Is It Safe?

My Heelys model comes with nylon grind plates located in the center of the shoe. They allow me to grind over railings and curbs, etc, etc.... But this is all theoretical because I have yet to find something low and smooth enough to grind on.

Hey, you don't expect me to try grinding down the rail of a stairwell without any practice first, right? Do you really want to read about how I snapped my neck trying to imitate Tony Hawk? Heh...

Well, here is a shot of the grind plate. It looks slightly battered due to my attempts in find something suitable to grind on.

These shoes are clearly NOT for everybody. First of all, you will need to have some degree of athletic skill to balance on these shoes while you are heeling. Not to mention great reflexes when you step into a hole and you need to stop yourself from falling. Learning to heel is NOTHING like skating. Your heeling speed is entirely determined by that initial push just before you assume the heeling position.

I don't think there is any way you can accelerate while you are heeling. I don't see how that may be possible. When I bought my Heelys, they came with a Video CD that shows how you are supposed to heel. But the way I get into position is different from the step-plant-push method they teach. I think my technique is more of a skip-into-position manoeuvre. And it took me a week to get the hang of it!