Inline Skating At Creek Park, Dubai
Having been in Dubai for a year plus, somehow I have never quite found a safe place to do inline skating. Unlike the East Coast Park in Singapore when you have 10km or more of nicely tarred bicycle track, or Venice Beach in California, where bikini cladded babes skating around in the Californian sunshine ala Pacific Blue.
The roads are fantastic, but invariably, the drivers might try and run you off the road. The vast car parks are great too, but again, you need to be wary of cars coming in and our of the car park, and not many car parks afford shade from the unforgiving sun.
There are numerous parks in Dubai, but I was not sure if they allowed skating or if the footpaths/bicycle tracks are suitable for skating. Plus the expense of at least AED5 for park entry is deterent enough for me to experiment.
Finally, a friend of mine told me that Creekside Park has a path that allowed skating. At first, I was sceptical. The paths I have seen in Creek Park were similar to the ones they use for the public pedestrian walkways and footpaths, put together by interlocking little bricks held together with sand, extremely useful if you want to get a bone rattling, joint shaking ride while you're skating, akin to a vibrating foot massage without the benefits. The tremors from skating over the seams of these bricks will transmit through the wheels, up the blades, right through the soles of your feet, up the shins through the knees caps all the way to your teeth - totally jarring.
So this morning, I took out my skates, put on the full kit sans helmet (reminider: GET A DAMN HELMET!), took the lift down and skated out towards the Creekside Park to find that elusive skatable track. I had my route all planned out in my head. Since I live at the Marriott Executive Apartments, all I had to do was take a lift down, skate out, cross a couple of roads, go up the Maktoum Bridge on the footpath, cross the Dubai Creek, down the bridge, loop right under the bridge, and voila, side entrance to Creek Park at the side of the Dubai Courts car park.
Of course, all routes planned in the head are not what they seem when you actually take them. Down the lift, exit the building, oh no, rattling footpath all the way to the road, rattle, rattle, rattle. Cross the road, more rattling footpath, rattle, rattle, rattle. Cross the next road, up the Maktoum Bridge, rattle, rattle rattle. Across the creek, loop down under the bridge, sharp downhill bend, rattle rattle rattle. And finally side entrance, rattle rattle rattle. I was already tired from all that rattling. The seams are pretty good dampeners on speed, so you have to push harder to get some decent speed, more effort when you're skating up the bridge or on an up slope. And they don't make an effective surface for you to use your skate brake when you are coming downhill. So, in every way, you are screwed - you spend more energy than normal on level ground, expend more energy than you normally would going up slope, and when you thought you could cruise coming down slope with your brake assisting you, the brake doesn't work as well as you want it to be.
Sign at the side entrance stated "Gate Closed. Use Gate Car Park 2". Another sign stated "This gate wil open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday." Hmm, maybe I was too early. No, the opening hours sign stated "Sunday to Thursday 8am to 11pm, Friday, Saturday and public holidays 8am to 12pm (sic)" I think they meant 12 midnight there. OK, gate closed, head to Car Park 2 then, more rattling on footpaths. Rattle, rattle, rattle.
Skating through the car park of Dubai Courts, I headed towards the footpaths that led to other entrances of the Creek Park. The policemen at the car park sentry post did not even bother even though I skated past and waved to them. Sorry, not my day, they've dug up the whole footpath, the only way to the other entrance was to skate on the road. Not actually what I had intended to do, but as they say “马死落地行“ （when the horse dies, you dismount and start walking), if I wanted to get to Creek Park, gotta hit the road. Good thing too that it was a Friday morning, not much traffic, but a lot of learner drivers on the roads. Hopefully, I don't get run off by one of them. Anyway, I had some identification on me, so if anything happens, they will know who to contact. I hope.
After 2 roundabouts, countless stepping aside and giving way to cars and learner drivers, I made it to the entrance of Creek Park. The moment of truth. "Good morning." I took out AED10 from my pocket and gave it to the Arab manning the ticket booth. "Good morning", he replied, and gave me my ticket and AED5 as change. I skated on into the park. No "Hey, you can't do that here", so I went on my way, back to rattling on the footpaht in the park. All the footpaths in the park were made of the same material as the public footpaths. If I didn't find that path that my friend mentioned, I swore I'd give him a good rattling the next time I saw him.
