ASRA - Australian Skateboard Racing Association

I mentioned this briefly to some of you at the Outlaw Madness, that I would love to hold an Ultraskate event, that is a 24hour skate, usually to raise money and awareness for a worthy cause. Here is the site that usually organises it: http://pavedwave.org/

The next one is slotted for the weekend of 25th-26th September, which is pretty close, but far enough away for those interested to get ready.

I have been thinking about it and I thought that a good local loop would be from Burleigh to Broadbeach, as there is continual bike paths and bike lanes, over the distance of 9k's which makes for a good loop. This is the route:: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3946658

Now the interesting bit, or should I say controversial, is that as it is over 24 hours and about 1/3 of the above route is on the bike lane of a road, any night participants would technically be breaking the law. So, I thought why not make that the focus. I think that we, as skaters, should have equal rights and responsibilities as any other non motorized transport (mmm... bikes). ie: lights for visibility at night and helmets for protection. So, the worthy cause that I am thinking of is "Skating for Skate Awareness".

So what I envision is this: get as many people as you know on a board, blade, pair of skates, whatever... stick a helmet on their head, and lights on the helmet or person (for the night), and meet up at Burleigh point car park on the 25th September. At 9am we roll for 24 hours. If you can't do that amount, then turn up at any point for a roll. I would particularly like to see heaps of skaters for the night time - extravagantly lit up (glowsticks, helmet lights, portable chrissy decorations?). Maybe we could have some sort of prizes for the longest ride and the best lit :-) 9am Sunday finish then breaky barbie at Burleigh, maybe $1 sausage sanga like at the Outlaw madness?

I would still like to raise money for a charity maybe we can pass the hat around for that too.. any suggestions on a worthy cause? (and no.. your new Nemmy is not a worthy cause ;-P)

So there is my crazy idea. What do you all think?

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Haggy and trav are doing a 300km Sydney to Canberra skate a couple weeks before so they should be all warmed up for that
if my legs are still working that weekend i might be keen.
dude you should come down to Sydney to do it, we have a nice big bikeway that is 40-45km in length.
i imagine doing a 9km stretch up and back for 24 hours would get old quick...
Nice.. it will be good to have some seasoned distance riders in this.. though everyone is welcome, of course.

Robbo said:
Haggy and trav are doing a 300km Sydney to Canberra skate a couple weeks before so they should be all warmed up for that
Well, I am open to suggestions as to locale, but I like the idea of a local skate as I know that there are heaps of skaters up this way, and I am sure there would be a few keen punters. No reason why we cant have multiple events going on simultaneously though. If anyone knows of any better loops in southeast Qld, feel free to make a suggestion. What I like about Burleigh to broadbeach is that it has: smooth paths, water, toilets, nice scenery, and BBQ's on the beach.

Best of luck in your big skate Trav.. that is awesome!

Trav said:
if my legs are still working that weekend i might be keen.
dude you should come down to Sydney to do it, we have a nice big bikeway that is 40-45km in length.
i imagine doing a 9km stretch up and back for 24 hours would get old quick...
I skated from milperra to central via revesby, bankstown (multiple bombing sessions on river road and stacy st) the hume hwy to ashfield, petersham (stopped in at the old skatepark), newtown, redfern and collapsed on a train and slept my way back to cronulla.
Some 3 1/2 of mongo pushin hill bombing on a double kick convert with dropped thru randals.

Don't worry bout how you'll feel Trav, by the end of it I felt like this
sounds like a good plan! and I like the night skate focus.

I think that the route needs to be a little longer, considering you would probably go back and forth nine times during the 24 hour skate, possibly also try and put each end at a shopping centre, so we can get people seeing us, and being able to talk to us, rather than just passing in cars and thinking ?????

Sorry I don't know much around the coast, but it sounds like a great long skate.
also, is there anyway to make it an actual loop, rather than going along the one track to and fro, or did I miss read the map?
Nah Tim, you didn't misread the map, and they are some good points. As I said, I am open to suggestions about locale, though as I also said, I want to make this one somewhere relatively near to my neck of the woods, though I would love to see others doing Ultras in their areas. If anyone has a good idea for somewhere that IS a loop, as opposed to a there and back run, with good roads/ paths, facilities, etc somewhere within a 200k radius of Brissy, definitely put it out there.

BTW Tim that sounds like a great days skate you did!
great idea man.
You Champion Fiz
YYYYehhhhh
I Feel Greeeeeaaaaat now also

Fitz said:
I skated from milperra to central via revesby, bankstown (multiple bombing sessions on river road and stacy st) the hume hwy to ashfield, petersham (stopped in at the old skatepark), newtown, redfern and collapsed on a train and slept my way back to cronulla.
Some 3 1/2 of mongo pushin hill bombing on a double kick convert with dropped thru randals.

Don't worry bout how you'll feel Trav, by the end of it I felt like this
Okay, in light of the fact that 9k's is too short, I am thinking of making the run a little longer, say to Main Beach which is 14 k's, or Labrador, which is just over 22 k's.

Burleigh to Labrador route: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3949445

As the Goldy doesn't really lend itself to skating inland as far as a loop goes, I think that a there and back run is probably the best idea. I thought about Brissy and I realised that it may be possible to do a loop somewhere along the river ... but from my memory of living there a few years back, and commuting on the bike track by the river, I think that the Goldy is a bit safer... I got lunged at a couple of times by shady looking characters on the river-track at night time, and I don't think that is as likely on the Goldy.

I have been communicating a bit about this with Jo Coles who organised the Skaiti Ultra in England a few months back ( http://www.skaiti.webs.com/ ), and she has had a few good ideas. One is that we definitely make this a charity event, which means that the skate is for a good cause and that it actually does achieve something in the process. Another suggestion, particularly as this is a "curfew-busting" skate, is to get more people involved, namely all skaters who are affected by the ludicrous no skating at night law. So I am going to try to get some of the inline speedsters and the roller derby girls into this as well.

As far as charity goes, I think that the House With No Steps does a fantastic job teaching, accommodating and generally supporting those with special needs, so that would be a worthy cause to rally support for. http://www.hwns.com.au/
Yeah, brisbane gets a few characters like that, I got a wholop over the head walking across a main bridge to a garage session one night, bunch of guys were bored, and decided to give me a 'happy slap'... I must say, I wasn't very happy, and reported it to the police, but nothing gets done about it.
You'd probably be okay with a large group though, I'm sure that a kingpin to the head would set anyone keen enough to try anything back in their place :p

also, should probably put it out there, a bucket load of sunscreen should probably be supplied for those who do not think about such things, especially for the middle of the day...

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