Frequently Asked Questions
? Sunday Skate
As a general principle, we skate each and every sunday, all year long.
Unless an official cancelation notice has been issued, you should assume the skate is ON !
As soon as the route has been approved by the Police Authority, most often on thursday or friday, it gets published on this site (https://www.rollers-coquillages.org/carte/), on our Facebook Group and Page, and bulk-emailed to our Newsletter subscribers. To recieve these weekly mail :
Exceptional cancelations
In case of particular events in Paris (for instance : Tour de France arrival, big demonstration, New Year’s Eve …), a cancelation notice is posted on the site and social networks as soon as it is decided.
Weather considerations
Cancelation on saturday or sunday morning
If the sunday afternoon forecast is clearly hopeless, we try to issue a cancelation notice as soon as possible (two checkpoints: saturday noonish, and sunday noon), to avoid unnecessary costs and give everybody enough time to rework their arrangements.
Cancelation on sunday 2:30pm or after
If the weather is uncertain, we sometimes try to keep our options open, so as not to miss a chance to skate due to a hasty cancelation that turns out to be unwarranted. In those cases, we encourage you to take that chance with us and show up at the meeting place. More than once, we have been able to salvage a skate that seemed unlikely, which is very satisfying. And sometimes, we have had to cancel at the last minute, or after 10 minutes of skating under a pouring rain, but you can’t win all the time…
What: group skate with volunteer marshalls and a police escort, absolutely free of charge and open to all, about 20km for 2.5 to 3 hours (including pauses)
Where: Paris, starts and returns at 37 bd Bourdon 75004 (Place de la Bastille)
When: each sunday afternoon, meet from 2pm, skate starts at 2:30pm sharp and returns around 5 to 5:30pm.
This skate is intended to be relatively easy. We welcome any skater with a minimum level of skills. Still, for everybody’s safety and enjoyment, you need to have sufficient control on your trajectory and some braking abilities.
You will also need to take into account your stress level (first-time experience of skating in a crowd may be slightly taxing) and your physical condition.
If you don’t trust your braking when approaching a downhill, please do request some help from the marshalls (aka “Staff”, you will spot them at their yellow tops). You will position yourself behind the staff member who will ensure a safe slowish descent; you might even want to take advantage of the stabilization provided by your helper, to practice your own braking in safety.
There is no shame in deciding to call it quits before the end and riding the “métro” back home. If you feel a bit in over your head, there’s always next sunday to try and do a longer part. Most falls can be traced back to excessive tiredness reducing one’s awareness of the surroundings, balance, and ability to react. We highly recommend you wear adequate protective gear, no matter your level of skating expertise.
No : the Sunday Skate is absolutely free, and welcomes everybody!
Just join the meeting palce in time for the start, skates on your feet, smile on your face, and off we go !
Registering as a member of the Association, while recommanded for those who join often, remains completely optional.
No: again, the Sunday Skate is, by founding principle, entirely free and open to all. Welcome !
The Sunday Skate is open only to users of skates (roller skates or blades), skateboards, longboards, and non-motorized scooters, excluding bicycles, motorized vehicles or devices.
Baby proms are acceptable. We recommend you use a model designed for sport with good stability, a braking system, a raised hi-vis flag. You should securely fasten straps around your little-one, and make them wear a proper helmet. We prefer pushing-parents to skate around the rear-end of the group, where the crowd is usually less compact.
Remember to let your kid drink enough and often enough, it does get very hot at macadam-level in the heat of summer.
Wheelchair users are very welcome to join as well.
We often see cyclists following the group behind the safety vehicles. They are outside the organization, in traffic under their own responsibility and subject to the rules of the Highway Code.
Minors are welcome in the Skate, provided that they are accompanied by a parent or designated responsible adult, also skating along, who assumes their responsibility.
The Association is neither structured nor authorized to supervise unaccompanied children. Unaccompanied minors who might become victims of an accident would have to be handed over to the police authority.
Of course, but just a few. Generally speaking, friendliness, good humor and solidarity are a good guide.
The Skate takes place on the street exclusively. For once, we have the street to ourselves, please leave the pavements for pedestrians. Even when street surface is bad cobblestones …
Skaters are invited to comply with the directives given by the volunteer “staff” (marshalls). Their objective is to ensure safety for the skaters as well as for the surrounding public. Staff members have a delegation from the Prefecture of Police to block traffic at the crossroads and isolate the skaters from vehicles and pedestrians. They also ensure the overall smooth running of the entire event.
Do not overtake the front line.
Do not skate on the left side of the road (most often, oncoming traffic coming is not cut off).
Please leave free passage for marshalls who need to speed forward to go block traffic ahead at the next intersections and allow the skate to keep moving. Never ever swerve left without first looking if a “yellow shirt” might be coming full speed. Do try to leave a small corridor on the right-hand side near the sidewalk for the right-side marshalls also needing to move forward …
The staff are there for you, thank you for showing them respect and making their job easier. They don’t enjoy screaming any more than you enjoy being screamed at …
Should you suffer a fall, staff will take care of you.
Don’t hesitate to ask if you need medical assistance. Don’t underestimate the shock of a heavy fall, you may need to recover your spirits. We are accompanied by first aid vehicles, manned by paramedics trained to this type of situation.
You will quickly learn the few gestures used to signal the dangers to fellow skaters (in particular, raise your arms to signal a danger, a slowdown or a stop).
