Hi All,

My frineds are coming over from Prague this Friday and are bring their in-line skates with them. I HAVE TO TAKE them rollerblading somwhere in/outside of Zurich.
If anyone knows good spots, please advise. I will be buy you a beer/coffee/tea...you name it :-)

Thanks

Kasia

hi Kate, why don't you check one of these skate maps out. The first one is for the greater Zurich area.
http://www.zueri-unterland.ch/zueri-...asp?IDPage=105

http://www.swiss-skate-map.ch/index_...artentext.html
http://www.swisstravelcenter.ch/pres...o=detail&pid=3

If it's not too 'outside of Zürich (city)' then a very nice route is right the way around the Greifensee. It's all beautifully smooth tarmac with the exception of one or two bits of street pavement, but even that's still pretty good. If the weather is nice, it's great - and you should definitely avoid the centre of Zürich on Sunday anyway as it's the marathon so most of it will be heaving with people and/or blocked off anyway.

Have fun and hope the rain stops!

For me the Griefensee is the best option and a close second is around Zurich Flughafen.

I hear there is an awesome run from the Jungfraujoch down to Grindelwald, but you have to wear fullbody armour !! ohhh, and its maybe a bit far from Zurich.

Barth, Kat, Grant, Ashley

Million thanks! I will definetly chose one from your suggestions as my friends ARE BRINGING in-lines from Prague :-)

Maybe once spring finds its way to Zurich we can organise an in-line skating get together at one of the "not too far out of" Zurich places?

Cheers,
K

an in-line skating get-together is a great idea, Kate - count me in. By that time, you'll probably be an old hand who knows all the best routes thanks to your diehard skater friends

The big one, of course, is the Monday Night Skate - not long to go now before they start up again! We can easily meet up and skate together under the EF banner

That sounds good to me...although I do not speak German

I will report back after this weekend and we can plan something for April (second half as I will be gone for few days)

K

I tried Greifensee for the first time this weekend and it was brilliant. I live near the Tram 7 route, so I took the tram to Stettbach, then skated the bike trail from there, which leads to the Greifensee tour.

There are different ways to do it, and circling the entire lake is apparently about 25 km. I didn't think I could manage that, so I went as far as I could, then took a little ferry from Niederuster to the other side, then skated back to Stettbach and my tram from there. The entire route is fairly clearly marked.

I suspect if you enjoy having the tarmac to yourself, the earlier in the day you go at Greifensee, the better. As I headed home around noon, the bike and hike trails were far more crowded with cyclists, dog-walkers, skaters, hikers, etc. than when I set out.

Great. How about In-line get together weekend of 21st-22nd April? Anyone interested?

K

Weather and work permitting, yes. Do you want route suggestions, or do you already have something in mind? Having said that, the Greifensee is probably still the best option!

Can we assume that this will be a sedate season opener and not a semi-professional grand-prix-stylee competition? In other words, feel free to come along as long as you can stop safely - no need to be a pro etc? Just anticipating the inevitable question!

YES!!! I am far from being a pro. Just doing it for the fun and some work out. Plus in my world skating is a very social sport... :-)

Anyone else joining us?

I'm in, work permitting (I'm on call that weekend), but I'm not a pro either and can't even do that crouch/arms-swinging/aerodynamic-thing. However, I'm also far from being a hazard to traffic, fellow skaters, etc

I'd love it if we could start out reasonably early (not Swiss definition of early, mind you!) to avoid the crowds.

An idea ?

Possibly

30.04.07 should be the Night Skate. . . .

Never done it before but must be fun. . .

http://www.nightskate.ch/

Enjoy

Keep in mind that with the Monday Night Skate, it is definitely not for beginners.

I once wrote an article for the now-defunct Cream magazine about clubs, which included a piece on the Monday Night Skate. Well organized, really great thing - but only for experienced skaters. I think they make you quit if you can't keep up or look unsteady.

Oups. I am no pro so let's start praciticing for this Night thing :-)

Mark your calendars. I am ok for early start (as long as it is NOT 6 AM).

I have a car, live in Hong and I can take 3 other people (plus inline skates of course)

Cheers
K

Why don't one of you make a calender event for your skate. You may get more people interested that way.

good deal. why don't we set a time to meet at a specific point on the Greifensee route, because I'll be skating to there from Stettbach. Unfortunately, I don't know the route well enough (yet!) to suggest a meeting point. I do remember seeing several parking lots along the way though...

as soon as that's settled, we can put it in the calendar as Lou suggests.

Why don't we meet in Stettbach then? I have not been yet to Greifensee so for me it would be a good meeting point.

Shall we say April 22nd at 9AM?

K