An Evening Running Smoothly

NAMUR • Belgium rollers summer tour Hundreds of roller skaters, lots of bicycles and good humor: the Belgium rollers summer tour stops every Tuesday in Namur. And off it rolls. A PICKUP TRUCK with massive speakers mounted on the back blasting Village People. Guys in tank tops. Girls with headbands in their hair. There was a moment of concern, but the Belgium rollers summer tour finally managed to escape the clichés surrounding roller sports. "The goal is to offer the safest possible ride through a city dedicated to roller skaters," begins Carl de Moncharline, organizer of this traveling event that returns every summer Tuesday to Namur. "The mayor wasn't enthusiastic at first, but he was reassured by his Brussels colleague Freddy Thielemans, for whom the experience had been very conclusive last year," recalls alderman Frédéric Laloux, wearing knee and elbow pads. Among the participants, growing in number each time, a quarter come from outside the city. Which is not particularly negative for the image and reputation of the Walloon capital. But all is not rosy on the roller skaters' side. Potholes, cobblestones, and damaged pavement are all traps. And if you add to that the current construction work in the city center... Which doesn't stop inline skating enthusiasts from showing up in ever greater numbers for the Tuesday gathering. More info from Carl de Moncharline at 0477/799.618. Patrick, the rollercop Even in an elementary school playground, Patrick had never put on skates. Yet this Namur police auxiliary was part of the rolling escort that framed the smiling procession of the Belgium rollers summer tour on Tuesday evening. Like a dozen of his colleagues, the young officer completed training provided by the organizers a few months before the parade. This allowed them in particular to learn the four braking techniques and the elegant and effective way to avoid potholes. But Patrick didn't stop at the eight hours of training. "Every day, I skated about twenty kilometers. I got really hooked on this sport," he smiles. In very little time, the officer acquired great skill. "The ideal is to train on the RaVeL or on the beautiful open space of the citadel esplanade." During the Tuesday gatherings, the rollercop also has the opportunity to improve his style. "But it is above all an opportunity to meet the public in a different context," concludes Patrick, while shaking hands with a new "wheely" friend. The harder the downhill TALL STURDY guys or slender small women: there is no ideal body type for roller skating, as could be observed on Tuesday evening. Françoise Jouniaux belongs rather to the second category. She hasn't missed a single Summer ride since the beginning of the summer. "I live 500 meters from the starting point," she explains. "It's also an opportunity to meet nice people in a relaxed atmosphere." This sporty young woman, who also does running, took up roller skating late. Her background was rather skates, whether ice or roller skates. "The real danger is downhill. You quickly learn to roll, but not really to brake... That's how I wiped out on the first outing," confesses the Namur native, all smiles. The Stinghlamber family is already among the regulars. The father, sons, and their friends are moving to the next level and thinking about dressing up. "We participated in the Brussels rides last year. It's true that here it's a bit quieter. But it's only just beginning," announces the dad, who puts on roller skates now and then to go shopping in the center of the capital. For these Brussels residents, it is also an opportunity to discover cities differently, from Ghent to Hasselt, via Liège or Mons. For Namur, it's a first. "But everyone tells us it's very pretty." The banks of the Meuse can also give you the feeling that everything is rolling smoothly in your life.