I used to be a one-speed cruiser on in-lines, content to just tool down the road and admire the view. So long as it was flat, I was a happy camper, but when the slope started creeping upward, I'd start to lug and lose all momentum. I hated that.

Then a friend invited me to tag along while he rode his three-speed bicycle, and I discovered that I too had gears. I became that three-speed. When he started from a standstill or went uphill in first gear, I took easier, faster strokes just like he did. As he got going and shifted into a harder gear, so did I. To compensate for his slower tempo, I took fewer, more powerful strokes. Impersonating a three-speed brought the fun back into skating. Finally, I had a chance to feel the wind in my face. It helped getting around town, too, but as soon as the mountains rose up, there I was back in the same boat - chugging along all right, but at a pitifully poor pace.

I needed more gears.
I found those gears when I started chasing the Cal Women's Bike Team up into the hills behind the University of California at Berkeley. That breathtaking experience taught me how to avoid blowing up by transitioning from the big ring to an easily turnable gear going up the steeps, then back again to a harder gear when it started leveling out.

The bikes were great guides. By matching my strokes to their rpm's, all I had to do was adjust my power output accordingly and there I was, keeping pace.
Together we cranked, mashed, cruised.

Like having a caddy out on the course to help with club selection, it helps immeasurably to have a bike out in front to help set variables like tempo and pace. Even if I don't have a two-wheeled friend to follow while on skates, if I just keep a few gear-head things in mind, I can be my own bike:

o Have a song in your head.
Skating to the beat of a tune in your head will help you maintain an even cadence and allow you to shift gears as needed. When the grade of the road changes, you won't be locked into a Walkman and can change gears (and song) according to need.

o Practice your monster pushes.
You need to get to know the extremes of your range of gears so that everything in between is readily accessible. The strokes that most resemble mashing in the big ring are called godzilla pushes. Use godzilla pushes to see how few of them you can take to get from one designated spot to another. Find a balanced vertical position, bend the knees to 90 degrees, and use gravity as your engine to fall sideways into your push.

o Maximize your granny gear.
The opposite end of the gear spectrum is your granny gear. Use your granny gear to climb hills or to "skate skinny" in between cars. Granny gear is an easy one to push. It requires lots of tempo and very low application of force with each push. High tempo with low power output necessitates good form. Stand up a little taller and bring the knees together after each push. That way, your skate sets down directly under your center of mass. This puts you in an immediate position to apply pushing power through the long axis of your leg.

o Think PPP.
We're not talking internet lingo, we're talking power per push. To go a given speed with low PPP it means you must make up for less horsepower with more turnover, like using a granny gear. Conversely, you can go the same speed with fewer pushes so long as you make them good and powerful, like turning the pedals in a big ring gear.

o Carry some lube with you.
As corny as it sounds, that'll encourage you to skate low enough so that you can offer to drop some racing gel onto the derailleur of the bicycle you're tailing.

o Arm yourself with plenty of energy foods.
Chances are that, to keep up with a bicycle, you'll be working harder, so be prepared to bonk earlier unless you carry a full arsenal of calories. A drink mix to help you perform, a gel to help you surge, or a bar to fuel your mind and body are what you'll need once your readily available store of energy in your muscles is annihilated by some doggone cyclist.

o If you can't beat them, join them.
I no longer consider bikes to have a huge mechanical advantage over in-lines because, as a skater, I possess an infinite range of gears which allows me to dial in exactly the frequency and intensity of my pushes.

Now that I've found my gears on my in-lines, no mountain is too high. Come to think of it, once I'm on top of that mountain, no valley is ever low enough, either!

Eddy's passion for chasing bicycles has recently been renewed thanks to fresh, new, pavement on Tunnel road in the Berkeley hills, and continued support from sponsors TWINCAM, Salomon skates, Explore wheels, PowerBar, Transpack and Wigwam. See Eddy skating the Berkeley hills during the weekdays, catch him at a race or instructional workshop on the weekends, or draft him vicariously at www.skatecentral.com.