Last modified: Thursday, July 25, 1996
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From: Jens Christian Sm?rum (JCS@TAASTRUP.TDM.dk400.dk)
Date: Thu, 25 Jul 1996 15:01:55 +0200
- The Common (Faelledparken)
Skatepark, situated next to the emergency room (!!), with both ramps, rails
and misc stuff for all. Alot of the aggressive skaters of Copenhagen hang
out here to practise and to meet, but also alot of newbies come here to
watch and practise too. Next to the park is the Panum Institute, where
you'll find some of the best stairs in the city.
- The Harbour Area (Langelinie)
In the harbour area of Copenhagen you have probably the best place to skate
and meet other skaters. There is an old pier (500-600 meters long) with
excellent asphalt. Only problem is that Cruise ships that visit Copenhagen
'parks' here so there is always alot of traffic and people to watch out for
(Cruise ships comes by from May to September). The nearby yacht club
provides the other part of the area. The smooth surface has made this spot
the most visited place by skaters in Copenhagen. Excellent for freestyle and
for overall practicing. Almost always improvised slalom tracks.
- Strandvejen
From the harbour of Copenhagen and about 20 kilometers north you have good
bikepaths with smooth asphalt rigth next to the sea between Denmark and
Sweden. On a clear day you can see all the way to Sweden, but most important
you get a nice long run to one of the best beaches in the area. Next to the
beach (Bellevue Beach) you can rent skates, and many come here to have fun
on the weekends.
- Generally
We have lots of bikepaths in Copenhagen, most of them with excellent
surfaces, only problem here is the bikes. But by law, skaters are
pedestrians and can therefore only skate on the sidewalks (hmm...)
But the police often just comment that you should get off the street and
then drive on.
The pedestrian street, called 'Stroeget', is sort of ok for skaters, but
very crowded.
There are several place where you can rent skates, so the problem isn't to
big if you have forgotten your own skates. The price is about $10 for 2h.
Web sites for Germany info:
Web sites for Finland info:
Web sites for Netherlands info:
From: rbs@skatecity.com (Robert Schmunk)
Date: Tue, 02 Jul 96
I took my skates along during a recent visit to Amsterdam. The weather wasn't particularly cooperative, but I did manage to get a half day of skating in. Here're some impressions:
There are bike lanes all over Amsterdam, and there are also lots of bicycles and motorscooters using them. Skaters also use them, but the ratio of bicyclists to skaters that I observed seemed on the order of 500 to 1. (Note: These are cyclists using their one-speeds for transportation, not 18-speed warriors like you encounter in a lot of US citites.) Go ahead and use these lanes to skate, but keep an eye and ear open to make sure you're not blocking someone who wants to pass.
Many of the bike lanes, sidewalks and streets are paved with brick. In many places the brick is close fitting, but in many places it has beveled edges and in a lot of places it's pretty worn. On the busier streets, you may also have trolley tracks to contend with. Don't hit the streets unless you know how to handle such terrain.
The two particular places where I encountered a lot of skaters are Vondelpark and the Museumplein, both of which are WSW of Central Amsterdam and near the Rijksmuseum. Vondelpark is where recreational skaters go and do loops. Although the road in the park is fairly wide and auto-free, traffic is two-way and not everybody is paying attention to what they're doing. In other words, speedskating is probably not too wise here, as you never know when someone else is going to blunder into your path. The loop around the park is on the order of two-miles and absolutely flat; I was able to do it in 10 minutes without having to put the hammer down.
The Museumplein is where the aggro skaters hang out, as there's a miniramp and a really big halfpipe. The miniramp is in pretty crappy condition, with lots of loose plywood panels, but except for graffiti, the halfpipe looked to be in good shape.
I had numerous recommendations that I should hit the bikepaths connecting Amsterdam to other Dutch cities, but again the weather was fairly cruddy while I was there and I wimped out. Haarlem is pretty close and the beach not far beyond; Rotterdam and Den Haag look like they'd make a good day skate.
