Smartphone powered urban skating

Many times I asked myself this question: how long was my free ride today, how much time it took, was this workout good enough and in effect, if I am absolved from chocolate consumption :] Android OS can leverage from dedicated applications like endomondo.com that tracks your workout profile in time and space, using GPS, building up statistics like quickest lap, burned calories and so on.

GPS path logged by HTC

This tool is more than simple logger: it motivates and allows introspection into a workout schedule of whatever activity is preferred, since you pick up type of activity like biking, running, etc. I am not sure however how swimming activity can be measured by smartphone, I would not go into the water with my HTC :]

When my car was being repaired I decided to have some hardcore urban skating. Hardcore because it had to start at suburbs, where the road and sidewalks infrastructure is really bad, which in turn was hazardous from health or even life-safety perspective – riding ahead cars moving at 60-70km/h requires full concentration; necessity of emergency jump into the bushes is quite real. I know, you can say that it is just a stroll comparing to Dakar urban skating, but learning is neverending process.

Endomondo sofware recorded over 20km trip distance in 90 minutes ride with almost 1000 burned calories; I think I burned much more due to survival-like ride in 2/3 of a way on cracked, bumpy roads and devastated pavements. Since I do not usually ride in suburbs I was surprised by high level of wheels’ wear. They looked as if I performed power-slides heavily while I was using only T-stops on my way (to keep trajectory on crowdy roads). I realized it was due to more dynamic ride and more rapid breaks on my way through the city.

Hardcore suburbs skating: no sidewalks, bad road surface, high traffic :/

The other effect of heavy skating was thigh adductor muscles overburning; even though they are well fitted by frequent skating, extreme levels of balance keeping, acceleration and deceleration did the job. Despite the side effects, I am quite positively surprised by new shade of skating activity. If you see white-black boot skater somewhere in Krakow streets, chances are you have just spot author of this blog 🙂

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