Inline Skating in San Francisco

Caution: This is a Long Post

The photo to the right shows me with Siggy, a skater in his 7th decade, who is part of the great skate scene in San Francisco. And he is some skater too, as soon after this photo he was whizzing down through the slalom tubes at the bottom of the hill we are standing on.

While some may disagree, in my opinion the city of San Francisco is the U.S. mecca for skating, and perhaps beyond. The scenery (both natural and manmade), the unique climate, the sometimes challenging terrain, the passion around all types of skating, the skating traditions, the diversity...it's all there and it's all great.

In an early December 2005 trip to the San Francisco area to hook up with some friends and former colleagues on both sides of the Bay, I was able to get away for a Sunday of skating out of Golden Gate Park. Unfortunately, I missed the Friday Night Skate this trip - it was another great time I heard - but nonetheless had a great Sunday afternoon on the small wheels.

See a few photos from that Sunday of skating, including some shots taken while on the 15+ mile Lake Merced Loop skate on this flickr photoset. For those who have done the skate, you may be especially interested to see the Gmap Pedometer version of the Lake Merced Loop (based on the previous link's PDF version). Gmap Pedometer uses the magnificent Google Maps (where one can simply drag the map around as needed and slide the bar to zoom in or out) as its source, with a blue line tracing the desired route as you make it, and mile marker and elevation profile options (the latter a neat recent add by Paul, Gmap Pedometer's creator/author). My attempt to create the route in Gmap Ped. puts it at just over 16 miles.

Note: The above link to the Gmap version of the route works in Firefox (where it was created), but I have not been able to get it to work in IE. Someone more skilled at that sort of thing might be able to determine how to get it to work on both. It would be a pain to have to re-map the entire route for a different browser. Also, the elevation profile option currently only works in the U.S. (data drawn from the U.S. Geological Survey).

So, have you checked it out!? Pretty cool, eh? If you are on dial-up be especially patient, as it takes time to load all the data. If you only have IE, click here for a screenshot of the elevation profile (and consider downloading Firefox). I could post a screenshot of the route, too, but without the dynamic nature of Google Map technology, the pdf version does just as well. Page down for an earlier blog on Gmap Pedometer with screenshots if needed.

On the loop's elevation profile, you'll see a nice quick drop from 250 ft above sea level to near zero between miles 1 and 3, and then some meandering up and down until a similar climb occurs towards the end - with great views along the way. It would be great if someone could do one of these for the Friday Night Skate or one of the other popular skates in the area, or map a new Bay Area route with it. If someone is so inclined, it would be great if any such route could be posted on the SFSkaters.org Mailing List.

I recommend the Lake Merced Loop skate experience to all inliners, whether you are a local or, like me, an infrequent visitor. At the least, it's something to put on your life list - but a warning, if you do it once you might get hooked. Every inline skater, either residing in the Bay Area or visiting the area, should do this skate at least once (and the Friday Night Skate too). All you must know how to do is skate hills confidently (both up and down) and skate at a decent pace. You do NOT have to be a 'racer'; there are rest stops built in to keep the group together.

Want to skate better (faster, longer...) but need help to get there? Liz Miller and Kim Perkins have some great skate-better advice on their respective websites. And there are links for help available for skaters of all levels who want to improve at this page. Finally, there is Kathie Fry's skating enthusiast's site, SkateLog.com, for various news and information about all types of skating.

If you are a rollerskater, you don't want to miss the skating scene in D. Miles Plaza. The tunes are goin' beginning 1 p.m. (weather-permitting) every Sunday in Golden Gate Park, and keep going until well in the afternoon.

Thanks to Jack, Rebecca and Warren for sharing the fun of the Lake Merced Loop (and to James who unfortunately fell ill that day but made sure I got there), to D. Miles for his continuing efforts to provide skating opportunities and experiences and to give skating a voice and place in SF (and surrounding locales), and for all the other skaters who keep things rollin' in San Francisco- among them June, Siggy, Ed and others whom I met that day. It was nice meeting and seeing you all. I look forward to my next SF trip. In the meantime, skate safe and let me know when you will be coming to St. Louis - there's good skating here too!