A roller quad rider since she was a little girl, Claire alias Buzz L'Eklair on the networks, answers our questions!
When did you start rollerblading?
So roller quad, I started when I was little, I would say I was 10 - 12 years old, something like that and I never stopped. So I've been riding for a very long time.
What is your favourite skatepark?
I love the hangar in Nantes, but I discovered Darwin not long ago, it was huge because there's a new bowl that's just been built that's going to be inaugurated this weekend so I think it's going to get more popular. Recently I was in Marseille at the Palais de la glisse, which I call the Paradis de la glisse because it was really incredible.
What tricks are you working on at the moment?
At the moment I'm working on the "korkset", I think that's what it's called. I don't really know the names of the tricks. Actually, it's both a back flip and a safe trick.
What made you start roller quad?
It was two little girls called Aude and Angeline who were the daughters of my parents' friends. When we went to their house, the girls had their rollerblades and they went back and forth in their street in Créteil, I stole a pair from them. That's when I put on my first pair of skates and since then I've never wanted to stop.
What do you do in life besides rollerblading?
I'm a PE teacher and a mother and a bit of a musician from time to time, so yes, I move around a lot, I do a lot of things.
What does it bring you in your daily life?
"I think it's why I'm still married," she laughs. "It allows me to let off steam, to be in a bubble where I forget about the boring everyday stuff, it makes me let go. At the same time, I meet a lot of extraordinary people. There are lots of communities around the quad that are so cool. So, I have the chance to meet these people during my escapades in the different skateparks. It's all positive".
What is your favourite trick?
In terms of feel, I think it's the back flip or the handstand to deathdrop. This is a trick where you start with your hands on the edge of the ramp and then you throw yourself down the ramp head first and land on your feet in the curve.
Isn't that a bit dangerous? Your worst fall?
I don't think it's really dangerous, it's impressive, but it's much less risky than trying to do some of the other tricks that are much riskier, even if they don't look like it. And my worst fall was when I hit my head and got a little concussion working a flair. I did a shoulder while working on a front dismount too.
Do you compete?
Yes, I have been for a while. There are contests here and there, by quad communities etc. Once in a while, I come to crash on these contests and recently, I'm also crashing on the inline rollerblading contests, so I create a little bit of visibility for the quad, the goal being obviously not to make flamboyant results, but it's really to integrate the quad so that it's more visible in the rollerblading community and that it becomes more and more legitimate with time.
What is your best memory in roller quad?
It's an impossible question, because I have too many good memories in quad, I've been riding for too long, with a few exceptions, every time I ride, it's too good. Honestly between my teenage memories, the Nantes roller festival, in Marseille, in Bordeaux, I don't know everything is too cool on a quad, so these are my best memories.
Some advice for those who are starting out?
You have to stick with it, because the more you do it, the more comfortable you get. I have one piece of advice that people who don't rollerblade will hate. When you start at the very beginning, at least I did, I put on my skates and I never took them off. At home, on the carpet, on the tiles, on the floor, I had them in my kitchen, on the stairs, I had them all the time! So I got used to all the surfaces, to all the types of unbalanced, I walked around with them, I took them off to take a shower and to sleep. Otherwise, I had them all the time, it drove my parents crazy, but I progressed.