Press - 26/3/14

Farout magazine, April 2014

Journalist An Kokken came along to one our sessions, and wrote an article on active things to do in London, which is in the April edition of 'Far Out' magazine in Belgium. Here is her article (in Dutch), from the perspective of a complete beginner -

Translation -

London is more than Madame Tussaud, Christmas shopping and a ride on the London Eye Ferris wheel. With a lot of great parks and old industrial sites is also a pack experience in the field of sports . fascinating stuff Boris called the companion in the coming days will bring us to all those places. The gray with blue bike, as you can see there are thousands of round-riding in the British capital, took his name to Mayor Boris Johnson, who London wants to become bicycle heaven. Inspired by many other metropolises Johnson left in the world London in 2010 with a bicycle component system. The principle it is as simple as it is ingenious: you take a bicycle from one of the many places in the city, drive it around and put it on another place to secure it in the rack. During the Olympic Games in 2012 were one day 47 105 bikes lent a record!

With a starting price of a few pounds you can also make use of such a tourist bicycle. You put it within half an hour again a rack, then nothing will be charged extra - acknowledged. If a little clock watching holds, may for just a few pounds the cruising all day London. In any case, cheaper than the subway and you see something of the city.

The Olympics chase

After some fumbling with the Visa card in the bicycle from Piccadilly Circus, jumping on Boris and we slalom between the traffic to Hyde Park , the 140 hectare large park - where the Olympic Playing the part triathlon took place -to the edge of the central Serpentine Lake.

We are greeted by Iain Ballentine, he provides courses for several years rollerski in and around London. "The technique of rollerlerskiën resembles that of cross-country ", he knows telling . "Only you stand on a kind of inline skates instead of cross-country skis. Cross-country skiers use rollerski like training before and after ski season, but actually it is a fun sport for everyone. You have the technique is relatively easy to learn, you train your entire body and unlike inline skating, roller can ski on all - slate surfaces practicing . We organize different courses per week, both for beginners and advanced, and the number participants continues to rise."

Iain sends us to the beginners group, where our instructor Flic the basics of roller skiing instils. First exercise: helmet, wristbands and knee pads in the right way - draw ( first kneepads, then the shoes ) and try the shoes on the bonds without snapping to to fall. As with cross-country depends only the tip of your foot fixed and the heel can move up and down. The next hour we drive back and forth over the wide asphalt path along the Serpentine Lake. through various simple exercises - balancing on the left foot, balancing on the right foot, gliding as long as possible, pushing yourself with sticks - we make our proper posture and technique own. It feels like a mix of cross-country skiing and skating, though the narrow strips with wheels less stable and it is anything but easy to stop. Certainly not when a dog suddenly for your wheels jump or a gust of wind to get to the side of the track blows. A job that also show off to tend to the outside side. Before I really got into it, I end up horizontally next to the equestrian Rotten Row path - which runs through the entire park - my head just next to some horse manure . Nobody looks strange on this show to happen.

 

 

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