Freedom Skate '99 -- Friday Night

Kick Off, 1999 Philadelphia Freedom Skate

Getting in a half hour before Friday's first skate the hotel is buzzing with skaters, all loaded with gear, old friends meeting up, and an overwhelmed but cheerful hotel staff.

I register, get to my room, check in for the skate, collect a generous goodie bag and throw on my gear to join 300 other skater getting ready to blast through downtown intersections. We're aided by Philadelphia's finest leading the way in squad cars and bikes while, NSP holds the traffic at every intersection. You've never experience freedom in street skating if you haven't skated a well organized event like this.

First meetings, Good Bob and Bad Bob.	Daily fun spot, the hotel parking lot.	Skaters on parade!	Philadelphia foliage
Our only water stop without the water truck!	My first real glimpse at the awesome number of skaters.	Beth	Heading underground.
Philadelphia air conditioning was all underground.	Tom G. not only makes it in time to skate Friday but to direct traffic too.	Philly subway	Some of us had to duck under the signs.
Not only city streets are marked for our skating, but we twice take to the subway tunnels under the city, through narrow tunnels, stations, up and down stairs, service drives, the real bowels of the city. We pop up downtown and a tornado of skaters forms around a circular stairs. It's like the widest Israeli dancing I've ever done. A skater will break into the ring, linking hands forwards and back, pulling at times and at times being pulled round and round and round.
Randy, "The Stalker", has it all on tape.	Historic Philly	Round and round they go!	Once more into the subway tunnels.
Each skate is broken up into sections to let folks refill on water and to re-deploy, skate patrollers. More great skating ensues as we wind our way to dinner. A great cheer went up for the bike patrol officers as they came in for dinner, it sent chills up my spine, seeing the support the police and the skaters give each other. After dinner the advanced skaters take to the streets again for some awesome downhill into turn combinations, for those of us born too early this is as close as we'll get to the X Games, a downhill into a left turn, then a quick right up a drive into a parking lot with the water truck and music van all primed and ready to go.
WATER!	99 & 44/100% pure dedication to safe skating.	As always Tom and yours truly.	Ed whoops it up at the bar.