Inline Skating

A few days ago I received a link to a video showing horse jump skating from Mike Van Erp, an instructor from the LondonSkaters. After a bit of searching, I found out that this roller sport is called kjoering. It is just like skijoering, with the exception that the athlete behind the horse is riding inline skates instead of snow skis. This difference allows kjoering activities to take place all year.

So far, I have found two types of horse jump skating. Some outdoor horse jump skating events are conducted outside on grass courses. Other indoor horse jump skating activities take place in arenas with sand along the course. Either way, the skaters use off road skating equipment that will allow them to skate over fairly rough, non-paved terrain.

Both kjoering and skijoering sports originated in Europe and only recently have been seen in the United States. If you want to learn more, visit the Offroad Kjoering website.

Liz Miller is passing the word, and so will I.

It looks like Ben Wilson from Portland, Oregon has an interesting new aftermarket accessory product for inline skates called a Flex Brake. This new skate brake product is intended to solve inline skating speed control and braking challenges. It is a simple lightweight braking system that can be installed on most inline speed skates or inline fitness skates with four or five wheels.

Ben hopes to help fund the cost of injection molding equipment needed for mass production via Kick Starter. If you would like to see, pre-order or help fund this new skating product, visit his page to help fund production of this new Flex Brake system.

Image © Ben Wilson

Now is the time to do a little SkateFarm-ing. Attending a SkateFarm workshop with Eddy Matzger will help get you ready for an event, teach you to skate on hills and burn more calories than you can imagine. These sessions teach and demonstrate essential skating techniques like stopping, turning, pacelines, body alignment and even the double push, too.

Participants should plan to arrive early and get settled one day ahead. These are the SkateFarm Virginia dates for this season:

1. May 31- June 4
2. June 7 - 11
3. June 21-25
4. June 28- July 2

Eddy Matzger's SkateFarm is located at 1438 Union School Road in Floyd, Virginia. You should reserve a spot as soon as possible by sending an inquiry to skatefarm@skatefarm.com.

This Skate-tv video shows event highlights from kids' events at the past 33rd Vattenfall Berlin Half Marathon and the atmosphere in the inline village at the Berlin Vital expo on April 7th. Julien Levrard and Katharina Rumpus were the winners of the race, and in keeping with the motto the best start into the spring, the participants were greeted by 200,000 spectators and plenty of bright sunshine.

There are more German race events this season:

• The 22nd Vattenfall City Night Inline Skating will take place on July 27th 2013.
• The 40th BMW Berlin Marathon Inline Skating will skate on September 28th this year.
• The next Vattenfall Berlin Half Marathon will take place on March 30th 2014. Online registration will begin on June 3rd 2013.

These SCC Events in Germany are just a few of many large marathon race events that recur annually. In addition to North American and International marathon events, there are fundraising races, festivals and local marathons that raise awareness and money for a lot of good causes. Many enthusiastic inline skaters use these activities and other competitive speed events as the foundation for vacation trips, especially since many of the destinations are good ones.

Gloria Drebes is an inline figure skater from Germany. She says on her profile website that at first glance inline figure skating looks a lot like ice figure skating - only without the ice. Gloria loves it because you can do this sport on any hardwood, tile, concrete or paved surface - indoors or outdoors.

She wrote to ask for a shout out on About Inline Skating's Twitter and invited me to check out some of her skating event videos on YouTube. Looks like she is having a lot of fun with the competitive end sport, so let's share her adventure:

• Gloria Drebes at the Kür Inline Artistic

• Inline Artistic Hessische Meisterschaft Short Program skated by Gloria

• Gloria skating at the Inline Artistic Kür in Hamburg

If you are seriously interested in speed skating, don't take the self-help route. Many potential new speed skaters learn to skate in all the wrong places. And they will need to re-learn many techniques before they can move into inline racing.

If you feel the need for speed, join a speed team first. The coach will point you toward basics, if you need them, set up a training plan and will be the best ones to determine the inline speed skate manufacturer or equipment setup that is right for you based on skill level, weight and the details of your foot shape and other physical needs.

The speed events that interest you, indoor vs. outdoor and even skating surface information will also determine you speed skate training needs. Inline racing is more than just going fast and turning left:

• Learn more about inline racing activities.
• Discover inline racing and speed skating race formats and venues.
• Find out about speed skating strategic maneuvers.

How often does a travel adventure giveaway also include the airfare to get you to the starting point?

I'm not sure, but this Idaho Skating Adventure from Zephyr Adventures, which takes place this year from September 8 - 12 includes free airfare from anywhere in the United States. What else do you get?

• Spend three days on the 73-mile-long Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes, a repurposed and mostly flat rail trail located in the wilderness of northern Idaho. Skaters will see wildlife, views of forested mountains, clear lakes and teal-colored rivers.
• Skate along the historic 53-mile Centennial Trail and the short-but-sweet Fish Lake Trail which are flanked by quaint towns, natural beauty and lots of history.
• This Idaho Skating Adventure is appropriate for advanced beginners or higher skills levels, since the trails are mostly smooth and there are few hills on the routes.

You can enter here to win this skating tour or book your adventure the traditional way at the Zephyr website.

Photo © Zephyr Adventures

Jamaica introduced a bobsled team at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Canada and inspired the movie Cool Runnings. Now, a new team of Jamaican inline hockey players, lead by Robert Robinson, has a goal of entering the World Championships as early as June 2013.

The team is still under construction and will include players of Jamaican birth or descent who play roller hockey in Britain. Robinson has contacted the Jamaica Olympic Association ( JOA) as well as the Jamaican High Commissioner in London to establish a Jamaica Roller Sports Federation (JRSF) in the UK, so that Jamaicans can compete in future events. With a little help (and the acceptance of roller sports in the Olympics), Jamaica could even be a participant at the international level in the Summer Games.

If you want more information about these cool rollings, contact Robert Robinson, now the President and founder of the JRSF or visit the Jamaican Inline Hockey Team (JIHT) website.

This former inline skater was born without hearing in Omaha, Nebraska, but that hasn't kept him from hearing the call of the 2014 Olympic ice. Fox 13 in Salt Lake City, Utah reports Michael Hubbs' switch from inline speed skating to ice skating. He sold his possessions in 2010 for a one-way ticket to Salt Lake City for training and his own unique inline-to-ice transition story.

And now, Michael is well on his way, since he has qualified for the Olympic Trials at the end of 2013. If he is successful, Hubbs will be the first deaf speed skater to compete in the Winter Olympics.

You can make a donation to help Michael fund his training, and you can follow his ice racing adventures on Facebook or Twitter.

Something good may happen in Southeastern Michigan.

Detroit is one of 13 cities making a bid to host the four-day Summer X Games for 2014, 2015 and 2016. These ESPN events include inline skating, skateboarding, motocross, BMX biking, and rallycross. ESPN and a group of local movers and shakers are working together to create a new type of X Games partnership that uses conventional structures to create unconventional experiences all with the hope of reinventing Detroit and Michigan.

The winning city won't be announced until August, but I hope that the teaser video by downtown Detroit advertising agency The Work and the movement website will help drop the X Games right into my own backyard.