For some of us we are delighted in the thrill of physical movement, a touch of speed. But some just don’t understand the reason for that excitement. So they ask, what makes you so happy every time you want to go skate? And why should anybody be interested in that risky sport?

Inline skating is one of few affordable activities that is fun, healthy and suitable for all ages. With proper instruction, inline skating's basic techniques can be learned in a relatively short time. It’s a recreational sport that can be taken seriously, Inline activities can create excitement and relieve tension at the same time. It has no size restrictions, although your size may change if you do it enough. Inline skating is a great way to stay out of big trouble with little inconvenience. If you are the type that needs a more specific reason to skate, Below are some additional reasons that may spark up your interest.

- Inline skates are portable and versatile. They can be strapped on for a lunch hour session or for a refreshing evening roll around your neighborhood. They can be waiting in the trunk of your car for the spontaneous whim, or packed as part of your trip kit.

- Inline Skating is good for networking and making new friends. Groups, clubs, couples and friends who love in-line skating will find that there’s no better way to bond than on wheels. Wearing inline skates puts everyone on an equal footing regardless of skill level and provides lots of opportunities for conversation, laughter, sharing and empathy. It’s easy to make new friends on Skates.

- Inline, Fuel-less form of Transportation. Reap the benefits of being a pedestrian while enjoying the speed of a small vehicle. Your in-line skates are a wonderful way to transport yourself from one place to another, especially if there is a scenic view. But wait, there’s more: Once you arrive at your destination, there’s no need to pay for parking. Just take your vehicles with you. LOL!

- Inline Skating Equals Physical and Mental Fitness. Burn some calories, tone some muscles, relieve a little stress, get an aerobic workout, strengthen your heart and clear your mind. Let in-line skating helps you build a strong body and mind. It improves balance, strengthens every muscle from the lower back to the knees, and stimulates the upper body.

These three friends belong to the same skating group called the WOLF SKATING RING. Elabraham Egbeyemi, Olayinka Akinsanya aka Iperu and Emmanuel Osae a Ghanaian. They discover talents; groom them for a good cause. Pick young kids off the street and help them channel their energy to a positive use. Naija Follow My Skateea had a chat with Elabraham, the leader of the group about his love for skating, the benefit of skating and the way forward taking into consideration some of the challenges faced by the pioneers who started the sport.


NFMS.... WHY DO YOU LOVE SKATING?
ELABRAHAM... I’ve always loved the idea of rolling, the idea of going on wheels. I love driving; it just gets me out of funny moods. Put me behind the wheel, take away money, take away food, and please give me wheels.
So, imagine you discovering that you don’t have to get behind the steering to experience the thrill that comes with driving. Imagine you strapping something to your leg and you are able to hit the speed of a vehicle without the stress of having to buy fuel, Can you feel it? It’s that thrill that has kept me going on skate.

Let’s paint a better picture, at one time or the other, we’ve all craved the idea and imagined flying. The only thing that has gotten me close to flying is skating. I mean, if you are going at 60km per hour or more on wheels and it’s not because you are attached to an engine. But you are using your leg to achieve that speed. You experience, the breeze blowing pass you, music playing in the background. And you gliding smoothly on the road moving past people, the experience for me have brought me close to flying.

Look at the environment I live; skating is a rare recreational sport. It’s not what everybody does. So, people are always amazed every time I skate by. To them, I make skating look so easy, like it’s not as dangerous as they think it is. That attention in itself makes me feel like a super-being with talent.

NFMS...WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
ELABRAHAM... There is no better way to earn money than to live your passion. A lot of people tell me to be careful on skate, that in fact, I should stop it ‘cause it’s dangerous. But if I had listened to them, I wouldn’t have been able to break as much records as I have broken till date. There is nothing in life that is not dangerous, haven’t you seen somebody who chokes trying to eating? The act of eating as simple as it is, can be dangerous too, sometimes. So skating like any other sport has its own dangers but the truth is, the benefit of skating surpasses the dangers you can ever think of.

There is nothing you do for pleasure that won’t bring money in for you. Look at big brands today; they didn’t start out as profit making ventures. They were just people who love to do the things they love to do and eventually, people started patronising them.

