LondonSkaters Speed Team - Speed Skating & Rollerblading Club in London

ed! · Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 7:46 am Subject:

He he - I'm the slowest skater in the field Wink

Lowlights and Highlights:
- On the journey in, waking up in different countries and having to ask "which country are we in now?" Smile

- Pamela's luggage not arriving Sad

- Pamela's spending spree Smile

- Being told that registration had closed after queuing up for over an hour Sad

- Tanya being Tanya, fixing it all and getting us registered Smile

- Team dinner and Steak with pasta! Smile

- The plan to buy burgers just before the finish Smile

- Skating from start to finish with Alan, Andy, Pamela and about 20 other skaters behind *us*! Smile

- Matthew B pulling out just over halfway due to faulty equipment Sad

- Nearly crashing into a curb during a lapse of concentration Confused

- Smelling burgers and realising we had forgotten about the plan to buy them just as we passed the van Sad

- Crossing the line together Smile

(although I think Alan dropped back a little bit Sad

)
- Being thanked by various skaters in our line for pulling them along Smile

- Going to Brugge Smile

- Arriving home Smile

I really enjoyed the race, and it was as good as Mittelrhein (another wet one), but for different reasons. It was good to practice team pacelining - the communicating, and working together. The benefits of team colours were also evident as skaters recognised what we were trying to achieve and were courteous when at times we would disband and then try to regroup.

I would definitely love to do that again! Smile

Rick · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 5914

Andy had a red number too so he should have had about the same time as you. Wink

Damn good weekened. Gave me a nice lift seeing you guys all skating together. As predicted, I had no sprint so when my line picked up the pace just before Neumarkt I waved goodbye and I soloed the last 2km but I am well happy with 1h45 considering my Berlin injuries. I was hoping for that at a dry time so to get it in the wet was amazing.

Would like to see everyones split times to see if they compared to mine. I was over 5 minutes quicker on the second half. Firstly for coming to realise that I could go a bit quicker so I chased down a couple of line splits to stay in the faster group and secondly because I found the conditions easier in the second half.

Very well done to Ben for doing that time considering he has the A2A this coming weekend. I hope you aren't tired.

Looking forward to trying out my new skates, without the new frames to start with while I get used to the lacing and frame alignment then, if they are okay, gradually over the winter I'll get 10mm taller. Very Happy

Anne-Jelmer · Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 9:07 am Subject:

We had a great weekend! My back didn't do as well as I had hoped but this was more or less expected. The first 16km I was more or less on my own, struggeling to find a comfortable skating position and a paceline that I could keep up with while straightening my back every now and then. When I found the group I got them a bit more organized. Some shorter lead work from everyone meanth I could get some more rest. Also the second half was more grippier. It felt more like inline skating and I was able to do quite some lead work.
The last few kilometers I was able to follow Ricks guidelines. I moved up a few places in the last cornes at the Rudofsplatz and Neumarkt. Ending up in a group of three at the decent for bridge. I was able to shake them of sprinting up the bridge.

High and low list:
-Being called "Einsteiger"(=Beginner) after a near fall over one of those white lines on the road and struggeling, slipping and screaming to stay on my feet. (LOL Laughing

)
-The first 16km where I couldn't make any speed or keep a decent skating position for some time. Had to swich to tour-mode
-Seeing Tessa skate 100m in front of me.
-Meeting the Londonspeedskaters again
-Reaching the finishline in a skate marathon!

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

I really enjoyed the weekend too.
Thanks once again to Ed and Andy for shepherding Pam and I round the course.
My own timing gave me 1:46:25, so a bit unsure where the "official" extra minute came from, but it would only have lifted me one place.

dan_b · Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 2428

ed! · Posted: Mon Oct 05, 2009 10:47 am Subject:

10 km 00:25:34
Halb 00:54:26
30 km 01:16:37
Halb 1 00:54:26
Halb 2 00:52:31

Note: Adding the halves together, my time is 01:46:47, same as Pamela's.

I think that a lot of time was lost in the first half at the start, moreso given the bridge. I actually found I slowed considerably in the dry patches (and wincing knowing my wheels were wearing away at every stride)...for the wet surfaces, there were variances in the traction you would get, where I found that the majority were better to skate on than the dry patches.

The other element that when I was in front of the paceline, I could set the stride / cadence, rather than have to match anyone else. I do recall my cadence being slightly higher, but in the wet, I felt that long and slow strides wouldn't have been beneficial - at least not something I could deal with comfortably.

Anne-Jelmer · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:34 am Subject:

benw · Joined: 04 Jul 2007 Posts: 106

10 km 00:24:12
Halb 00:50:54
30 km 01:11:20
Halb 1 00:50:54
Halb 2 00:48:41

Sorry to hear about Matt's mechanical problem... At the start, I was separated from Matt by the crowd over the bridge and it took me good few kms to catch back up with him. But I lost Matt again about a quarter way in.

I was somewhat over-cautious at the beginning using the Stormsurge on wet surface the first time. I found my techniques varied a lot depending on surfaces - a lot of short strides mixed in glides with long back pushes. The latter is something that in the regular Strolls I would tell the newbies not to do but here it's strangely effective in the wet and I was overtaking pace lines with ease.

For the first two-third, I was busy hopping pacelines and breaking away from packs. For the last third the road was almost empty at times and I was going solo most of the way.

Best moment, while going through some narrow back streets, I got stuck behind a large pack of skaters. There was a local brass band playing so I hung back and danced my way passed the band to the music Razz

That few seconds made my day.

Worst moment, running out of steam going up the bridge at the very end Embarassed

Rick · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 5914

So most of you were two or three minutes faster. Sort of tallies with my experience because I felt we were not only going faster without effort due to improving conditions but pushing much harder in the second half and only for the last half of that. Up to that point I was not being stretched except in the occasional break, mainly after turns.

10 km 00:26:51
Halb 00:55:16
30 km 01:15:58
Halb 1 00:55:16
Halb 2 00:50:01

If the 30km time is net the my last 12.2km was done in 29m19s. I was timing off the km markers at around 2:20 average for the first part of that patch until they burned me with just over 2km to go when my back was knackered. Would normally reach peak discomfort in the first 10km not the last 12. Anyway looks like I was in slightly better shape than I thought as was being extra cautious at the start. Cool, happy with that.

MatthewB · Joined: 05 Mar 2008 Posts: 123 Location: London W9

Rick · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 5914

Oh not so bad then. I thought you were pointing at your knee when I went past which concerned me a bit....not enough to stop obviously.

Changed my frame bolts on my new Powerslides as soon as I got home to normal Allen key ones. They are quite short but fortunately I had some short ones in my Lowriders that I never use....sorted. Trying to find my spare axels now for when I start using the 110 frames as I don't want to carry a Torx key and an Allen key.

ed! · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 3:58 pm Subject:

Rick · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 5914

Why would I want to buy a new tool when I have plenty of allen keys aleady? Somewhere I have 8 new axles that should fit the new frames. I have a bit of spare time to track them down or pinch them for other skates that have the same bolt length, thread and head champhering as I am going to break the boots in and sort the frame alignment with my 100mm frames before jacking up the height. I feel they need some adjust ment and I can't just go straight to to 110s on them.