A couple friends and I are collecting a series of routes through Wellington that can be put onto a brochure for people interested in skating around the region. Naturally, we have our normal standby paths – around the waterfront, through town – but we want to present more variety and something outside of the downtown core. We’ve discussed some possibilities and are in the process of doing some hands-on research.

It’s impossible to just look at a map and mark out routes. Road and footpath condition, hills, traffic and accessibility all play a part, which requires a visit to evaluate. With a short supply of available time during the week and iffy weather patterns, I’ll more easily get through the list by running instead of skating. It can still be hard to judge incline and decline, but it’s still possible to judge surface conditions. At a running pace, I’ve even got some time to enjoy the scenery.

I’d started this morning¹, looping through Newtown to Kilbirnie. My plan is to aim for two more trips through Miramar and Seatoun by the weekend.

¹ I was fantastically lucky. Not only did the rain abate to a gentle trickle, but the traffic through the Mt. Victoria tunnel had been blocked off for cleaning and was just reopening as I was going through. A total of 3 vehicles went through the tunnel while I was in there, so it was neither noxious nor deafening – a very pleasant change from the norm.