Scouting, Volume 78, Number 4, September 1990 Page: 12
98, E1-E12, [8] p. : ill. (some col.) ; 28 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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BBS
Post 582's skate patrol administers first aid to the victim of a biker-skater collision in Golden Gate Park.
new for Mike. Last spring he and
several other members of the OR A
skated from San Francisco to Los
Angeles, a distance of 420 miles. The
group organized the trip to demon-
strate their stand against crack co-
caine drug abuse.
"It took us 49 hours and 21 min-
utes," said Mike. "We had four
groups of skaters and two RVs. Each
group rotated skating—one hour on
the road, three hours in the RV.
"The hardest part of the trip came
around Santa Cruz where we had to
skate up a mountain for IV2 hours.
But then we got to go downhill and
the RV clocked my speed at 55 miles
per hour."
Such long-distance skating re-
quires hours of training, and San
Francisco, known for its steep hills,
provides a good workout for both legs
and lungs.
"I keep in training by skating at
least an hour and a half every day,"
Mike says. "Broadway up to Coit
Tower is one of the steepest streets
in San Francisco, and I've skated up
it. I think it's steeper than the cable
car routes. It's about a 45-degree an-
gle."
If you're into racing or long-dis-
tance skating, Post 582's Explorers
recommend you try inline, rather
than conventional, skates.
Inline skates, sometimes referred
to as blades, resemble ice skates with
four lightweight polyurethane wheels
set in a straight line and attached to
a hard plastic boot. Conventional
skates have four wheels that are
paired two in front and two in back.
Both types of skates start at about
$150 a pair. Add to that the cost of
protective body gear.
"Everyone falls once in a while,
even the real good guys," says Sean
Whitley. "And when you fall you need
pads because you can really mess up
your knees or break your wrist.
That's why we have the wrist guards.
Some people, especially those just
starting out, also wear elbow pads.
"With skates and pads, it will cost
you about $225 to $250 to get
started," he said.
David Miles is Post 582's Advisor
and the driving force behind the
Golden Gate Park skate patrol. He
and the post have earned praise and
recognition.
"A few years ago, roller skating was
nearly out of control in the park,"
says Joel Robinson, superintendent
of recreation for San Francisco's park
board.
"David Miles helped put some
controls in place and with creation
of the skate patrol he heightened
skaters' awareness of safety," Robin-
son said.
Nationally, blade skating has ex-
perienced tremendous growth in the
last six years. Rollerblade, the domi-
nant manufacturer of inline skates,
estimates the number of blade ska-
ters has increased from 40,000 in
1984 to 450,000 today.
"The original Rollerblade was in-
vented in 1980 for hockey players as
an off-season training device," ex-
plains Rollerblade spokesperson
Mary Haugen.
Indeed, both Sean Whitely and
Mike Riddle began their skating ad-
ventures long ago on the hockey rink.
So how does blade skating differ
from ice-skating? Sean has a quick
answer:
"At an ice-skating rink you have
walls. But in rollerblading you have
no boundaries. The whole world is
your ice-skating rink." M
E12
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Boy Scouts of America. Scouting, Volume 78, Number 4, September 1990, periodical, September 1990; Irving, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth353668/m1/62/: accessed May 1, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Boy Scouts of America National Scouting Museum.