Road skating

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Road skating is the sport of skating (inline skating or roller skating) on roads, much like road cycling.

Roadskaters often skate in tight packs, drafting each other and sharing the lead, which allows a pack to travel faster than an individual skater. The individual members of a pack use comparatively less energy than the lone skater traveling at the same speed. Even the lead skater in the pack enjoys an advantage from the drafting skaters behind.

While gliding downhill, an inline skater in a tuck position can achieve speeds that exceed the speed of a tucked cyclist. This is due to lower wind resistance. The rolling resistance is similar for a cyclist and a skater -- it is only when actively skating (i.e., in the skating stroke) that the skater incurs greater resistance. Skating is roughly 50% slower than cycling on flat ground. Skaters routinely achieve downhill speeds of 60 km/h, just like cyclists. Compared to cyclists, though, skaters particularly suffer on uphills, when the drafting advantage disappears.

A skating paceline going down hills may easily achieve speeds faster than a cycling paceline of equal length. The reason is that the road skating paceline has a much more efficient draft effect. The draft effect in road skating is superior for 3 reasons: 1) each skater can be much closer to the person in front of her whereas each cyclist is limited by the distance of the wheels, 2) each skater gaining inertia energy from being in the draft can translate this energy to the person in front of her by maintaining contact (usually by placing a hand on the lower back of the person in front), and 3) the skater has much less equipment-related aerodynamic drag than the cyclist.

For a list of current road skating events, see the Skate Calendar and Roadskater.Net.

[edit] Cross training

Skating (and road skating especially) is much more like cycling in terms of the muscles employed than like running. Cyclists and skaters commonly participate in each other's sport as cross-training. Runners often switch to road skating due to injuries associated with the impact of running. Many skiers use road skating for off-season and pre-season conditioning as well.

In addition, skating is an excellent cross training activity for a wide range of other sports due to the lateral (side to side) motion involved in the skating stride. For instance, consider how much lateral motion is involved in racquet sports, football, basketball, soccer, etc. Despite this, traditional cross training for these sports involves almost exclusively linear activities: running, swimming, cycling, leg presses, leg curls, etc. While research needs to be done to confirm and measure the effects, it seems likely that incorporating skating into cross training programs would reduce injuries and improve muscle-specific conditioning for sports that involve lateral motion.

[edit] Drafting

Road skating in a pack has some common rules that most skaters follow. Such rules include skating in single file except when passing or moving into the back of the pack, rotational "pulling" in the front of the pack to shield the rest of the pack from the wind, and signaling about road conditions, hazards and alike to skaters in the back of the pack. Single file skating in a pack is mostly dictated by the need to minimize the impact of air resistance on the pack and thus, shielding from the wind behind the back of the first person who is "pulling" the pack. "Pulling" is associated with up to 30% higher energy exertion and thus, it is generally accepted that skaters rotate through "pulls" allowing for equal energy exertion through the pack. A skater who has finished "pulling" steps out of the pack and slowly moves into the back of the pack. The skater in front of the pack has a better view of the road ahead and thus, points and calls out road hazards (holes, cracks, water puddles, cars, etc.).

[edit] Skating in Traffic

Skaters obey the same traffic laws that cyclists obey, when skating on the roads. This means that they skate in the same direction as traffic (i.e., on the right side of the road in most countries) and use the same hand signals to indicate turns, slowing, and stopping that cyclists use. To indicate approaching vehicles, skaters may shout "car back!" or "car up!"... Similarly, "bike back!" or "bike up!" may indicate approaching cyclists. Road Skaters (like cyclists) are expected to obey all traffic signs as well, which means coming to a complete stop at a stop sign or traffic light. This requires that the skater be able to stop effectively, using any number of braking techniques.

Road Skating is as safe as Road Cycling, when done responsibly. Like cyclists, skaters should always wear helmets. (Skaters may also opt for other safety equipment, such as wrist guards. Elbow pads and knee pads are less common among experienced road skaters, but still useful for those that choose to wear them.)

The legality of Road Skating is a gray area in most cities. Some cities, like Philadelphia, explicitly allow Road Skating. Other areas have tried to outlaw it, considering speed skates to fall under a "toy ordinance" meant to keep toys off the roads. (And thus treat skaters as pedestrians.)