Solstice Ultraskate VII on Fathers' Day

[stevie]

Anybody in the Los Angeles area planning on doing the Solstice Ultraskate on June 21st?

NCDSA - Contest Registration

I've got a course along the LA Harbor waterfront that is pretty decent, 4.3 miles of solid course with another 3 or 4 miles of sketch beyond that, all one way. A few 'laps' and the miles start racking up.

Anyone interested? Somebody have a better course in the area? Let's go!

[stevie]

I'm thinking the bike path along the LA river might be another good route:

Bike Paths of Los Angeles: Lario Trail

[stevie]

OK, here's the part of the course that I've got nailed. There are a few kinks in the last mile on the north but the he southern part is perfect If you have Google Earth you can open this file:

http://www.nyal.com/skate/Cabrillo_to_Channel.kmz

I've got two takers so far. Anyone else?

[stevie]

I'm thinking the bike path along the LA river might be another good route:

Bike Paths of Los Angeles: Lario Trail

Just got word from a biker friend that the river trail is "dangerous north of the 91".

I had been thinking of linking the river trail with the Rio Hondo trail to get a > 20 mi. total, but with bikers saying they're scared to stop to fix flats for 1/2 of the length of it, and reports of malicious barriers and "shopping cart corrals" in some of the trail underpasses, I think I'll pass (for now).

It's looking like we'll be doing multiple laps of the 5 mile beach loop.

[pavedwave]

Just got word from a biker friend that the river trail is "dangerous north of the 91".

I had been thinking of linking the river trail with the Rio Hondo trail to get a > 20 mi. total, but with bikers saying they're scared to stop to fix flats for 1/2 of the length of it, and reports of malicious barriers and "shopping cart corrals" in some of the trail underpasses, I think I'll pass (for now).

It's looking like we'll be doing multiple laps of the 5 mile beach loop.

man that's some great info for non-locals!!

seattle crew's doing our 25-mile ride 4x, then up to the 2.8-mile loop for the night. the only time Greenlake can be a little sketch are the 2--5 a.m. hours, we've had to skate around people sleeping across the trail, a guy spraying people with air freshener, a car full of drunks driving down the trail, and other random freaks of the night you're better off just not making eye contact with.

usually though, its just a bunch of jolly drunks. hope your beach loop is safe. might want to carry mace??

[stevie]

man that's some great info for non-locals!!

seattle crew's doing our 25-mile ride 4x, then up to the 2.8-mile loop for the night. the only time Greenlake can be a little sketch are the 2--5 a.m. hours, we've had to skate around people sleeping across the trail, a guy spraying people with air freshener, a car full of drunks driving down the trail, and other random freaks of the night you're better off just not making eye contact with.

usually though, its just a bunch of jolly drunks. hope your beach loop is safe. might want to carry mace??

If we take the river trail I might follow your suggestion. The beach loop is actually in a nice area.

Sounds like you've got the fun going up there. Wish I could join you. My initial two compatriots have dropped out but I'm working on a couple of others. We'll see. I'm going alone if it comes down to it.

Here's my rig. It seems to work pretty good. Any suggestions?
Deck: Pavel ditch killer, 27" w.b., only a small amount of flex
Rear: Seismic 105 dewedged to 25 deg, medium (green) springs
Front: Ace 00 wedged up to about 60 deg, Venom 78a grommets
Manx 69mm 80a all around

[stevie]

Wind change.

Two groups of compadres have signed up and dropped out. The longer parts of the trail I'm trying to string together have too many problems. My psuedo-LDP rig turns out to suck in non-ideal conditions or any uphill slope. The obvious tweaks haven't helped. Don't have the cash to set up a real LDP. #### it.