The park was huge. The lawns were green, very green, and well maintained. The landscaping was very well done, and the plants were well maintained. Quite impressive, I must say, excellent place for picnics and for family outings, especially for families with kids. There were quite a few play areas for children, and very well spaced out. There was a huge group that was having their outing, at least 50 persons, I must say, but the park was vast enough that if you move away from any noisy crowd, you won't hear or see them. There was also the famed cable car that takes you up 30m into the air and allow you to have an unobstructed view of the park and the creek. Not free of course.
I headed towards the creek, and yes, the much spoken path was there. Not tar/bitumen/asphat, but probably concrete. It was good enough for me. I had just about enough of that rattling. The path stretched the full length of the park on the side of the creek, so you are skating with water on one side and greenery from the park on the other side, and a cool breeze with the warm sun. I would think it is about 2km, or slightly more. Beggars can't be choosers. Mindful that I had to make my way back home on skates and get rattled on the way, I did 5 laps up and down the path. Saw a few kids on skates as well, but they looked like they needed more practice. Attracted a few stares along the way, not sure if it was because they've not seen a person on skates before or if it was just me.
The weather was getting hotter, and I decided to head back, hoping that the roads were still just as empty as they were when I came. Exited the park, onto the road again, back into the Dubai Courts car park. The policemen have abandoned their sentry boxc position retreated to the cooler climes of airconditioned comfort. Under the bridge, rattling up the sharp bend, across the bridge, crossing the 2 roads, stopping by the nearby convenience store for milk to make my latte, and back into the buildling where my apartment was. The security guard on duty commented "Very interesting". Yes, if only she knew what I skated through.
I thoroughly enjoyed skating at the Creek Park. I wished I had more time and energy. I am starting to feel the muscles that I knew I had, coz they're all starting to ache! If anything, I'll probably pay for the price of the rattling tomorrow, when the joints start complaining. Still, it was good, not having skating for such a long time.
Next time, I'll just drive to the Creek Park.
The roads are fantastic, but invariably, the drivers might try and run you off the road. The vast car parks are great too, but again, you need to be wary of cars coming in and our of the car park, and not many car parks afford shade from the unforgiving sun.
There are numerous parks in Dubai, but I was not sure if they allowed skating or if the footpaths/bicycle tracks are suitable for skating. Plus the expense of at least AED5 for park entry is deterent enough for me to experiment.
Finally, a friend of mine told me that Creekside Park has a path that allowed skating. At first, I was sceptical. The paths I have seen in Creek Park were similar to the ones they use for the public pedestrian walkways and footpaths, put together by interlocking little bricks held together with sand, extremely useful if you want to get a bone rattling, joint shaking ride while you're skating, akin to a vibrating foot massage without the benefits. The tremors from skating over the seams of these bricks will transmit through the wheels, up the blades, right through the soles of your feet, up the shins through the knees caps all the way to your teeth - totally jarring.
So this morning, I took out my skates, put on the full kit sans helmet (reminider: GET A DAMN HELMET!), took the lift down and skated out towards the Creekside Park to find that elusive skatable track. I had my route all planned out in my head. Since I live at the Marriott Executive Apartments, all I had to do was take a lift down, skate out, cross a couple of roads, go up the Maktoum Bridge on the footpath, cross the Dubai Creek, down the bridge, loop right under the bridge, and voila, side entrance to Creek Park at the side of the Dubai Courts car park.
Of course, all routes planned in the head are not what they seem when you actually take them. Down the lift, exit the building, oh no, rattling footpath all the way to the road, rattle, rattle, rattle. Cross the road, more rattling footpath, rattle, rattle, rattle. Cross the next road, up the Maktoum Bridge, rattle, rattle rattle. Across the creek, loop down under the bridge, sharp downhill bend, rattle rattle rattle. And finally side entrance, rattle rattle rattle. I was already tired from all that rattling. The seams are pretty good dampeners on speed, so you have to push harder to get some decent speed, more effort when you're skating up the bridge or on an up slope. And they don't make an effective surface for you to use your skate brake when you are coming downhill. So, in every way, you are screwed - you spend more energy than normal on level ground, expend more energy than you normally would going up slope, and when you thought you could cruise coming down slope with your brake assisting you, the brake doesn't work as well as you want it to be.
