If you are shopping for skates or upgrading your wheels and bearings for the new season, you have probably noticed that that there are many ways to rate inline and roller skate wheel bearings. Choices include ABEC, ISO and DIN ratings as well as many manufacturer's who provide their own identification systems.

Do your homework before choosing bearings - and remember that the ABEC rating or any other ratings system is not be the only consideration when choosing bearings for inline skating. The bearing construction material (steel,ceramic or a combination), the load (forward and backward spinning motion) and impact resistance will affect bearing performance in inline, roller skating or other roller sports activities.

© Vladimir Yudin, iStockphoto.com

Try a skating camp this season. Inline and roller sports camps offer everything from state-of-the arts indoor training facilities to outdoor rails and trails with lots of fresh air. These camp programs can be used for everything from serious roller sports training for a specific discipline to just good old fashioned wholesome fun - with a lot of options in between.

Day camps or residential camps for recreational, fitness and competitive training as well as other activities are available for all ages and for many skating disciplines.

• Some day camp activities can be found right at your neighborhood rink or skating center.

• Any child who loves to skate or wants to learn how to skate will enjoy an inline skating adventure camp for summer vacation.

• Inline skating camps and residential training sites are also available for adults of all skating levels.

Some camps have aggressive, speed and/or hockey specific training and activities. Many include traditional camping activities and tours, too. If you've had a memorable skate camp experience, be sure to share it. Send information on any skating camp that should be added to the inline skating camp directories.

Photo © Chris Johnson, iStockphoto.com

Where did they go? If you live in London and need inline skating lessons, the UrbanSkaters are a group you can contact for training in Hyde Park and Albert Memorial - or so I thought. Right now, the UrbanSkaters website is still online with inline skating and skateboarding videos - but no lesson or local information. The website is also listed as for sale to potential developers.

If you are an UrbanSkater or have news about current activities, new name or the group's status, please send me an update. The domain name and site are nice, if you want to develop your own little piece of internet skating turf.

Almost everyone who has had some kind of an adventure with an unattended dog, if they've been skating outdoors for a while. But many skaters are not quite sure what to do when approached by these strays.

The safest things you can do to avoid dog attacks all require that you avoid looking interesting or threatening. If you keep skating into the same aggressive dog, you may need to totally avoid him by find a new skating route. Be sure to report strays to your local animal control to make things safer for the next skater who rolls along.