Lovin’ it

BY BRAD SNIDER

I HAVE ALWAYS loved skating.

I like the look of skating: those long, easy rhythmic motions magically transformed into blazing speed. I like the feel of skating, how a reasonable effort can make the world blur past, and still be easy on the knees and joints. I like the look of athletic women in form-fitting bodysuits. (Ahem. Still have a touch of Olympic fever…)

To me, skating is how the body was meant to move.

So, when I turned the Big Four-Oh corner and staying fit became something I needed to work at year-round, in-line skating provided the low-impact but aerobic summer workout I was looking for. I couldn’t have chosen a better city.

Skating in Ottawa is a year-round outdoor sport. In addition to our famous Canal in winter, Ottawa has some of the best opportunities for summer in-line skating in North America. This city has the pavement, the clubs and support

groups, world-class coaching, and organized in-line skating events

First step in joining the fun involves getting some gear.

I remember the first time I tried on a very ordinary pair of in-line skates many

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sample the beauty of the Laurentian information

years ago at a sporting goods shop in Carlingwood Mall. After my fourth time circling the food court wearing a giant grin, the guy came out to tell me I either had to give them back or buy them. So remember, skating on wheels can be addictive.

Most local sports shops stock in-line skates across the price range. As in most things, you get what you pay for, but beware of gear envy. Skill and fitness count for more than expensive gear (ask any golfer) and you can develop expertise on an entry-level set of skates. Soon enough you might succumb, like me, to skater’s lust for the latest in wheels, boots and especially bearings. (In-line skaters have a mystical relationship to wheel bearings – not unlike a cowboy and his horse, but more intense.) If you fall under the spell of the gear, be assured that a few devoted local independent dealers do their best to keep us supplied with the more exotic racing in-line skates and wheels (ztsports@sympatico.ca).

Protective gear is simply essential. I never venture out without a helmet and wrist guards, and the Ottawa In-line Skate Club I belong to requires at least a helmet for their outings. You will also need a helmet for races (yes, you might just enter a race). There are knee and elbow pads as well which I sometimes skip, but when I’m feeling conscientious I wear all the gear, and so should you.

Before starting out, lessons are useful. If you are already an iceskater, the transition to in-line is easy and natural, but there are significant differences in braking and stopping, and also on how to handle hills – going up and going down.

During Sunday Bikedays, the Ottawa club offers beginner lessons in braking and steering on Colonel By Drive near Seneca Street, and the City of Ottawa’s recreation department offers indoor beginner lessons at Brewer Park arena. We also have national level coaches in Ottawa such as Dominique Lalonde (www.creative-wheel.com) and Barry Publow (www.breakawayskate.com) who offer clinics and lessons.

Advanced and ongoing programs are available to those who join a club. After a few weeks on my own I decided I knew it all and was ready to enter a race, the 10-kilometre Nordion during the National Capital Race Weekend. I came in last, beaten at the finish by a woman pushing a stroller. And smoking. Obviously I had some work to do. But in my race kit I found my ticket to improvement: a flyer for the Ottawa

Inline Skate Club (www.inlineottawa.com).

This club is the largest such group in Canada, and offers skill lessons, distance training, racing training or social outings on the pathways five nights a week during the skating season. Publow, the National Team coach, offers training through the club as well as in workshops of his own. I highly recommend joining a group like this, because the social environment is a great motivator.

GET INLINE SKATING

THIS SUMMER Zt SPORTS

fittings by appointment

Now, where to skate? Roads? Sidewalks? Not in this city. In Ottawa we don’t need to worry about the safety or legality of skating in vehicle traffic, or competing for space on sidewalks. There are plenty of traffic-free locales where skating is safe and legal. Most of the pavement is smooth, and some of it is new. New, fresh, baby-bottom-smooth pavement being something in-line skaters lust after almost as much as new bearings.

Begin with the 170 kilometres of NCC bike paths. Much of this network is either flat or gently rolling, and much of it is scenic. Our club organizes regular social skates in the evening along the best of these routes. The path along the Western Parkway starting from Westboro beach is a favourite, with a view over the Ottawa River in the evening that is unrivalled, and a patio courtesy of Moe’s on Wellington Street that makes for a great après-skate destination.

Other popular stretches of pathway are along the Rideau River in New Edinburgh, and along both sides of the Canal downtown. Special mention goes to the path along the north shore of the Ottawa River, a flat, shaded, summer route from the Champlain Bridge to the Aylmer Marina, where a waterside deck and strawberry daiquiris await.

In addition to the pathways, from Victoria Day to Labour Day there are the Sunday Bikedays on the Western Parkway, Eastern Parkway, and Colonel By Drive, with roads closed to cars but open to in-line skaters, cyclists, joggers and walkers. The parkways in Gatineau Park are closed to car traffic on Sunday mornings, though beginners should

PHOTO BY OTTAWA INLINE SKATING CLUB

probably confine themselves to the north loop near parking lot P8. This loop is closed to cars on Tuesday and Thursday evenings also.

For those who like their sports extreme, check out the rest of the Gatineau parkways. On the big hills (Black’s, Pink Lake, the one in the south near Gamelin Boulevard that has no name but ought to) skaters can reach speeds in excess of 70 km/h. I have done these hills a couple of times, the first time out of ignorance of what lay ahead, (be careful who you follow, a good lesson for life in general), the second time to prove that the first was no fluke. It’s enough to make you want to make videos. I have since retired from that part of the sport, but the tradition continues.

Few true skaters can resist the chance to try racing the clock in an organized event. You can race others, or just race yourself and try for a new personal best, and Ottawa has two of the finest events in North America, conveniently bookending the season.

The ING National Capital Marathon offers a half marathon and a full marathon distance race on May 28, (www.ncm.ca) while in early September the Ottawa In-line Skate club organizes the Ottawa In-line Skate Festival with races of five kilometres, 10 kilometres, half and full marathon distances (www.inlineottawa.com). Both events attract top Canadian and international skaters, and their speed and grace is a marvellous thing to see. It’s even better to take part.

There are tens of thousands of ice skaters in this city, and with spring here and summer rapidly approaching I would like to encourage these people to try out this wonderful outdoor sport. Let’s get rolling.

• Tommy and Lefebvre – www.TandL.com • Figure 8 – www.figure8.net • Zt Sports – ztsports@sympatico.ca

• Ottawa Inline Skate Club – www.inlineottawa.com • Barry Publow – www.breakawayskate.com • Dominique Lalonde – www.creative-wheel.com • Zts Skate School – ztsports@sympatico.ca • City of Ottawa – www.ottawa.ca