECIAL ==

The Witching Hour approacheth - well, the street skate from hell does,
anyway.

This Sunday the HALLOWEEN SKATE takes place after the usual Stroll.
It's basically another street skate, but we get to dress up and mess
around with the tourists' heads.

Fancy dress! It's not compulsory, but you'll feel *very* out of place
if you don't. There is a prize (a special edition Swatch donated by
BigSteev) for the best costume, which will be presented at the
after-skate party. In past years the skate has been attended by
various vampires, zombies, bats, spiders, the evil Skatefresh-Twins
and even a few clergy attempting to cast the evil demons away.

The skate will assemble at the Sunday Stroll start point for a 5pm
start (remember that's 5pm GMT, not Summer Time) then a 2 hour medium
paced skate through the centre of town, and will finish at the Vic
(The Victoria, 10a Strathearn Place, W2 2NH) for a post-skate
Halloween party. The skate will be accompanied by the FireBrox playing
out all the classic Halloween tracks.

So what outlandish costume will Mozza put together? Will Sparky manage
to sell his crucifix to some poor drinker in the Vic? and will Blob
break his Pumpkin Head tryng to hockey stop?

If it's wet, dress up anyway and go straight to the Vic for the party.


== LAST WEEK ==

During last week's LFNS turned out to be a bit irrational, as it
embodied a square root of 14. The route was designed to take in 16 of
London's squares but had to be cut short due to traffic and time
constraints. We still had fun winding around 14 squares, through some
fun alleyways and a mixture of surfaces (lead marshal Sol has
obviously scouted far too many Markus routes!) . At half time our
friends from Londonskaters Freestyle Club put on a demo to entertain
us all.

And we'll spare a thought for Lead Marshal Craig, who valiantly
battled against the elements to route check last Sunday's Stroll -
unfortunately the weatherman had other ideas so not only could we not
get the route check done, but we had to send you all off to the
pub. We'll keep Craig's route stored away and we promise to bring him
back very soon to share it with you all.

== PROFILE VIEW : TOD ==

This week's profiled marshal will be leading the Halloween Skate.
He's older than most of us - in his own words he says he's "been here
since the first living thing drew its first breath, and will stay with
you until the end of Time" - obviously expecting that skating will
keep him healthy, then. Although his commanding expression makes him a
strikingly effective marshal - it's a rare cab driver that can look
him in the eye and not slow down - he does see the funny side too. In
fact, he seems to be grinning almost all the time.

He's rarely seen on skates these days, as his job involves lots of
travel all over the world to meet people. With this much to do he
doesn't have a lot of time for hobbies, although he does enjoy a game
of chess, and recommends pets for their companionship values. As he
says, "CATS. CATS ARE NICE"


== JOBE TUBE ==

And in the unsung heroes corner this week is none other than our very
own cameraman and music maestro Joby. Accustomed to being behind the
camera, we think its time to put him into the spotlight. And luckily
for us, he's branched out and lost his YouTube virginity. So far be it
for us to hide this from you. We haven't asked his permission to share
this with you, but as the old adage (which we just made up) goes, if
you put yourself out there, you deserve to be seen:

                           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XFiZdnAg9A

We expect an onslaught of new female skaters ...


== SKATING ON FLAT GROUND ==

Ever feel like the speed of the LFNS is pushing you to the edge of
your ability? Borrow a few tips from the speedskaters' book, and
with a bit of practice you'll be able to do it with your hands behind
your back ...

If your skating is self-taught, or your lessons stopped at Stride 2,
here are the three key components to an efficient stride that will get
you back to the park and back to the pub before your friends, and
without spending any time in the gym:

1) * Push sideways *. Imagine a clock face on the ground, with 12
pointing in the direction you're headed. When you push your leg out,
it should be going in the direction of 3 o'clock (or 9 o'clock, for
the left leg) - not 4 (8) and especially not 5 or 7.

2) * Carve *. This is the key. Push through the heel (not the toes),
and you will find that your skate naturally straightens up so that at
the end of the push it's pointing forwards instead of outwards. This
gives you a "higher gear" and means you can travel further on each
stride. When you practice this at slow speeds you should be able to
hear the scraping sound at the end of each stride.

3) * Straight set down *. When you put your skate on the ground, it
should be pointing straight ahead, not angled out to the side. If you
set down at an angle, one of two things happen: either you glide off
at that angle (why go sideways when you want to go forwards?), or you
carry on forwards and your skate runs halfway out from underneath you
before you start pushing on it. When you're ready to push, "open the
foot" by steering the skate slightly outwards. This will feel like
hard work when you practice it at low speeds, but it's easier when
you're moving a bit.

So is that all? We haven't mentioned cycle helmets, big wheels,
d-shaped recovery, doublepush, nutrition, or even "bending the knees"
(yes, you should, but let's not pretend it's less effort than not
bending them unless you already have monster quads) - so, obviously,
that's not all. In fact, it's a gross oversimplification, but it
should be enough to let you put some distance between yourself and the
toe flickers. If you want to find out about the rest then there's
always the LSST (our friends there remind us that if you join now your
membership will last until the end of 2007, and note that "lycra is
not compulsory" and that if you can finish a Stroll you're more than
good enough to join).

                                     http://www.londonspeedskaters.com/

And if skating on flat ground holds no challenges for you, how about
volcanoes?
                http://www.serpentineroad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5515



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