LONDON FRIDAY NIGHT SKATE TM
& SUNDAY STROLL TM

S K A T I N G    T H E    L F N S

Photo: Keiwan Liu

First off: our lawyers make us say this bit. You skate at your own risk! We (the marshals) will do our best to make the skate a fun and safe experience, but ultimately all responsiblity for your safety rests entirely with you.

• There's a lead marshal at the front - DO stay behind them

  Listen to the announcement at the start to find out who the lead marshal is. He or she is usually wearing a red vest with flashing lights.

• There's a rear marshal at the back - DO stay in front of them.

  If you're lagging behind the rear marshal, the traffic's not stopped for you, and for your safety and ours we'll ask you to leave the skate. Don't be discouraged: see the Too slow? section below for some helpful hints

• DO KEEP LEFT!

  The blockers (marshals wearing yellow vests) stop traffic at junctions until the rear marshal passes, then sprint back past all the skaters to the front of the skate and block again. If the marshals can't get past you to block traffic, the skate has to stop.

  Sometimes we'll be e.g. turning right on a roundabout and the blockers may want to go around the outside instead of the middle. Listen to the marshals' instructions, use your intelligence and be aware of what's going on around you.

• DON'T skate in oncoming traffic. or force the marshals into oncoming traffic. We skate on two-way streets: stay on the left-hand side of the road

• DON'T skate on the pavement. In some parts of town it's illegal; in any part of town, knocking pedestrians over is very bad karma and will lead to your being stamped to death by a forty-foot-tall giant granny in a future life. Don't say we didn't warn you.

• DON'T cause trouble with the traffic.

  We have to share the road with it and annoying the drivers only makes our lives more difficult. If you see an incident brewing, leave it to the marshals to calm things down: crowds will only aggravate the situation.

• DON'T touch or hang onto vehicles. It's illegal, and drivers get extremely tetchy about it

• To be a competent skater

  You need to be able to stop without bouncing off other people or solid objects, to control your speed on downhills, and to be confident skating near other people. If you've never done a streetskate before, the LFNSTM is probably not the best one to start with (try the Sunday StrollTM or the Wednesday LondonSkate).

• Protective equipment. We strongly advise a helmet and pads (wrist/knee/elbow)

• Skates that are not made from cheese

  Without being a snob about it (because that way lies custom-moulded boots, 100mm wheels and eventually irreversible soul damage where you start thinking Lycra is socially acceptable for wearing in public) there is a certain minimum standard of construction for skates that will not be actively unpleasant on London's road surfaces, and for brand-new skates it's around the £100 mark. If this seems like a lot, why not hire a pair first to see if you'll like it? Spending much less than this is a pretty good way to ensure that you won't.

  Most people use inline skates (a.k.a Rollerblades, but Rollerblade are just one of several companies that make decent skates). Some are on quads (what most people mean when they say 'Roller Skates'). Some people turn up with more outlandish equipment yet (e.g. cyclists, skateboarders, inline nordic skiers) - if this is you, please be mindful of the people around you. For safety reasons we might ask you to follow behind the rear marshal instead of mixing it with the body of the skate.

• Water: especially in summer. If you're feeling thirsty, you're already dehydrated. 2 hours on skates is a long time if you're not used to it.

• A clear head: Alcohol is a no-no: it affects your judgement and dehydrates you more quickly. It also creates a bad impression of the skate in the eyes of bystanders, other road users, and the police. If we see you skating with an open alcohol container, or if you're apparently drunk, we will ask you to leave the skate.

• Lights. We skate at night when it's dark: be seen. Most cycle shops do cheap blinky red LED lights, which are pretty effective : don't get totalled by a taxi turning right across the skate.

• Shoes/Travelcard/Taxi fare to use if you don't make it all the way to the end. It's really easy to lose your friends in the skate, too: swap mobile numbers with people before the start and you'll find it easier to locate them at half time or at the finish.

  (Side note: some skaters have reported increased success in hailing taxis if they remove their skates first. Can't imagine why ...)

If you can't keep up, don't be discouraged: it's happened to all of us. You'll probably find it's not about the speed but about how long you can keep going for - when you get tired your skating gets sloppy and you're more likely to make mistakes. Good skating technique helps a lot too: if you're skating with less effort, you won't get tired as quickly.

Do come back next week and see how much further you get. Do practice in the park (or anywhere else convenient to you). Do consider taking lessons. We suggest asking on various skate forums (see links) to get help finding the best course for you.