roadskater.net

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Just a quick note to say sorry RSN was down a while. I had a power supply burn out and take along his mother on the way out. Thanks to timv for assistance in the effort to deny it was really dead with various parts to test.

Thanks to tax day for making it all more pressure-packed, and to the USPS folk who were NOT THERE when I arrived with my usual at my usual 11:45 p.m. celebratory time. Sad. Bad enough to not have Krispy Kreme doughnuts and coffee. Worse still to see a lobby and parking lot full of people wondering what's up with that?

Here's a book style collection of several polls that I put together for easy flip-through voting. I hope you enjoy the polls and if you have ideas for more, please use the create/feedback form to send me your thoughts! I'm republishing this so it will show up on the main page, rather than have each poll show up. Each time I add a poll I hope to remember to let you know through this message. The newest polls are:

We roadskaters have at times had social skates at Country Park and elsewhere (NYC Central Park in Manhattan, Philly, Miami, DC). These events are great fun but it is always hard for us to find a true sweep who doesn't mind being at the back. In Manhattan, I have fond memories of a man a bit older than even myself who rode his bike quite happily at the back of several hundred skaters. He was always smiling, wearing his Aqueduct tee, with his nice easy way.

RSN2 is not for everybody, obviously, and I just wanted to mention that wherever you are in the world, if you prefer the semi-private atmosphere of an email group, you might check out my InlineNC Yahoo! group. We're up to 266 members now, and while the level of posting varies throughout the year, it's almost always about skating (events, equipment, technique, travel, training, charity, more). Members get access to the archive, which is a glorious attic of treasures from our collective past, filled with tips and tricks and tales of woe and inspiration.

I thought I was busy! I got a signup request today from someone who has an over-ten-characters-long-double-name-with-no-spaces signup name recognized on Google 91800 times (email me if you're curious). It appears the vast majority of these are forum and community site membership login names.

Roadskater.net (RSN1.net and RSN2.com) is free. You don't have to pay anything to use the site, to join, to view the articles without joining, or to be part of our inline skating, cycling and charity exercise team. You don't have to buy a jersey that says Roadskater.net or anything else.

However, often people have wanted to know how to help, so here are a few ways. All are voluntary and are totally free to you, unless you decide to make a donation....

Ha! What Fun. Silly fun, but still. I put some Verducci V-Tek Size 9 (Size 41 EU) skate boots and some off-road inline Rollerblade Coyote Size 10 (which RB call 43 EU) up for a penny each on eBay auctions. I thought they would get some attention, but wondered how much. Well looking at the Skatebay most watched skate items which are listed on the bottom of RSN2 pages (at least for now; i hope to make the display rotate "some day"), I saw both of my skate ads (with the magenta borders). That's truly some silly fun to see different things I'm doing mixed together on the web. No it's not a huge irony or coincidence but it was still a nice surprise. OK. That's all. I guess I'd better pack and get over to my parents' house to be with family and wait for turkey and hmmm...graaavy. Skateylove y'all and Happy Turkey Day. Below are links if my skates aren't showing up on the hot list any more. Blake

OK if I remember I will use this page for news about changes and experiments with the site. I've been quiet again lately because I've been putting in a lot of time in the background, updating the software for security and looking for ways to address some things I didn't like. Here are some things to try or note:

Here's the most recent list of cities that made up over 0.1% of hits over the last four months. This is incomplete and unscientific, with anomalies. Atlanta probably got a kick from my presence there often in recent weeks, and Herndon may sometimes show up when Greensboro might be the real source (Roadrunner may be a reason for this).