If you're looking to meet up with other skaters in Amsterdam, your best bet may be to drop in at one of the Rodolfo's skate shops. One is in the Magna shopping center, a block from the Dam; the other is on Sarphatistraat just off the Weesperplein.
From: canterp@oslo.Geco-Prakla.slb.com
Date: Sat, 13 Jan 96 23:09:48 +0100
In the short summer that we have there are some pretty good places to rollerblade. One place is Frogner Park where you can stairbash, jump & rail slide. There are huge areas to just skate around. There is a problem with people but it's legal.
Around City Hall there are also some awesome places for stairbashing, grinds and big air.
In Aker Brygge you can grind and 360 and there are some stairs. The surface in some parts is really good asphalt. You're not really allowed skate here but you can get away with it.
At CC West below the parking lot there are seven foot drop offs and grinds. The good thing about that is that there are no people there.
Oslo is a great city for skitching on the little trolleys (they're called trykks here) that are all over the city. People here are not used to it, so they get a little mad.
The subway station in Oslo City (called Jernebanetorget) has some awesome stairs for stair bashing and rail sliding but again there is the factor of people.
Right outside the Oslo Spektrum (sports arena) in a place called GronLand is a great place for learning how to get air. It's a raised circular area were you can learn to do 540s, if you crash you are saved by the grass.There is also a great place to learn how to railslide, it's a metal edge curve. We're really lucky because one of our dads manages the Spektrum and in the winter we skate along the concourse. Once in a awhile we skate on the main floor also. Their is a flight of thirty stairs outside the Spektrum, a few months ago I was stairbashing that same flight of stairs, and broke my arm.
Norway is not the best place to buy rollerblades because they cost about 2 to 3 times as much as they would in America. There are no roller rinks or places to rent rollerblades in Oslo. I know of one halfpipe in oslo, and that's in Rykinn at Rykinn Hallen (sport's facilty).
The street's of Oslo are overall pretty good.
From: so-mmw@stekt12.oulu.fi (Marko Wirtanen)
Date: 05 Nov 1995 08:19:37 GMT
I visited Costa del Sol at the beginning of September. I had a good time with my skates. The town is Fuengirola which is located near Malaga. The town has an 8 kilometers long beach promenade covered with ceramic plates. It is smooth enough for sk8ing at most parts.
During the week i saw surprigingly few people skating there, all of them were couple of youngsters. So i think that inlining is quite new thing for local people, because most of them I saw had quads.
Anyway, the beach promenade is best road to skate there, because the mountains begin just behind the town. The best time to skate is in the mornings and during "siesta" time. In the evenings there is too much people walking around there.
There are many sports good shops in the town, but only one is selling inline skates. They had a few pairs of the Rollerblades and some other "trade marks". [...]
The travel guide said that there is one place in town, which rents the skates. It is open only at sundays.
So my conclusion is that inlining is rather unknown thing for Andalucian people (southern part of Spain).
From: spike@iafrica.com (Mark Stockton)
Date: 19 Jul 1995 20:51:32 +0200
I just got back from holiday there... there are bicycle paths next to just about every road in Stockholm. I saw a few guys skating down them without helmets. The paths cover quite a distance, but are usually quite busy (it seems that half of Stockholm is cycling at any time). Don't know about any parks or specific places to blade.
From: bcorr@lsi-logic.co.uk (William Corr)
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 95 14:33:09 BST
Central London
Hyde Park - around the Serpentine (lake) is probably the mecca for
London in-liners. The main part of the park itself is good for skating,
but the paths tend to get a bit crowded with people.
Finsbury Park - supposedly the mecca for in-line speed skaters. They meet on Sundays around 12pm.
Stockwell/Brixton - there is an old skateboard park at the Brixton end of Stockwell road. Free entry, watch out for debris and dodgy characters.
South London
Dulwich Park - the central path ways are fairly smooth, but are usually
too crowded. The perimeter road is pretty good; the cars are usually
travelling very slowly so they don't mind the skaters. The spur road
near the A205 is good for learners as it's smooth and blocked off as a
parking area.
Crystal Palace Park - very good, lots of smooth wide pathways (it used to be a car race track!). Watch out for the leaves in autumn.
