LondonSkaters Speed Team - Speed Skating & Rollerblading Club in London

Alan · Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 642 Location: Hackney, London

Good Luck.

benw · Joined: 04 Jul 2007 Posts: 106

Results:

89 miles
27 6:22:19 13.7 Naomi Grigg 155 F3039 30 London/SkateFreestyle London UK
28 6:22:20 13.7 David Ford 105 M3039 38 LondonSkaters Speed Team London New Zeal GBR
39 6:46:48 12.8 Benjamin Wai 82 M3039 37 LondonSkaters Speed Team London GBR
57 8:02:26 10.8 Paul Bishop 89 M4049 49 Wallingford Oxo GBR

* Naomi is 3rd in her division.
** This year's distance is 89.4 miles (to be exact) instead of the usual 87 miles due to the detour over part of the route that was washed off in a recent storm.

38 miles
26 4:09:23 9.1 Ilona Budapesti 88 F1829 26 London GBR
30 4:32:06 8.4 Richard Alomo 97 M4049 43 London Skaters' Speed Tea Westminster Lon GBR

Very Happy

greazer · Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 330 Location: Haarlem

Wow...
Congratulations to the 6 of you, those are excellent results! Very Happy

Special shout to Naomi taking 3rd, podium in A2A..., my respect for your racing has grown to: BIG RESPECT!!!

Cheers,
Andy.

Michi · Joined: 11 Jun 2005 Posts: 658 Location: Hamburg

Congratulations to everyone taking part in this race for finishing and the great results!

benw · Joined: 04 Jul 2007 Posts: 106

Nothing could be more perfect than the weather! For the entire week leading up to the event, forecast was absolutely doggy - a cold front from the north was expecting to arrive over the weekend bring in lots of rain. But when Sunday arrived, the sun stayed out. Just for note, the day after the race, it was literally pouring -let's hope our new Atlantan friends are okay and not affected by the flooding we are seeing on the news.

With Naomi and Duracell raced off ahead, I started off the first 38 miles juggling between 2-3 pace lines, and, after dropping off the 38 milers, settled on one that was pulled together by John of Team Rainbo. I was able to hang in until after check point 5 when I fell behind on one of the last steep hills. I was going solo for a distance and almost missed a left turn but was luckily called back by Jo of Team Buckwheat. The two of us teamed up for the remainder of the route.

My old duct-taped Salomon 5x84 (and my ankles) held together well. The only short coming was when going down hill, all the 4x100'ers flew past with ease and I could barely keep up with them even with sprinting - lost quite a lot of energy there. Trick I found was to try to stay near the front of the paceline when going downhill and let the back of the line help with the pushing...

Various other notes:
* Best quote from David the night before - "We'd be very happy if we go faster than 6 hours, and we'd be upset if slower than 7".
* Naomi's 3rd place finish in her division - she could have made 2nd if she had not stopped to help out her friend Greg.
* Scariest moment - as we entered Atlanta city limit when the quick-fit lace on my right boot slipped out of its holster and somehow got caught by the strap on my left boot as my left leg was pushing out on a stride... and then I realized, as I was laying on the ground, a huge Dodge truck emergency stopped just feet behind me...

For future:
* There were quite a few rolling hills, some were about Le Mans' steepness (going up). They were relatively easy to deal with until the n'th uphill at the 83rd mile in which time, in Rick's words, "just think about death"..
* Carry as many power gel packs as you can.. they might be the most horrible tasting stuffs but in the last 20 miles they are the sweetest things you'll ever have..
* If you plan to leave food and replenishments in the check point drop boxes so you can pick them up along the way... be prepared you won't have a chance to do so, especially if you get into a good paceline that won't stop.

My experience with A2A was very good. People there were wonderful and supportive. The organizers did an excellent job pulling it all together. They did express concerns with the diminishing number of participants in recent years. Do give the event a consideration next year!