I love skating, and over time I’ve brought a lot of people into doing it. Now it has started paying me. I didn’t initially start skating cause of the financial returns but whether I like it or not, it’s bring in money for me. In a week I can get 4 different jobs. The least of these jobs fetch me about 7k a day. Think about that for a month. The financial reward of skating in itself is enough to be like what should sensitize anybody into doing it.

The pleasure in skating can’t be over-enumerated. It helps your cardiovascular exercise, and it helps tone your skin and muscles. It excite your brain, it makes you more productive. When you are skating, it’s like you are flying. You just enjoy the fun of gliding through the air. It clears your mind and makes rooms for your mind to be able to build on other ideas and goals.

It’s been 10 months since I started skating; it’s not a year yet. But yet, in the local government where I live, I’ve been able to inspire more than two hundred people to start skating. Some are still skating and some had to drop cause of one thing or the other. I am looking forward to a skating generation, a period when everybody in the city owns a pair of inline skate. When this time comes, we will discover that movement is easier. So many times when I go out, I get caught up in traffic and I see people cursing, angry and sweating because there is no alternative. But what I do in such situation is: I reach for my bag, pull out my skate on and simply get out of that jam. Irrespective of how bad the road is, when you are so good you can glide on any of them. Take it from me; the benefits of skating far surpass its dangers.

NFMS...MOVING FORWARD....WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS?
ELABRAHAM... In the next 5 years, I want to have a skate company that will be use to run a big time courier service that is fast, efficient and cheap. There are so many times that parcels don’t get to their expected target because of factors like transportation, time and accessibility. With skating, we can avoid some of these challenges. Am not competing with other big courier service, this is just within Lagos.

Secondly, I want to create a kind of big competition for inline skating. The beautiful thing about skating is the speed. Now I want to have an inline skate competition where thousands of people will gather and watch what we can achieve with skating that the human leg can’t achieve. The competition will reward this skill in skaters.

It is a good way to pull the young people off the street. Off the boredom that leads them into negative activities.


NFMS...SKATING SHOULD BE MORE THAN 8 YEARS IN NIGERIA NOW; WHY DO WE STILL HAVE A LIMITED NUMBER OF PEOPLE SKATING?
ELABRAHAM... From what I have gathered, skate has been in Nigeria for close to 8 to 10 years. But so far, it’s been subtle, it’s not been pronounced. I ask myself what has the pioneers been doing all this while? Despite the fact that it’s a recreational and attractive sport, why are people not so into it yet? But then I figure that maybe they’ve not been able to deal with issues like:

Getting skate as a sport to achieve State recognition through which you can engage the young people. When you get the state government to support skating activities, they can deploy its resources into the sport and thereby, affect young people positively.

They’ve not seen skating as what it really is. They still see it as something they can own for themselves. Something they can brag on and make money from so long they can own and control it. They’ve not seen the sport as being owned and controlled by so many people.

They’ve not seen skating as language that can be use to reach the anomalies in the environment. Examples are: the issue of obesity, emotional stress, inferiority complex. These are anomalies in people’s life that affect our society.

Take a look at somebody who is suffering from emotional disturbance, they can take on skating as a good diversion. Cause eventually skating will build their self-confidence. Emotionally, you will be stable.

For inferiority complex, you don’t have to envy anybody who is good at something; you too can pick up skating and learn to be a pro. When you are good at it, everybody around you starts to appreciate your talent. Soon, you will be the sport-light.

Now, people who pioneered skating in Nigeria have not seen skating as a tool they could use in that regard. If they had, and communicated it extensively to people, they would have been able to pull more people in, than they are currently pulling.

NFMS...WHY INLINE SKATING AND NOT SKATE BOARDING?
ELABRAHAM... There is this belief that skate boarding is riskier than inline skating. But the reverse is the case. Reason being that, there are certain things you can’t achieve with skateboarding, but with inline skating.

If you go on skateboarding, to pick your speed you need your other leg. So, the ride is broken once in- awhile to pick up speed. But with inline skating, you just flow, with wheels attached to both legs. When one leg moves, it picks speed, and vice versa.

