spring is back, its official. I live on a hill. When I skate from my house I have to go down this hill. This hill is Stanton Avenue starting at Stanton Courts and ending around Heths street. Highview is the intersection where ones mortality comes into play. It is the kind of hill that can be taken fast or slow. Traffic is a major factor with this hill especially near the bottom as the last half block of the hill is a sharp turn into an intersection with a light.
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My street skating philosophy is to always assume you cannot stop and skate accordingly. When i am rolling down this hill I am watching the brake lights of the cars turning at the curve before the light. If there is a constant pressure I assume I have a red, if there is a tap and release I assume there is a green. If I get a green too early I take the center yellow line because I know by the time I arrive it will be middle of Red. Traffic thru the intersection when i have Red can only come from the right so in that respect I have some room to manuever. When I have a Green I try and get up as much speed as possible to take the light before it changes. In this scenario I take the turn tight to the outside right until the light is confirmed visually as green then tighten into left for the turn. Dangers with this intersection on a Green are lefts from the uphill side not seeing my approach.