Dave Curtis skating page

Somebody took me ice-skating for the first time in 1999 and I instantly became fanatical about it - a typical case of AOSS (adult-onset skating syndrome). I subsequently also took up inline-skating (roller-blading) and can be seen skimming through London's East End most days.

Venues

During the winter I skate at Broadgate Ice Rink, which is brilliant, but in the summer it is shut so I go to Alexandra Palace on Sundays and the Lee Valley rink during the week. The Lee Valley rink is really nice - big and bright and clean. Just a bit too warm. It seems hard to get to until you realise that there are frequent trains to Clapton from Liverpool Street.

Here are some pictures from Broadgate.

Tragically enough, Broadgate ice rink is now shut for the summer. However you can still click this link to see the webcams showing what is happening there instead of skating.

Here is a page which should have a snapshot of Broadgate from the first webcam. You don't have to download the ActiveX control to see this one.

Tips and video clips

Here is my page of figure-skating tips, demonstrated on PIC skates.

Inline skating equipment

I used to use inline skates with detachable wheels made by Rollerblade. Unfortunately they've stopped making them. So now I use similar ones made by Hypno instead, though they're not as smart. I very strongly recommend using skates with detachable wheels for any sort of street or recreational skating. It makes them far more convenient, for example for nipping on and off the tube or going between meetings. And it's surprising how much easier it is to skate if one doesn't have to carry anything, even a light bag containing a pair of shoes. Some people say that skates with detachable wheels are somehow less good, but IMHO there isn't really any major problem and unless you're heavily into speed or aggressive skating or hockey the advantages far outweigh any disadvantages.

For inline figure skating I was using PIC skates, but I have recently acquired a pair of Custom V1 inlines which I think are better for figure skating on tarmac. They differ from the PIC skates in two main ways: there is an adjustable rocker on the wheels and the toe stop is mounted on a screw thread which makes it continually adjustable. With the PIC skates I would start a session with a fresh plastic pick but after an hour or so it would be worn down so that the height of the pick would be different, changing the point in the jump when it made contact with the ground. The rocker of the Custom V1 skate lets me keep the pick off the ground more so that it does not wear down so much, and at least gives me a chance of spinning without rubbing the pick the whole time. Although the pick does wear down a little, I can unscrew it just a turn or so, so that its height remains almost constant. Mind you, the first thing you see when you receive your Custom V1's is a big notice telling you not to skate on tarmac....

You can get info about PIC skates here: www.picskate.com

And info about Custom V1's here: www.custominlines.com

Here is Hypno's site: www.hypno.it

Links

Here are some links to cool skating pages:

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