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2006: A PREVIEW OF WHAT TO EXPECT FROM SKATING
Epic streetskates, adventures abroad, competitions,
instruction, training, mad parties and lots of opportunities to dress
up........and that’s just the stuff we know about.
 JANUARY
And whilst the fair weather skaters sit indoors recovering from the festive
season, those who know where it’s at are already back in the swing of things and
coming along to the two weekly street skates on Friday evening and Sunday
afternoon. See
SerpentineRoad.com for the latest discussion and start burning off all that
Christmas over indulgence.
To help keep everyone safe on the various skates Mike van Erp is currently
running some training for existing Marshals including video review sessions,
information on these can be found on
SerpentineRoad.com in the lessons and courses forum.
Meanwhile, in the background, various figures are working on plans for this
year’s major events such as the Le Mans 24 Hour Skate, Eastbourne Extreme, the
London Inline Marathon and many more just to sate your skating desires.
FEBRUARY
While the street skates continue, registration for the classic Le Mans 24
Hour should open
www.24Rollers.com so there will doubtless be a mad (but organised) panic as
we try to get all the London teams registered. This will be the 5th year for
London teams and last year we had (I think) 10 teams with over 100 skaters going
from the UK and the ladies team on the podium!. It’s a logistical nightmare but
we love it and we’ll be aiming for more of the same this year. More details and
discussion can be
found here.
The souvenir DVD of the 2005 Santa Skate should soon be available featuring
videos and photos of the event.
On February 26-27 the first IFSA slalom competition of the season takes place
in Moscow, and whilst we’re not aware of any UK based skaters competing, Phil
Downer and Steev Davidson will be representing the UK as judges.
 MARCH
With luck the weather might start to move towards summer, but a large number
of London skaters (30+) won’t be too bothered as they’ll be away skiing and
snowboarding. Again an event that’s grown from a few friends taking a trip into
almost a tradition, Valmeinier will play host to 2006’s Skaters on Snow. Big
thanks to Quentin for organising this one.
APRIL
April should bring some very big news on the freestyle and recreational
skating front in the UK, but that’s all I can say for now. Stay tuned for more
details as they become known and remember you heard it here first.
April (or possibly May) should also see the return of the longest running
streetskate in the UK - the LondonSkate. Running on Wednesday evenings
throughout the summer and on until October, this should be the sign to even the
fairest of fair weather skaters that they need to get their wheels back under
their feet. Details on
LondonSkate.com (though I suspect it won’t have been updated until nearer
the date).
MAY
More street skates, lessons and a packed Hyde Park. Maybe this would be an
ideal time to take a trip to Paris for the Pari-Roller on Friday night followed
by a weekend of touring the smooth streets and sampling the fine food and wine.
Mmmmm...
JUNE
Final training and last minute preparations for Le Mans. By now Hans should
be even more superfit as he’s hoping to do the whole thing solo! Mad fool. We’ll
keep you updated with his progress.
JULY
Starts with the Le Mans 24 Hours on the 1st and 2nd and closes with
Eastbourne Extreme on the 22nd-23rd. Always a hectic month there’ll be no change
this year and with Eastbourne hosting this year’s round of the IFSA slalom
championships, we can expect a high level of competition, and doubtless a high
level of alcohol consumption.
There will also be the usual Eddy Matzger workshop on the weekend of July
21st-23rd. Details will soon be up on Eddy's website at
skatecentral.com.
You can see some of his videos of mad exploits and racing on
skatecentral.net.
AUGUST
With the London Inline Marathon on the 6th (for the last time at Lee Valley),
there’ll be little chance to relax. See
LondonInlineMarathon.com for details.
SEPTEMBER
IFSA finals, which this year are in Barcelona so, if you needed an excuse to
visit this amazing city which is perfect for skating, then now you have one.
OCTOBER
Will end with the traditional Halloween skate (although this may be on Nov 1
as that is a Wednesday). 2005 saw more of you than ever in some amazing costumes
so hopefully we can continue this trend this year. It makes for an amazing sight
so do make the effort to dress up scarily.
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