We also have to consider the road for skateboarding. Mind you, it’s not like we have the perfect road for inline skating too, but we can still make do with it for inline skating. Skateboarding is not attached to your leg, so you can’t easily manoeuvre your way around.

There is a misconception that only the fearless or young can learn to skate. But in fact, #Skating is not limited to any age or sex. But the good news is, just about anybody who is interested in in-line skating is capable of enjoying the sport to its fullest. Because in-line skating is so easy to learn, convenient, and beneficial to the body.

So, who skates?

Anybody who is intrigued by in-line skating.
Fitness enthusiasts, those who needs a regular routine to stay in shape, or a specific sport or hobby that requires physical training.
Anyone that is deeply committed to attaining a career goal in skating
Fun lovers of speed, adventure and networking
Anyone who wants to make most of their leisure hours

But if you haven't tried in-line skating yet, it’s perhaps you harbor one of the common doubts:
- What if I hurt myself, or worse, look like an idiot on wheels?
- It must take a long time and a lot of falls to get good enough to have fun.
- It's too hard to control your speed or stop on those things.
Don’t worry, we have that covered. Take time to go through our past update to find how to break the fear, skate with confidence and what type of skates to buy.

Irrespective of the negative talk around skating in Nigeria, some people still find deep love for the sport. Today being Valentine's day, Three Skateeas decided to treat themselves to new skates and a try out session. It’s Valentine and it’s all for the love of Skate. Follow our blog for more update on them... their love for skating and what inspires them.

Now that you’ve changed your wheels or cleaned your bearings, it’s time to put the wheels back on the skates. This is probably the easiest step. If you don't know how to remove you wheels, follow this link http://naijafollowmyskater.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-to-remove-your-wheel.html

Be careful though, you don’t want to make your wheels to be too loose so that they don’t rattle around or, have you fallen off. And you also won’t want it to be too tight that you won’t be able to move freely.

Repeat with the other seven wheels until all of them are tightened to the skates.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this tutorial, if you feel you don’t know how loose your wheels should be, I recommend you find someone who can help you get a feel for what is right for you.

With this tutorial, you can remove and put back your wheels anytime the need arises. Soon, we will take you through how to service your bearing.

Your wheels can wear out given enough mileage. But then, that depends on the type of skating you do. Basically, your wheels are due for maintenance when water enters the bearings, when you’ve got sand in it; this makes your skates much slower and not rolling as smoothly as when new. When this happens and you eventually notice, what you need to do is either change the wheels, change the bearings or you could even clean your wheels to remove the sand.

This tutorial explains how to remove and put back your wheels, provided you’ve clean the wheels, change them or even change the bearings - depending on why you remove them in the first place.
Please Note: I suggest you find someone who can help you figure out how tight or loose you wheels need to be. But that’s if you don’t have a prior knowledge about that. But then, you can never be too careful when it comes to safety on skates!

Tools you need.

As for tools, all you need is an Allen Key. Allen Key is sometimes called the L key, cause of its shape. Get the size 4, a long and a short one. Well, you don’t really need two keys in some skates, like K2 and Rollerblade. The screw on one side of the wheel is locked in place. But for other skate, you might need two Allen keys.

HOW TO USE THE ALLEN KEY




















Now let’s get down to business.

- First thing is to insert your Allen key on opposite sides of your wheels. Then you turn your hand opposite each other. One goes clockwise while the other counter-clockwise. But then, you might just decide to hold one key down while you turn with the other. However you want it.

- When you are done unscrewing, pull the nut from each end. What you will have is a long and a short nut. It’s the nuts that attach the wheels to the chassis. Once they are out, you will find the wheels hanging loosely. So, all you need to do is simply remove them.

















- Inside the wheels, you will find the bearing. To remove the bearings, insert the Allen key into the hole in the bearing, and gently pry it out. Note, do not force it – it will eventually pop out. Repeat the same on the other side. Keep the bearings close by in a neat pile.




















Note; inside the bearing we have small metallic balls that help control movement. But we won’t be prying into that for this tutorial. I will take you through that when I talk about how to clean your bearings.

