CSIT RTW Bulletin #20: May 2002

Re: Skate To Work

Unaware that two expert skaters had recently joined DCS, I thought I'd give it a go late last spring. Apart from the element of fun and the challenge of skill, I thought it might also be viable for commuting. And this would give a break from the psychological (and to some extent physiological) staleness that comes from doing the same route and form of exercise 10x a week.

Well, it certainly meets these ends: skating at about 60% of riding speed, over a 10km journey, still works out to be a reasonable time (but then it takes an extra 5 mins gearing up). As a form of exercise, it combine the best elements of running (more balanced use of major muscle groups) and cycling (low impact on joints, at least while upright!).

But, it certainly is more dangerous, and a bad fall (or worse) is of much higher probability. So I (pain)fully second Pascal's recommendation of safety gear, and would also recommend (from experience!) hip pads. Unable to buy shorts with hip pads, I ended up improvising some that fold over briefs.

Despite the term `T-Brake`, there seems to no (painless:) way of coming to a quick stop, so really the T-Brake or (my favourite) short slalom turns should be thought of as ways of controlling speed. And the faster one goes, the harder it gets... So when going downhill and negotiating road crossings, one needs to maintain a sufficiently low speed to be able to avoid the unexpected!

I'd also second Pascal's recommendation on the price for skates of commuting quality: quality is important and you will have to pay for it! And also the running costs are significant: my 1st set of $100+ 80mm wheels are approaching the end of their life, after less than 500 km :(. Maintenance is also significant: a wheel rotation is required at about every 40 km, and a bearing service (recommend using the specialized `K-tool' and a bread knife to avoid damaging the bearings) every 120 km.

All in all, skating is indeed fun, a challenge and great exercise, but is a very much less robust form of transportation than cycling. Wet or unsealed surfaces, darkness, debris and even patches of poor quality sealed surfaces present major problems for skating. The `cross country skates' with the 120 mm wheels may be better in this respect - has anyone had any experience with them?

Recent Events: FEIT Team for the Big Canberra Bike Ride

Up until the stop at the Tradies in Dickson (there we decided to skip the coffee due to the long queues), the (rather slow) stream at the end of the pack was very thick. The rest of the ride was very pleasant, along the lake with a small climb though Deakin followed by a nice downhill run through Parliament House. Although it got a bit hard to keep contact thorough the last third (still plenty of riders on the road), we ended up returning within a few minutes of each other at Blundell's. A fun day, and well worth doing again next year!

Recent Events: Light Up Campaign Launch, April 11

The slap bands were in rather short supply, so everyone could only take one each. Despite the rather short notice, 7 members of the CSIT RTW group were there. Two had luck in the raffle (bike lights etc): congratulations Margaret Rossiter and Peter Lamb!

But on the theme: please don't forget to bring your lights, even if you expect to be able to get home before dusk! And spare batteries and a spare bulb are wise contingencies.

Upcoming Event: CSIT Ride 9am Sat May 11