Herne Hill Cycle Track - 5 wheel heaven! Brand new banked track for bicycle racing. Probably free use if you speak nicely to the groundsman.
West London
Richmond Park - central paved paths are quite good. Can be very busy at
weekends. Why do people go to a huge park and still walk on the paths
when there is 5 square miles of grass? The perimeter road would be good
for speed freaks, watch out for the steep hill ending at a junction. A
perimeter bike path is rumoured to be under construction.
Marble Hill Park - not bad, fairly smooth. Thames foot path is a bit rough towards the West.
River Crane Walk, Twickenham - very smooth and flat pathway along the side of a stream. It leads into a nature reserve. Very pretty, but tends to get crowded with dog walkers.
Norbiton, nr BR station - sightings of ramps and half pipes. No more details available yet.
From: Simon Wood (simonw@zed-inst.demon.co.uk)
Date: Wed, 16 Aug 1995 17:00:25 GMT
This is sort of a review of Hyde Park (from the novice point of view):
Last night a friend (Emma) and myself went skating in Hyde Park, London. It is the first time we have ventured to this 'Meca' of British skating and we were both plesently supprised.
We arrived at about 7:30pm (due to work commitments) and had a little difficulty parking, eventually we got lucky and found a space on the spine road.
After kitting up we headed down to the Serpentine and skated along the marked skate track, which runs east-west along the edge of the lake. There were quite a few familes with small children and prams, but these didn't prove too much of a obstical providing we kept our speed down to a gentle stroll.
We then head to the west of the park, where we found the 'infamous' gritted tracks (park authorises have placed grit on some tacks/parts of tracks to discourage skaters), these were very effective at stopping skaters. Unfortunatly they also stop pedesitrians and cyclists as well, thus cramming everybody onto a narrower section of track. This proberbly causes MORE of a hazzard.
The west corner of the park seemed to be a little hiller, but was fairly quite and it was easy to skate with confidence and not having to worry too much about running into people or be run into.
By the Royal Albert Hall, there is a slamom track marked with yellow paint (two lanes), presumable the cones come out for the events. Emma had a go and did quite well, but I'm not that good (yet!).
At about 9:00pm the police informed us the gardens (west half of the park ?) were closing and asked us to leave by the nearest exit. We then skated along the pavement of the spine road and back to the skate track next to the Serpentine (the east half of the park doesn't close), where we skated to about 10:00pm, had a drink from a burger stall and then went home for tea (!).
In general the attitude of the skaters and pedestrians was very good, most gave each other plenty of space to pass although it was mildly annoying that some people walked 6 or 7 abreast. The only real problem I saw was a few teenagers who had been stopped by the police for skating too fast, I can't say how fast as I didn't see them before they were stopped.
Overall the experience was a very positive one, two hours of skating on smooth roads is bound to improve your confidence and skill and I came away feeling really good about my skating. It was also fun to watch the other (better) skaters to get ideas of things to try later. It was also good to see some positive action for skaters such as the marking of a skate lane and a slamom course.
The only down side is that I would imagine that the weekends would get far too busy, but the various competitions could be fun to sit and watch.
Skating recomendation: 8 out of 10, good for learner and fair skaters.
From: Jeff_Richards@vos.stratus.com (Jeffers)
Date: Mon, 21 Aug 1995 13:12:15 +0000
Just thought I'd mention Richmond Park as a good venue for novice in-liners. There are several miles of undulating tarmac, that is traffic free and wide enough to practice stops, turns and even spins. Most of it is through grassland so _relatively_ soft landings/run-outs are available. I've yet to see more than half a dozen people there on skates, though cyclists (me included) and pedestrians are plentiful. Watch out for the gravel at Ham Gate and half way along the path from Ham Cross to Spanker's Hill Wood: which is the nicest section by far.
So if you new/looking for an alternative to the central parks try Richmond: but not too many please! Hopefully the Dame Jennifer Jenkings review on the use of Royal Parks will not ban it. If you want to add your voice to consultation you can write to:
The Dame Jennifer Jenkings Review Group
The Royal Parks
The Old Police House
Hyde Park
London W2 2UK.
