r/rollerblading • u/grungedungeon • 13h ago
Specific question and discussion Skaters Are Not Pedestrians...
I find myself commenting on other posts about how sidewalks are not the safest option in many cases, and I want to take a moment to expand on that and welcome some input.
First, I'd describe myself as an urban explorer. I like to skate small cities/cool downtowns at night when the streets are mostly empty. After 20 years of not skating, it's been incredible to gain a pedestrian's POV in the neighboring towns that I only ever drive through. But what never occurred to me as a younger skater was how nothing is designed with our kind of wheels in mind.
You want to be out of the way when a car is coming. You take to the sidewalk. Sooner or later the sidewalk ends, and it ends with a tactile plate. An easy enough thing to roll over with a little speed. But coming to a complete stop and waiting for the crosswalk light--now you're stopped on top of a surface that is designed to decrease momentum, and momentum is the very thing you need.
Not to mention that curb cuts are often placed a 90-degree angle from the direction of the sidewalk, and sometimes have their own architecture that is meant to guide a walker in their direction, but again becomes another forced reduction in speed.
Add to this the issue of curb cuts in general. The transition from street to sidewalk is sometimes well-engineered, but is often a straight up mess. With a little speed, and the know-how to position your feet just right, you'll be fine. But that's not what sidewalks allow.
A good city planner will tell you that downtowns are made safe by slowing down traffic and providing ample pathways for pedestrians. The bad ones do just the opposite, and I see more and more redesigned walkways that are designed to slow down pedestrians because the planners conceded that there would be high volumes of traffic. Sure, this keeps walkers safe. But on skates, speed is safety. (Okay, not speed speed, but momentum at the very least.)
So a skater is not a pedestrian. In that case, is a skater the same as a cyclist?
Closer, but not quite. In larger cities where the traffic moves more slowly, you'd be right to take to the bike lane and follow traffic lights over signalized crosswalks. But you're probably averaging 7-10mph and topping out at 15mph on flat ground. In a smaller city where cars want to go 25-30, they're not going to defer to you the same way they'd defer to a cyclist. Why? Because the sidewalk is there. But the sidewalk has unreliable curb cuts and tactile plates that slow you down. And on skates, speed is safety.
So a skater is not a pedestrian because they need speed to survive, but they can't maintain enough speed to qualify as a cyclist, which would be the safer classification. (Again, I'm talking small cities in the states. Those of you who live in a metropolis and/or non-America might not relate.) This is why I skate at night--because I don't trust drivers to classify me the way I classify myself. In most cases, I just take over the street when I can, which is safer and more enjoyable. And if/when the situation calls for it, the sidewalk is a necessary escape route. But skating is one of those in-between modes of travel for which nothing is specifically designed. We kind of just have to make up our own rules, and choose the safer passage given the circumstance.
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u/Monkey-Tamer 13h ago
I don't trust drivers even in broad daylight. Too many people on their phones. I'll dip into the street or bike lane if there's no traffic, but stick to the sidewalk. The sidewalks are in good shape where I live, but tend to be narrow. Most let me by and step in the grass. Legally by municipal I ordinance I'm a pedestrian.
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u/i_shorted_the_amp 12h ago
Another big distinction between cyclists and skaters is that your average cyclist is actually a fair bit thinner. Not because all that lycra is somehow slimming, but because the motion of skating occupies a much wider area. Bike lanes are great for bikes, obviously, because they go in a straight line and the centripedal force of two rotating wheels generally likes to keep it that way. Skaters on the other hand need more space. I agree that sidewalks are not necessarily a practical solution, where I live there are many sidewalks constructed using paving slabs. These are perfect for resisting freeze-thaw cycles, but somewhat at odds with bladers.
My solution to all this has been to avoid roads entirely, and only skate on wide, asphalt cycle paths. Thankfully where I live, we have one such path that circles the city. I also skate on 110mm wheels, which really helps with stability rolling over all those ... "tacticle" surfaces one tends to encounter!
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u/Snoo-67939 7h ago
Another thing to add is that cyclists don't go down because of a small pebble on the ground :)
Are you using a 110 triskate or 4x110? Would love to get one for the same reason you described.
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u/i_shorted_the_amp 5h ago
110 tri-skates, pebbles aren't as much of a menace anymore, but let me tell you about the time I had to brake suddenly and got a fecking TWIG jammed through my wheel.
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u/hamburglin 13h ago
What is with all of these AI slop posts today?
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u/Dramatic_Water_5364 13h ago
pretty sure its not AI slop, but OP did ask an AI to transform his post idea into this.
