[tomkitten]

Just got my skates from the UK - I'm going to be looking to play hockey but would love to meet up with anyone who skates out here recreationally.

In the UK I was part of the London skate (Weds) and FNS (Friday) group street skates and also went on the Paris roller frequently so ideally would love to find people with experience of street skating.

If anyone knows a) anywhere good to skate b) the law regarding road and / or suicide skates (i.e. just going full pelt through central traffic) c) any skate and / or hockey shops out here I'd be most grateful

[TwistedFates]

I skate with a big local skating club. They are pretty huge and do go all over the place. They have regular day tours where you skate on bicycle paths/sidewalks and go to some neat place and also night tours where you skate in the wee morning hours on the road.
Their website is http://www.hkssg.org/ if you can read Chinese. If let me know and I can give you a contact to their club president who speaks some marginal english.

Are you at all interested in Slalom skating? If you were you just missed S?bastien Laffargue who was in town yesterday for an exhibition and skate around.

[jgl]

Wow, that's one of the slickest websites I've seen in Hong Kong. And here I was thinking that *nobody* bladed in HK. I wish I could read Chinese though.

[TwistedFates]

I can't read Chinese either but this is the section of the forum that always contains the latest events. There are always bits in English so you know where you can go to at least meet up with the group and ask them how you can join.
http://hkssg.org/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=5

[jgl]

I left my blades in Sydney... any places to hire semi-decent ones around Hong Kong?

And how good/fast are these guys? (Say compared to the London FNS or the weekly NYC events?) I'd love to join in, but I'm reeealy rusty.

[TwistedFates]

Of renting skates, I am not sure. I've never had to do so. But there are a couple of stores sprinkled around HK. There are a few near Victoria Park area.

As for pace, it is variable. There are some slower skaters and there are skaters that like to go faster. But those that go fast will have to stop from time-to-time at convenient intervals/junctions and wait up.

They do night skates very often where you skate on roads and there are places with lots of hills where you can cruise down fast for over a minute.

[jgl]

With some serendipitous timing, I have family coming out from Australia soon. I should have my skates by next week. Any contacts for the club would be great- I couldn't find any English on the website Events section.

[TwistedFates]

Please check your PM

[tomkitten]

dude if you can let me know in english of anything that would be great - please, please pm me with anything - fns ain't too fast man! by the way i once went out with sebastian in paris for a few beers - he's a friend of my friend naomi grieg - and no, I'm not a slalomer whatsoever to be honest

[TwistedFates]

HKSSG has skate tours on weekends However they are not all during the day. The ones at night are considerably hairier since you skate in the middle of the night on the roads. I believe there will be a day time skate on the 28th. I will confirm with you.

But before that, you could Skate on the lovely path from Shatin to either Tai Wo or Ma On Shan. I might head there on Sunday for some exercise.

That's really cool that you know Naomi. I have seen her videos and her website. I've always wanted to get some lessons from her, but she seldom comes to this corner of the world. I will have to hunt her down when I get back to Canada. Sebastian is just a really cool, soft spoken guy. Wish I knew more French.