And add your views on the need for skate access to the parks.
From: mhlojkin@dircon.co.uk (mary lojkine)
Date: 1 Nov 1995 19:54:10 GMT
The front is supposed to be good for recreational skating, certainly at the Brighton end. Towards Hove I think it's more docks and industrial areas, but I could be wrong - I've not spent much time there.
Some of the other promenades along the South Coast are also supposed to be good, for example Bognor and Worthing (all three places recently featured in an article in the new UK skate magazine, 1st In-line). However, the weather is pretty unpredictable - you should get some good days, but it could rain all the time. Sorry, this is England.
From: Dirk.Schlossmacher@frankfurt.netsurf.de (Dirk Schlossmacher)
Date: Sat, 25 Nov 1995 00:01:34 GMT
I bought my coolblades there in August and couldn't stand to wait learning it till I would be back in Germany. So I started my skating experience on Nathan Road (on a sunday! ;) going down all the way to HK Island (taking the star ferry with the skates ;).
The gratest place to skate was the landmark - very smooth floor! It seemed that I was the first skater in there and the security didn't really know what to do with me... In the Pacific Place Mall (much larger very smooth floor space!) I was stopped afetr a while by the security.
From: eeling@uxmail.ust.hk (Curtis Ling)
Date: 15 Mar 1996 06:13:27 GMT
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has a decent parking lot (or car park, to all you brits) for skating. It's larger than the size of a decent ice rink, and lit so you can skate in the evenings as well. Good place to play hockey, but there aren't many skaters among the faculty and students here. If I weren't so freaking busy I'd be there every evening, weather permitting.
Elsewhere in Hong Kong, you can skate in Shatin along the canal, all the way north past Tai Mei Tuk, about 8 miles (I'm guessing) of relatively flat bike path. There are also a few more limited places to skate around Tsimshatsui. Various people have indicated to me that Bowen Road and certain parts of Discovery Bay are reasonably skateable, but don't expect miles of flat, perfect blacktop. You can also try skating along a 3-mile section of High Island Reservoir, where I run a lot.
The smog here is highly overrated. Hong Kong can't hold a candle to LA.
From: ochiai@momo.mmp.cl.nec.co.jp (K.Ochiai)
Date: 17 Apr 1996 00:31:55 GMT
In article [...] aim120a@aol.com (AIM120a) writes:
I'm moving to Yokosuka in a couple of months. Is there ANYONE out there who skates, and if so where?
in Tokyo...
a) Ko-rakuen roller-skate rink:
Inline available. for Roller-dance.
at Eidan line - Ko-rakuen.
b) Komazawa park:
for Hockey and Aggressive skating.
at Den-en line - Komazawa Daigaku(Komazawa Univ.).
c) Kasai-Rinkai park:
for Halfpipe, Aggressive, fitness.
at Keiyou line - Kasai Rinkai Kouen(Kasai Rinkai park)
d) Harajuku Hokoten:
for Roller-dance.
at JR line - Harajuku.
e) ROX3:
for Jump, Roller-dance.
at Ginza line - Tawara-cho(Tawara machi??)
near Tokyo...
f) Hikarigaoka park:
for Halfpipe, Aggressive.
in Saitama. at Toei 12th line - Hikarigaoka
From: linyk@temasek.teleview.com.sg (Shariene)
Date: 8 Nov 1995 22:45:52 +0800
Hi, I'm Singaporean, and no, it is not that wonderful to skate in this country. You see, you can't skate in the CBD, 'coz the cops will come after you. If you're talking about grinding, I don't think the cops know much about it, but they certainly will not like people chipping bits off the statue of Sir Stamford Raffles. It's cool if you stick to the suburbs, I guess. But shops don't let skaters go in with their skates on. (then again, which shops do?)
The skate scene here is definately growing. However, there isn't quite enough in the skating population to actually hold competitions for aggressive. Hockey, well, yeah, the scene here is pretty big. But not for aggro, no.