Now with our wheels removed, let see what we have;

















Repeat with the other seven until you have removed all of the wheels, keeping the nuts bearings close by in a pile so that you don’t lose them. (If you're really worried that one might roll away, I recommend keeping them in a small plastic container.)

Do you have your wheels out now? Good. Do you want to clean your bearings or change your wheels? Do that quickly and let’s take you through how to put them back on.

When I started this blog, my aim was to help you correct the myths associated with skating and eventually help you reach this decision: ‘I want to give skate a try’. So far, have I been able to make you see skating in a new light? Do you now see past that riskiness you imagined around skate to a sport you can actually try? Remember, skating is not only for the fun of it, there are also healthy benefits to skating. Check my last update; I explained in detail how skate helps you live a healthy lifestyle. Before you consider skating, you need to have a goal in mind; that’s what motivates you as you progress in your training.

Now, is your mind made up? Or are you still considering it? Wherever you fall, when the time comes for you to want a piece of the action too, these questions will pop up: where do I go? What kind of skate should I buy? How much will it cost me? What's the best skate out there? With this update, you will be armed with information about inline skates, what features to look out for when getting one and what each features means to you when skating. Although, this is not the final work on all skating shopping issues, hopefully it’ll help shed some light on those questions. Note; any specific products shown are just examples.

Buying your First Skate.
The best skate to buy will depend on the kind of skating you want to do, and the amount of money you’re willing to spend. Inline skates can be generally organized into the following categories;

Aggressive Skates
Aggressive skates are tough, durable skates made of thick plastic. They have small wheels for maneuverability and grind plates to protect the boots when you perform aggressive stunts.

Artistic Skates
The skates most commonly used for figure skating and dancing have boots similar to ice skating boots and small wheels for maneuverability. The newest artistic skates have only three wheels, and the front and back wheels are a different hardness than the middle wheel. This allows smoother turns and spinning, and gives the skates the feel of a rockered skate or an ice skate.
















Fitness and Recreational Skates
Basic recreational skates have four wheels and plenty of ankle support. They are usually made of hard plastic. If you decide to purchase one of the new soft-boot skates, make sure the one you select has a plastic cuff or some other device to provide good ankle support. Recreational skates used for fitness and long-distance skating have larger wheels (80 mm), a slightly lower cuff, and extra comfort features. Recreational skates used for down-hill skating have a high cuff made of hard plastic, to provide the extra ankle support needed for skating down long, steep hills.























Hockey Skates
Hockey skates are made of leather and they have small wheels for maneuverability. They close with laces for a tight fit, and they are manufactured to support the agility requirements of roller hockey.





















Speed Skates
True speedskates are very light weight and they have a low-cut leather boot with no ankle support. They have a long wheel base and 5 large wheels for extra speed. They are not suitable for beginners because they have no brake, and the long wheel base makes it difficult to turn and do other basic maneuvers.


















Note that you are not limited to a particular type of skating cause of the skate you buy. But this is applicable to the Aggressive skates, the Recreational skates and the Artistic skate, the three are categorised as Multi-Purpose Skates. Skaters in Nigeria just use any kind of skate. As you hone your skills you tend to see what skates works best for you. But if you aren’t sure on what type of skating you’ll be doing, you should probably just go for a comfortable, recreational skate. Usually, in Nigeria, most of the good skates you can find around are high quality used skates. Some of the new ones are not as strong and some of the cheap ones are not comfortable too.

When buying a skate, what’s important to me? Quality, Speed and Price. Know this: the more you spend on skates the less it’ll cost you in the long run. On a good day, you will get a high-end quality skate for N8,000. On other days, they could be N12,000. If you have a friend who wants to sell his or hers own off, you can bargain for between N5,000 and N6,000. Spending this much is on the condition that you will be using your skates regularly. But if you are just going to buy it, use it once and dump it, you might just save the stress and buy the plastic ones.

Hope you can talk about Skates when next anybody asks you? And if this update gingers you enough to want to give skating a try, do me a favor and wear your helmet, learn to brake, and skate under control. Or better still get in touch with a coach. If you want more info on where to buy skates or need a coach, do give me a call on 08058378578 or 08098378578.