HIghly-skilled skaters are also very welcome in the hike, as long as they remain aware that they are intermixed with people who are sometimes less confident on their skates. A close-proximity slalom, an aggressive slidestop, a very stylish figure, too close to an already uncomfortable skater, can be enough to cause them to lose balance, even without physical contact.
Please respect all participants, so that the skate remains enjoyable for everyone.
You can find our complete Skating Rules by clicking this link: Skating Rules.
No need for high-performance equipment, low-cost fitness skates can be perfectly suitable to enjoy this easy skate. But do make sure they are in proper order of maintenance (no loose screw, worn out wheels, stuck roller-bearings ; brake in good condition if you use one).
Need skate rentals? See this FAQ: https://www.rollers-coquillages.org/wp2019/ufaqs/location-de-rollers/
We highly recommend wearing adequate protective gear (in particular helmet and wristguards).
Carry enough water to drink, even in winter time, and obviously more in the heat of summer, you don’t want to risk dehydration (cramps, strained muscles, headaches, heat stroke…)
Aso pack a little something to eat at the mid-skate break, or if you need a little sugar-rush before an uphill climb…
In your backpack, you’ll also carry a pair of light shoes and a métro ticket, just in case you might need or want to quit the Skate before it returns to Bastille (rain, tiredness, mechanical issue…)
- collect, after the Skate, the pictures from the photographers’ memory cards (and sometimes it is not possible or inconvenient to do it right after the Skate ends, in which case it must be arranged to be done at a later time…),
- perform some technical operations on all these picture files (image format conversion, renaming to proper naming conventions, adding watermark…),
- select the best pictures out of sometimes more than 1,000 down to a reasonable number (approx. 250 per week) ; selection is based on technical criteria (sharpness, color balance,…), people photographed (in principle, no pictures of our police escort, no pictures of attitudes or situations that could make people uncomfortable or be construed as an invation of their privacy, … ), variety (of sites,, camera angles , people photographed…),
- upload all this into an album on the Gallery.
When the album is ready, it is announced as such on our Facebook group.
Huge thanks are due to our volunteers for this important but somewhat tedious work !
First of all, bravo! Good decision 🙂
And thank you for all skaters who depend on the commitment of volunteers for the event to happen!
Well then, 1st step : make contact
Show up on a sunday before 2pm at the staff room, with :
- your skating gear, duh!
- your eager and cheerful mood,
- your membership registration (required).
You might also want to message us via Facebook, email or smoke signals, so we are aware of your intent to join, even better.
2nd step : the 3 “buddy training” skates
We will provide you with an official jumper (if you carry a backpack, you will need to leave it at the staff room or wear the jumper over it, for proper visibility), and off you go on your first skate with a “buddy” experienced marashall who will show you the ropes of your future mission.
After each of these training skates, we will review with you how it went, what may need adjustments in your skating technique or way with people.
Don’t worry, it’s really no big deal ! All we’ll be asking you is to :
- show reasonable skills on your skates,
- demonstrate some endurance,
- be able to sustain focus on the surroundings and potential dangers,
- know how to remain calm in the event of conflicts with other road users.
If that first skate suits you, you return twice more for more training, young padawan.
3rd step :
You’ve survived the 3 buddy training skates, you have shown the required qualities, everything went well: you receive your yellow jersey.
Congratulations, you have now become a “staffeur” (marshall in franglish) !
? Association Rollers & Coquillages
Joining the Association is absolutely not mandatory to take part in the Sunday Skate, everybody is welcome on that event.
However, the Association does need members to support its continued existence and keep providing these free weekly events.
Becoming a member (for about 30€/year) will let you :
- show your support for Rollers & Coquillages
- benefit from the specific insurance coverage subscribed by the Association for its skates and activities
- participate to the members-only events (specific skating outings, weekends and travels etc…)
To register as a member (registration process in french language only), press this button : Register
Everything else you might want to know, you’ll find on this page : Rollers & Coquillages, the Association
On social networks :
Facebook page (official page of the Association) : https://www.facebook.com/RollersEtC…
Facebook group (free discussion) : https://www.facebook.com/groups/991…
Twitter account : https://twitter.com/RC_Paris
Subscribe to our weekly Newsletter :
You’ll receive the sunday route, and some news :
Use the contact form to mail us :
http://www.rollers-coquillages.org/…
Meet us “in real life” :
Before the skate starts and after it returns. Go ahead and meet us on the pavement or in our small shack at the very rear end of the skate rental shop. We might be a bit under pressure getting things in order for the skate to start, but worse comes to worse we’ll just agree with you to talk at a different time.
? Other questions
The Association does not rent or loan skates.
Our historical partner “Nomadeshop” does provide a skate rental service in its store right where the skate starts, place de la Bastille :
https://uk.nomadeshop.com/shop/skate-rental-paris/
CAUTION : make sure you contact them and inquire about conditions and opening times, which evolve with seasons. [feb 2022 : closed on sundays/mondays]
Our association sets up monthly “technical sessions” for our members to practice together. Skilled volunteers (some holding a BIF certificate — Federal Instructor Certificate) will coach those who require help to progress. These sessions are members-only.
If you wish for a more regular and intensive training programme, refer to :
– Arollo http://arollo.fr/
– RCF (whom you can contact through the Nomades shop) : http://www.nomadeshop.com/
– RSI http://www.rsi.asso.fr/
– or your local skating club : https://ffroller.fr/trouver-un-club-pres-de-chez-moi/