I don't think this is the best place to skate in the world. I'm sure SanFran or LosAnge have better rails and stuff. One thing good about S'pore is that you don't have to take 2 hours to travel from one end to the other. But one setback is the absolute lack of ramps. If you find any ramps here, please tell me. I have to know. Thanx.
From: msp@posmac.UUCP (Mark Purcell)
Date: Unknown
The network of bike paths is quite extensive, one can go from one end of the city to the other on bike paths. The paths are all >1.5m and made from hot mix, which makes them fast and ideal for pole work training for X-C.
There is nothing like blading around the lake just as the sun is coming up over the mountains, with the smallest amount of mist over the lake, and only one or two joggers/cyclists to worry about.
There are some problems though, before most road crossings there is a section of about 1.5-2 m of concrete bumps, which play like hell on the legs. It is possible to jump these but not the easiest.
From: Hunter Craig Richard Tys (huntera@server.uwindsor.ca)
Date: Sat, 2 Dec 1995 17:45:31 GMT
Manly has a nice 5 km track of smooth pavement that goes along the sea and around manly. Also if you follow the track around it takes ya to a small skate park. (Half pipe and a cement bowl) though it seems that it's always teeming with skateboarders. Manly blades store in manly, it's on the main road by the beach has a good selection of stuffs. There is also another store, also along the beach road.. but I forget it's name.
From: e4302585@dingo.cc.uq.oz.au (Michael Cheng)
Date: 24 Oct 1994 10:25:56 GMT
The Riverside bike path along Coronation drive: heads from the city to Toowong. It's a nice flat stretch, not really wide, but nice scenery.
The Skate Ramp just off Hale St (almost next to Lang Park). The only times I've ever been there, its been packed out with truly excellent skaters (making me feel rather inadequate). Some of the stuff is just awesome. Once you get here, ask anyone, and I'm sure they'll be able to suggest more spots.
I, myself, skate at the University of Queensland Campus. Rent a Cop security guards are continually on your case though.
From: Peter Milway (pmilway@ozemail.com.au)
Date: 22 Mar 1996 06:08:11 GMT
A lot more restrictive [than Melbourne] - No skating in the CBD. No skating at night. Compulsary Helmets. Can't skate on bike tracks that are on the road. Can't skate on multi-lane roads.
Along with these restrictions, the police are very heavy on enforcement. During a very large festival last month they nabbed skaters without helmets, and on main roads in the centre of the city. But these guys were performers on the way to their show - No excuse!
One of the reasons for the crackdown is that soem kids on blades did a bag snatch sometime last year, and this is a reaction to it.
Web sites with Melbourne info:
From: williams@numbat.cs.rmit.AU.AU (Krensen)
Date: 30 Jun 94 06:53:20 GMT
There's a lot of great skating spots 'round here, but I'll tell of a cupla faves:
From: Peter Milway (pmilway@ozemail.com.au)
Date: 22 Mar 1996 06:08:11 GMT
Skate where and when you like except for Melbourne CBD (during the day time only??), and inside of large shopping centres etc where the are signs to say you can't. You can use all and sundry bike tracks of which there are probably near 200+ Km's. And also on the road when you don't make a nuisance of yourself (ie messy collision with a car :-) I regularly skate past police, when on the road or footpath in my home town, and never have they said anything either way - but I am in a semi-country town. The most popular place for cruising is the StKilda beach forshore, where there is an 8Km long flat bike track along the the beach. It makes a nice 16Km round trip, and most of it is really smooth asphalt. There is also a very large public park that has heaps of bike tracks, and has no restrictions on skaters.
Finally - no restrictions on clothing ie Helmets or pads etc. (And I am not getting into an argument over what should be compulsary :-)
There is a group of extreme people who go through the Melbourne CBD on a Wednesday or Thursday night. Not sure when. They are either tolerated, or it is legal at night. They get 50+ people at times on their trips. Contact any skating shop in Melbourne, but I think that BladeWorx in Kew (920 Glenferrie Rd Ph 03-9819-9991) are the people who organise it - If not they will know who does.
There are also one or two commercial skateparks around - Don't know the details. And also quite a few free public half pipes around.
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