LondonSkaters Speed Team - Speed Skating & Rollerblading Club in London

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

What a race!

First: here are the results:
- Merten: Time was 1:42:22. This is place 186 overall (out of 355 men), 47th in his age category (winner's time about 1:10)
- Michi: Time was 1:42:34. This is place 37 out of 105 woman, 16th in her age category (winner's time about 1:20)

Ok, now a short race report: it was really cold the morning. So unfortunately there were some parts of the track that were really wet. Due to this weather conditions Merten and I decided to race together just for fun (for Merten it was fun, for me it was hard work !!).

This was the first time for me to start sliding during a race Rolling Eyes

Mostly under bridges and between hills there was much water. And right there you could find the two challenging turns of the course. We had to break really hard sometimes to avoid crashing into the large foam mats that were provided. Many people went flying there Wink

Additionally there was a bridge with roadworks going on where we had to skate on the sidewalk.

To sum it up I can say that the race had it's charming aspects (flat road near a dike). For me it was the hardest race I ever skated. On the uphill at the "Köhlbrandbrücke" I thought I would not finish. Fortunately Merten was skating with me and cheered me up (I was so pi..ed at that time...).
There were many parts where you had to keep an extra eye (e.g. tracks on the road, cobbles and the water of course) but wiggly toes helped me all the time.

Now I know the track and I'm planning to go there next year only to beat this nasty track Laughing

Cheers
Michi

merten · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 2:19 pm Subject:

To sum it up - I had fun yesterday! I had considered to race properly, but when Stephan asked me if we should take it easy we agreed to stay together. Probably a good idea, as I'm not that used to slippery surfaces either Embarassed

.

The course really has some challenging parts in it (that one wet 90° left turn after a downhill into a tunnel, hehe - we DID brake beforehand, all the people who overtook us there had some sort of discussion with the foam padded wall Laughing

). One bit of roadworks forced the race to be neutralized - maybe bad for the lead pack, but no problem for us. The bridge climb is a real b.tch, but the downhill rocks. All cobbled parts, tracks and so on were well announced, cobbles were even boarded up, tracks painted red and so on. Very good tarmac in most places, some nice and long straights as well.

Summary: If next year's run is in summer, I can definitely recommend it to everybody who wants to come back to Hamburg. Entry is well cheaper than Berlin, and the organisation is very good throughout.

Some pics here (not of us, just the lead pack and some impressions of the course)

Rick · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 5914

Sounds interesting. I am currently on a 50% wet 50% dry marathon record. I am glad Rich and I decided to go home early and not see if I healed up. I skated for the first time yesterday and could only manage about 2km before my leg started to ache and had to rest so it wouldn't have got better the fact that it started raining while we were still in Berlin tipped the scales of the decision.

Glad you both made it round safely. Does sound a rather "technical" course in wet condition. I still look forward to doing it someday as it does sound like an attractive route.

merten · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 4:28 pm Subject:

Hehe - I did indeed have a fall - but not due to wet surfaces Rolling Eyes

Managed to touch the concrete base of a fence when overtaking two rec skaters on a one lane narrow bit 1 km before the finish... stupid me, just because I wanted to be nice and give them some room. I'm OK though, some roadrash and torn skinsuit which annoys me most.

Gav · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 9:38 pm Subject:

Well done guys! Look like you were the last racing for LSST this season Wink

YAY! No more rainy marathons until next year. woohoo!

Natasha · Joined: 09 Jul 2004 Posts: 2973 Location: Basingstoke

Well done guys. Someone pointed out the route over the bridge when I was there for the marathon and I thought 'no way, people have got to be crazy to do that!" Sounds like a good result in seriously tough conditions.

merten · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:39 pm Subject:

Mikey-two-Names · Joined: 24 Feb 2004 Posts: 4107

Top class guys, well done!