Many skaters but no facilities in Barcelona
In 2011 the last feast of bicycles and skates took place in Barcelona. To make a video of the skaters I went to the Forum where the tour ended and where the feast of the different forms of skating was organized. This video is presented here. You can see how many skaters participated in this tour and party. In fact I stopped making the video when a friend of me passed by. The procession of skaters was much longer.
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You can usually see people skating in different parts of the city, especially next to the beaches but also elsewhere, for example around the Arc de Triomphe and the "Ramblas". There are some schools to teach skating. There is also an association of skaters in Barcelona (APB) that organizes every Friday night routes in the city with the help of a group of skaters that control traffic to prevent accidents called "stoppers". Skating with a large group is dangerous. Therefore the "stoppers" get instructions of the problems in the day's route. The video shows the instructions of the "stoppers" and then the route of that day with its complications.
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Skate routes in Barcelona
These routes start at 23.30h and last for two or three hours skating 20 to 30 km. Occasionally the tour is connected with special event, for example Haloween.
This is a lot of fun as the picture shows.
The panticipants enjoy this activity very much but there are also people who like to participate in skating as a sport activity.
Therefore there are many groups that organize tours during the week and in the weekends. In general these tours last many hours.
These routes start at 23.30h and last for two or three hours skating 20 to 30 km. Occasionally the tour is connected with special event, for example Haloween.
This is a lot of fun as the picture shows.
The panticipants enjoy this activity very much but there are also people who like to participate in skating as a sport activity.
Therefore there are many groups that organize tours during the week and in the weekends. In general these tours last many hours.
Another kind of skating
There are also types of skating that are recognized as olympic sport; Firstly figure skating, secondly long and short track speed skating. Ice hockey which is a combination of hockey and skating is also an olympic sport. A sport that is extremely popular in world is speed skating on wheels. Until now it is not olympic but certainly going to be so very soon.
There are also types of skating that are recognized as olympic sport; Firstly figure skating, secondly long and short track speed skating. Ice hockey which is a combination of hockey and skating is also an olympic sport. A sport that is extremely popular in world is speed skating on wheels. Until now it is not olympic but certainly going to be so very soon.
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Facilities in other countries
There are two countries that win most medals in skating: Columbia in inline skating and The Netherlands in ice skating. Typical for these two countries is that they have tracks for speed skating in all major cities. Nowadays in many other countries there also are tracks for speed skating on wheels, not only in Europe but also in the US and Canada, South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. At the side is a videos of a typical example: training for speed skating on a skating track in Taipei in Taiwan. |
Beeing one of the skaters in such a group gives a fantastic feeling. Similar activities can be found in many cities all over the world. In the Netherlands there are many people going to a skating rink for an hour and a half with some friends. The majority of them is not a member of a speed skating club but the skaters like sportive skating, faster than in the streets and improving their physical condition. In the past I thought that only skating tours was fun till I, with many others, detected that skating on a track in a group is also very attractive.
There is no track where people who want to do skating as a sport can go in Barcelona. For this one had to go outside Barcelona 20 or 40 kilometers, to Prat de Llobregat or LLyca d´Amunt. Accidentally the Plaza Willy Brandt near the Forum is used as a circuit for the Skating Championships of Catalunya. But that's not a skating track that people interested in skating as a sport can use permanently for training and championships like the track in Prat de Llobegrat. The surfice is different and often the square is used for activities of the Barcelona Convention Center that is next to it.
There is no track where people who want to do skating as a sport can go in Barcelona. For this one had to go outside Barcelona 20 or 40 kilometers, to Prat de Llobregat or LLyca d´Amunt. Accidentally the Plaza Willy Brandt near the Forum is used as a circuit for the Skating Championships of Catalunya. But that's not a skating track that people interested in skating as a sport can use permanently for training and championships like the track in Prat de Llobegrat. The surfice is different and often the square is used for activities of the Barcelona Convention Center that is next to it.