Rolling Through A Trek Or A Portage

Posted by Grant on 29. January 2009 21:37

I have seen some teams squeeze rollerblades into their gear bins, planning on significant distances of asphalt during a trekking leg.  They figure they can fly on the paved sections and really make great time compared to the rest of the teams.

Now, paved trekking sections might not be very common --mercifully! --but what about portaging along roads?  I know a few big events that have had some hours of portaging and a paved network of roads to navigate during the portage.  In a case like this, if you have portage wheels and rollerblades, you can knock out the mileage in short order.  Rolling can be much faster than running/walking!

Unless you have a support crew staging gear for you, however, who really has room for pairs of rollerblades along with the rest of their gear?

It is with this scenario in mind, where travel over pavement is in order but your gear options limited, that I point out a simple device that could make a big difference: they're called "skater buds" and it looks like these could turn trail shoes or even paddling sandals into a stand-in for roller blades.  They are wheels that attach (with velcro?  I can't quite tell because the product photos are so lousy) and add rolling wheels to the bottoms of your shoes.

Of course, these little wheelies wouldn't offer support like a full boot; who knows how sturdy these things are and if they would be comfortable or reliable over long stretches.  The price is cheap, however, and I've seen adventure racers do some crazy things to gain a little bit of time advantage.  Maybe these skater buds are worth a shot?  

I think I'd like for teams to start experimenting with these because I like the drama and strategy around route selection and equipment choice.  It adds yet one more dimension to adventure racing -- and these cheap little wheels would make for some hilarious videos/photos/stories if they failed, but just think if they worked!