Sign at the side entrance stated "Gate Closed. Use Gate Car Park 2". Another sign stated "This gate wil open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday." Hmm, maybe I was too early. No, the opening hours sign stated "Sunday to Thursday 8am to 11pm, Friday, Saturday and public holidays 8am to 12pm (sic)" I think they meant 12 midnight there. OK, gate closed, head to Car Park 2 then, more rattling on footpaths. Rattle, rattle, rattle.
Skating through the car park of Dubai Courts, I headed towards the footpaths that led to other entrances of the Creek Park. The policemen at the car park sentry post did not even bother even though I skated past and waved to them. Sorry, not my day, they've dug up the whole footpath, the only way to the other entrance was to skate on the road. Not actually what I had intended to do, but as they say “马死落地行“ （when the horse dies, you dismount and start walking), if I wanted to get to Creek Park, gotta hit the road. Good thing too that it was a Friday morning, not much traffic, but a lot of learner drivers on the roads. Hopefully, I don't get run off by one of them. Anyway, I had some identification on me, so if anything happens, they will know who to contact. I hope.
After 2 roundabouts, countless stepping aside and giving way to cars and learner drivers, I made it to the entrance of Creek Park. The moment of truth. "Good morning." I took out AED10 from my pocket and gave it to the Arab manning the ticket booth. "Good morning", he replied, and gave me my ticket and AED5 as change. I skated on into the park. No "Hey, you can't do that here", so I went on my way, back to rattling on the footpaht in the park. All the footpaths in the park were made of the same material as the public footpaths. If I didn't find that path that my friend mentioned, I swore I'd give him a good rattling the next time I saw him.
The park was huge. The lawns were green, very green, and well maintained. The landscaping was very well done, and the plants were well maintained. Quite impressive, I must say, excellent place for picnics and for family outings, especially for families with kids. There were quite a few play areas for children, and very well spaced out. There was a huge group that was having their outing, at least 50 persons, I must say, but the park was vast enough that if you move away from any noisy crowd, you won't hear or see them. There was also the famed cable car that takes you up 30m into the air and allow you to have an unobstructed view of the park and the creek. Not free of course.
I headed towards the creek, and yes, the much spoken path was there. Not tar/bitumen/asphat, but probably concrete. It was good enough for me. I had just about enough of that rattling. The path stretched the full length of the park on the side of the creek, so you are skating with water on one side and greenery from the park on the other side, and a cool breeze with the warm sun. I would think it is about 2km, or slightly more. Beggars can't be choosers. Mindful that I had to make my way back home on skates and get rattled on the way, I did 5 laps up and down the path. Saw a few kids on skates as well, but they looked like they needed more practice. Attracted a few stares along the way, not sure if it was because they've not seen a person on skates before or if it was just me.
The weather was getting hotter, and I decided to head back, hoping that the roads were still just as empty as they were when I came. Exited the park, onto the road again, back into the Dubai Courts car park. The policemen have abandoned their sentry boxc position retreated to the cooler climes of airconditioned comfort. Under the bridge, rattling up the sharp bend, across the bridge, crossing the 2 roads, stopping by the nearby convenience store for milk to make my latte, and back into the buildling where my apartment was. The security guard on duty commented "Very interesting". Yes, if only she knew what I skated through.
I thoroughly enjoyed skating at the Creek Park. I wished I had more time and energy. I am starting to feel the muscles that I knew I had, coz they're all starting to ache! If anything, I'll probably pay for the price of the rattling tomorrow, when the joints start complaining. Still, it was good, not having skating for such a long time.
Next time, I'll just drive to the Creek Park.
Labels: Creek Park, Dubai, inline skating, skates
posted by H Who at 1:47 pm
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