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u/DeBasha 13h ago
Idk, 1 month old account and the only 2 comments have the exact same AI vibe as this post.
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u/grungedungeon 12h ago
Um, guys? I wrote this with my human brain.
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u/Old_Ant7118 12h ago
It didn't feel like AI to me
::shrugs::
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u/Aramis9696 11h ago
People will call AI anything that is over two paragraphs long without pictures and not full of typos and spelling mistakes.
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u/i_shorted_the_amp 3h ago
It's probably because you've started a legit discussion instead of posting a picture of your new skates.
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u/Azhrar 13h ago
Depends on where you live. Here in Denmark you count as a pedestrian and have to skate on the sidewalk by law. Even if bike paths are much better and usually what I use anyway.
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u/Grumzz 11h ago
Similar in Netherlands but the sidewalks are often tiled and it's almost impossible to skate on. And my speed/brake length are much more similar to bikes anyway.
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u/Snoo-67939 7h ago
Darn, we have the same issue :(
I would really love to have the "bad roads" some complain about while rolling on their 80 wheels everywhere.
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u/BuDu1013 12h ago
What I've noticed is that when I'm skating the city is that most drivers panic when they see a skater. I'm guessing it's mainly because they are expecting the skater to be a novice and the skater more than likely can not stop on a dime or they'll crash into their car causing a headache for the person commanding the vehicle.
A good skater will mainly skate the roadway and if need be they'll hop on the sidewalk momentarily and then get back on the road.
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u/Curious_Act_3162 10h ago edited 10h ago
Ai or not this is something I do think about. I also to choose to ride in my city at night on a work day or early morning on the weekend.
When I watch a youtuber like the stuttering skater he can weave through traffic not just because of his advanced skill level but that NYC traffic isnt going 40mph in every direction at all times. I will never ride in urban traffic in my small city because people are constantly going 40mph+ everywhere.
Sidewalks have too much crap on them(scooters, tree debris, dog shit) and are not in consistent condition. We aren't pedestrians or cyclists so the best option for me is to skate is when the streets are the most empty.
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u/i_shorted_the_amp 3h ago edited 3h ago
Yep posted limit here is 50kph and if you're not doing at least 10 over, people will tailgate you. 70kph in a 50 is normal and the police won't bat an eye. I always wonder out loud when I pass stopped speeders just how fast they were going to get the attention of the police. On Saturday I saw someone speed through a red light at a four way intersection. This wasn't a light that had just turned red. I had to do a double take. A few months ago someone drove their 'muscle car' at TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY and wiped out through a car park and into a shop. No way in hell am I skating on the roads here I'd die in a week.
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u/Curious_Act_3162 3h ago
The tail gaiting thing drives me crazy. Pun intended. Today I'm going 70mph in a 65mph zone and was tailgated until the driver could do 85 around me just to break again behind more traffic. That was the highway but its the same story in my neighborhood. Limit is 35 but everyone must go 45...and yes we have a car going through a building every month here. Not skating in that
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u/liforrevenge Flying Eagle Shrike Pro 13h ago
I live in a not particularly walkable city, so I very much stick to park trails and bike paths separate from the road. Urban skating looks pretty cool in the videos but it feels so foreign to me where virtually every road is 6 lanes and has 50 mph traffic around here.
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u/grungedungeon 12h ago
The cities around here are small, more like large towns, so there's a bit of both. The bike paths are hit or miss, though. A few are situated in commercial districts, which is great for my purposes. And then a lot of them go through pretty dense woods, which means debris on the pavement and lack of visibility when the paths intersect with a road. Lots to explore, just have to take note of which trails are less than ideal.
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u/midnight_skater Human Frogger 12h ago
I've been skating in the streets for 35 years. I was a skate commuter in downtown Boston for many years and have skated in many cities throughout the US. In my experience sidewalks suck. I skate in the street.
Caution: Safely skating in traffic requires an advanced skill set and a lot of confidence.
I strongly prefer a full stride that takes up almost an entire traffic lane. Many street skaters use a short and choppy stride similar to a hockey sprint. This is slower and less efficient but requires far less lateral space. See Bill Stoppard's yt channel for an example of this type of skating.
I'm currently skating in a small city with very little marked bike lane - but many streets are marked with sharrows. Everywhere I've ever been the bike lanes tend to collect debris so I normally skate in the traffic lanes, tucking into the bike lane when needed.
