Question:
I'm pretty much an "only recreate in the wilderness" type of guy.
But I've got to admit ... looking at the pictures on skinnyski.com
of folks racing the inline marathons in St. Paul and Duluth gets me
fired up. Sure looks like fun! I've never raced inline skates, but
would sure like to give it a try!
Any advice from skiers about inline racing? In particular ... what
about purchasing skates that FIT? I live in a non-inline kinda place
(Alaska) - so would it be a crap-shoot to order skates by mail? Or if
you know your Salomon skate boot size, is that translatable to an
inline skate size? And what brands / models would be good?
I know that this is an xc skiing website, and that there is a likely
an inline skating website. But I'm an xc skier and would like to
hear comments from fellow xc skiers on inline skate racing experience.
Answer:
I'd suggest looking at some of the new generation 'fitness' skates from Salomon, etc. They are a lot more comfortable and not that much slower
than the T-O-L speed skates. Unless you have pretty good pavement and no big hills, I wouldn't in too much of a rush to let 'er rip. In any
case, wear a helmet and wrist guards. Knee and elbow pads aren't a bad idea either when you first start. Hockey breezers aren't out of the
question, either.
What I learned when I started inline on 5-wheels.
-Speed skating boots were invented by a close cousin of the Marquis de Sade. It takes months to break them in, mold them in, and get your
ankles tough enough to endure them - and that's the custom fitted ones.
You'll play with socks, no socks, tape, foam, and lots of other thingsto get them to fit. Plan on impressing your wife with your ability to
stink up the kitchen working on 'heat molding'.
-It takes really strong ankles to speed skate (and knees, back, etc).
-You'll also pick up lots of really bad habits for skiing due to the
'comfortable' position for skating.
-Wheels wear out pretty darn quickly and require as much maintenance as wax - you'll find you develop rotation patterns that have to be done
every day.
-I found the asphalt to be a lot more abrasive than snow (and I contacted it more often than on roller skis).
-Dang it's fun when you get the hang of it.
-18mph isn't that hard to do - and even sustain for an hour.
-Pacelines are a lot closer together than skiing.
-Crossover turns are fun once you figure them out.
Seriously, it's good fun, good exercise, and pretty easy to get OK at.I do think it isn't good for your XC technique. If you skate correctly,
you move differently than on skis. You hold your body differently, you place your feet differently, and there are things that you can do with
your feet that are probably counterproductive for skiing.
