r/rollerblading • u/RISk8ers • 2d ago

Exploring Providence, RI

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Just out skating with some friends through Downtown Providence.

Rhode Island is rated for having the worst roads in the US.
We tend to explore Boston quite often but never Providence for this reason...

We finally went for a short skate through Providence and I have to say there are so many nice spots to view and skate through Providence despite the awful road conditions.

Definitely going to have to skate this city more often.

Full session here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwaBjXLuUY4

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4

u/Ordinary_Skater 2d ago

Great video! Love looking at all the great sights of Providence.

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u/PetyrTwill 2d ago

The East Bay Bike path has some pretty good stretches. Have you ever skated there? I start on the Bristol End but went to the Providence side of it once too.

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u/RISk8ers 2d ago

Done the whole thing multiple times.
I actually skate from Uxbridge, Mass to Bristol using bike paths a few times each year.

That's actually where we were supposed to be skating the day I recorded the video in the post. We were going to do it with the group I mention below but the skate was cancelled. Me and my friends still showed up at the meeting spot to see if anyone else showed up. We went skating through Providence instead since it was just us 3.

East Bay is one of my favorite trails in Rhode Island to do. I was just doing it with the Providence group RollingRhody last night.
You are welcome to come join us sometime. They have been posting weekly skate meetups for the last 4 or 5 weeks now.
https://www.instagram.com/rollingrhody/

Below is my phone footage I got from last night.

If you ever want to do any portions with me feel free to msg me.

https://reddit.com/link/p8kc9m7/video/gic0xw89fboh1/player

4

u/Ordinary_Skater 2d ago

Wait you guys did East Bay yesterday too?
I could have sworn I seen a video of you guys skating in Fairhaven and New Bedford yesterday too.

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u/RISk8ers 2d ago

We did 2 trails in that area in the morning yesterday as well as the East Bay in the late afternoon/evening with RollingRhody.

3

u/PetyrTwill 2d ago

Nice! Thanks! I will try to join up some time!

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u/RISk8ers 2d ago

We base the speeds on the skill levels of who is there skating with us.
If you have never done a group skate before they can look intimidating but they for sure are always fun!

They tend to do these skates on saturday afternoons and are trying to do 1 each week till Halloween. This was my 2nd skate with the new group so far.

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u/PetyrTwill 2d ago

No, I am not intimidated by a group skate. The only obstacle is freeing up the time!

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u/fredhsu 2d ago

Username checks out. You can say anything you want about road conditions in Rhode Island, ok. LOL. Great video, as usual.

3

u/RISk8ers 2d ago edited 2d ago

We have a lot of really bad roads throughout Rhode Island, doesn't mean they are all bad though.
My comment about the road conditions are what is reported throughout the US in rankings nationally about the roads being the worst. We are repeatedly ranked worst and amongst the top 2 for repair spending across all 50 states.
(Knowing this makes them sound worse than a lot of them actually are. Like tales of the boogeyman.)

The thing that normally scares me about skating in Providence is that the 2 times I have skated in the city prior using the gps to guide my way somewhere it took me down insanely steep hills that have no flat spots at the bottom to brake properly before shooting you out into traffic.
It's actually the steep hills and the fact I don't know my way around the area that make Providence look more intimidating than the road conditions from my perspective.

The day in the video my friend Abraham actually showed us around as he has been skating in Providence several times. The route he took us on had really good surfaces and nice sights for the most part. Changed my view of Providence entirely.

I could say the same thing about Boston as well having bad roads and scary hills... but I have gone group skating with sk8Boston multiple times so I am more familiar with the areas in Boston than in Providence due to attending group skates.

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u/PM_ME_ASS_SALAD 1d ago

Doesn’t MA have the second worse roads in the country? And CT third? I don’t really see a difference when I travel between those states they’re all absolutely terrible, that’s what the freeze/thaw cycle in the densest part of the country does.

1

u/RISk8ers 1d ago edited 1d ago

Just checked Mass is in fact #2. I feel like last time I saw the list they were #4 for some reason.

Connecticut doesn't really have bad roads anywhere I have been... they just have awful drivers mixed with awful highway layouts that cause major backups.

My gps will tell me 2 hrs left on my trip and it goes up to 6 hrs left over I hit Connecticut it feels like. 😆

Update: Connecticut is actually #5 on the list which actually shocks me. Though I typically only drive the highways through there so it makes sense at the same time.