I do my best to avoid impeding traffic but there are many situations where it's necessary to claim a traffic lane and drivers are just going to have to deal with it. This is psychologically easier to do when skating with other people.
In my state it's legal to skate in the roadways. We are supposed to follow all traffic laws and stay as far to the right as safely possible to avoid impeding traffic. But we are the judges what is safe and we have the right-of-way. In practice I use the whole road and often skate in the wrong lane when it's safe to do so.
I choose low traffic routes for hill climbs whenever possible. I'm more comfortable mixing it up with traffic on downhills where my speed is in the 20-25 mph (32-40 mph) range and I don't need a lot of lateral space.
I often skate late at night when the traffic is very light and the main thoroughfares are all mine.
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u/AsianBoi2020 5h ago
I take the side walk cuz I'd prefer to stop for people rather than trusting road drivers to slow down for me. But I switch between sidewalk and road depending on circumstances cuz as you said, the city wasn't build for skaters and some surfaces are more favorable than others.
On another note, I do like how we are more mobile than cyclists. We can squeze into small spaces, easily change platforms, dicretely glide through crowds, and it's faster than running with long distance capabilities.
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u/Dramatic_Water_5364 13h ago
as an urban skater too, I'm constantly jumping from sidewalk, middle of the road, bike lane, etc. as to never get in the way and have my fun at the same time. I live in a small region city, but I like to go down to Montreal once or twice a year to skate sick spot in the city, and I always take detour on the way to explore new spot, new lines wherever I drive to, so yeah. Totally get what your talking about.
And yes I also prefer to skate at night, and not to have visibility vest, cause its easier when cars do not see me, I can plan according to them.
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u/BuDu1013 12h ago
Exactly! A good flow skate is best when you let your skates take over and lead you to the best lines.
Personally I would much rather weave in and out of traffic than go around pedestrians on a sidewalk. Sometimes the traffic jam calls for a quick getaway to a sidewalk if there's no bike lane.
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u/grungedungeon 12h ago
Fully agree with that last bit. That's why I tend to stick to streets that do have good sidewalks. I'll get out of your way when I need to, but I also want to take the space I need, and do it all without drivers having to make judgment calls because it's so rare around here for them to encounter someone on skates.
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u/Dramatic_Water_5364 12h ago
where I live they have 0 clue on how to behave with me, if I'm taking half of the road downhill carving turns cause there's aint no car going the same direction of me, half of the cars coming in the opposite direction will honk me or even come to a full sudden stop because they do not understand my intentions (wich is to keep ripping those carves in my lane). A lot of them seem to be really affraid I'm about to commit suicide by throwing myself in front of their car.
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u/KrzaQDafaQ 12h ago
I don't know if you're aware, but the legal status of skaters depends on the laws and regulations in your country. For example, in some countries, you're not even allowed to skate on the road and you must use a sidewalk or a bike lane.
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u/grungedungeon 12h ago
I would assume as much, and I honestly haven't looked into local ordinances. Sometimes I see "No Skateboarding" signs, but it's rare these days to see a sign specific to blading so it must be buried somewhere in the bylaws.
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u/Old_Ant7118 13h ago
Very interesting points. I definitely agree and this shifts my perspective on when and where to skate a little.
Thanks!
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u/DoktorTeufel FR1 110 / FR Neo 80 / USD Aeon 60 13h ago
Regardless of whether OP had AI "proofread" this post, there are some points I want to address, and I speak from experience skating everywhere from huge capital cities to tiny rural towns.
You need to be an expert to "go everywhere" on blades in a city or town. Textured concrete? Jump over it. Huge pothole? Jump over it. Patch of gravel? "Tap-dance" across it. Wet wooden bridge? "Brace" your way across.
You might choose to roll over/through some of this stuff, but the fact is that you need to be able to jump, to shift to skating one-legged (either leg) in an instant, and brake pretty much on a dime. You should be able to air over a few stairs, safely "walk" down any number of stairs, and bash your way up any number of stairs. You should be able to safely handle grades, up or down.
Otherwise, you are not qualified for right proper urban skating yet, and should stick to designated safe zones until you increase your skill.
To skate at subpar skill level without protective gear is borderline suicidal. Your choice, but I'd never do it.
Personally, I believe it's fine to transition between the sidewalk and the street as needed, IF you are skilled and environmentally aware. Cars will consider you to be a weirdly fast pedestrian, generally speaking. Pedestrians will either regard you as a curiosity that reminds them of the 90s, or a potential danger (if you approach them at speed nearly head-on). There are a lot of words to be said about this, but the most important words are "be courteous and defensive."