LondonSkaters Speed Team - Speed Skating & Rollerblading Club in London

dan_b · Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 2417

I didn't see it, but apparently it was on the uphill, which suggests more likely a collapse of some kind than a crash. Beyond that, I don't now.

It was wet and not warm: we can probably rule out heatstroke ...

Xia · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Posts: 874 Location: Geneva (Suisse)

morning everyone....
results
http://services.datasport.com/2006/sic/mini04/rang/RANG092.HTM
http://services.datasport.com/2006/sic/mini04/rang/RANG091.HTM

Rick · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 5888

Pos Name Time After Lead Cat & Pos Speed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Mailard Anne-Claire 3:42.00,30 -------- W20 1. 29,999
31. Joliot Beatrice 4:30.45,18 48.44,88 W30 10. 24,598
38. Tanya Gibson 4:44.33,86 1:02.33,56 W20 21. 23,404
54. Potts Natasha 4:55.11,18 1:13.10,88 W30 16. 22,562
63. Harrison Linda 5:01.10,93 1:19.10,63 W30 18. 22,112

1. Christen Marc 3:16.25,10 -------- M20 1. 33,907
387. Brown Hans, 4:55.10,72 1:38.45,62 M30 121. 22,562
446. Alex Fenu 5:08.21,60 1:51.56,50 M30 140. 21,598

I hope Linda's not too miffed at missing 5hrs by 1m11s, Alex was close too. All the more reason to go back and do it again though I expect to be hearing the never again noises for a little while first.

Are everyone's feet okay?

merten · Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 8:19 am Subject:

Swiss news say he was in the front quarter of the field when collapsing for no apparent reason. He was taken to hospital where he died. Oops.

Well done to all you guys finished, sorry for the fall Dan I hope you'll heal quickly!

Xia · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Posts: 874 Location: Geneva (Suisse)

Xia · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Posts: 874 Location: Geneva (Suisse)

Some gps and Cardio Data:
http://blog.xialy.com/index.php?article=2

Overall we did +700m of ascention. Not bad!

xsfred · Joined: 21 Apr 2004 Posts: 125 Location: Paris

LSST on Swiss TV
Congrats to all LSST people who did very well in a tough race ! It was good to see you all in such a good shape for this marvelous race. Well done to Beatrice who in spite of an early fall in a fast downhill, finishes a few seconds behind me, which allowed us to share the emotion of the finish.

Simon · Joined: 13 Mar 2006 Posts: 620 Location: Out side edge

Well done every one...

Bad luck Dan (sorry to hear that)

Is that Marty in the video (at the end, all in black) geting some traning in for Berlin?

I hope you had fun Natasha, I know how much you were looking forwards to it.

fzurro · Joined: 09 Sep 2005 Posts: 796 Location: Middlesex

Very nice guys, Sorry to hear about dan though Sad

Might do it next year (not sure about the 5 hours though ...)

Rick · Joined: 25 Feb 2004 Posts: 5888

Thinking about if for 2008 as I wind up to an expected Le Mans solo in 2009. I would also like to do the A2A in that year. For now my race plans are purely aimed at getting the best perfomance in marathons for September 2007 to July 2008

tanya g · Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:29 pm Subject:

Race report:

It was far

tanya g · Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 1:31 pm Subject:

BREAKING NEWS

It was also hilly

dan_b · Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 2417

Beatrice · Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2006 2:23 pm Subject:

Xia · Joined: 06 Apr 2004 Posts: 874 Location: Geneva (Suisse)

The one eleven has always been the type of race I dreamed of joining. More than a race, its a stroll from point to point in the country side over a decent distance. Its surely beats going round and round and round.

Having team members there was fantastic. Spending the night in the sports hall in a must as it help getting the atmosphere of the event.
While it was a gruelling test, my goal always was to finish in a decent time, not to race it. I'm glad I took that approach as the last climb might have proved too much otherwise. I shared the race with Linda, which made the experience even better. Its amazing how much of a lift you get when you have a friendly face around helping you overcome weak moments. BIG THANK YOU.

IMHO most members of the club should at least participate to that race. I’m not one of the fittest or the fastest in the group and yet I enjoyed every minute of it (ok, nearly every minutes) It really was my race experience. Note that I said participate, as you don’t have to race it.

My Race:
I'm late on the line and only manage to locate Linda of the Londoners. Its not going to be a big London pace line I'm afraid. At 7 sharp we start on a wet surface. Linda is desperate in finding Tanya and Bea as she would like to tag along with them so she just jump in and out of groups overtaking a fair number but we probably started from to far back. I follow 2-3 meters behind, trying to avoid all the guys who suddenly decide that the cute little blonde girl is nice to draft...

With the good surface and the incline, it doesn't take long to reach a cool 50km/h, that is until I have my first scare when I want to go left and loose grip suddenly sliding towards a raised platform in the road that I was trying to avoid. Luckily my skates get some grip again and I manage to avoid it. ooops, nice wakeup call. Linda also as her fair share of slides and scares she is a bit louder than me lol!

Both of us tag along a fast pace line coming from the back, overtaking a lot and that carry us for a while until it’s a tad too fast for me, I cant safely match my speed with the line and play yoyo. I don’t want to waste energy so call it a day and join a slower line. Linda stay with them.

Few kilometres later I spot Linda doubled over on the side of the road. Worried I stop and come back to her. Luckily nothing serious, she is having a sever backache, only 15km into the race. I help her loosen her back while a fair amount of good pace lines go through. Nat and Hans included Sad

.
We restart again together at a slower pace to help her recovery.
Then the big downhill, this is the main One Eleven downhill. Its steep, you don’t see the bottom, its wet... I chickened out. So off I go on the carpet. Linda suddenly is petrified probably due to the early close calls. I talk her through all the way down. Hope it helped. Oh and one of the corner has 20 people holding crash mats in case crazy people miss the turn reassuring really.

After that it was a long 40km of the same with Linda struggling in the downhill and flying in the uphill allowing us to stick together. Most pace line are too slow and we end up chasing lines, staying with them for a while to recover then chasing the next one further up. Its tiring, not the best way to go but we are making progress. The course is now more and more uphill becoming Lindaland, from time to time, I whish Linda was 6ft tall giantess so that I could easily hide behind for a better draft Smile

Suddenly about mid race out of nowhere, a pace line catch us unprepared in a downhill, much faster than us. We work to catch them up making the junction seriously improve our average speed. The only issue is that more and more skaters are tagging along and people start fighting for positions... silly when you probably are in the last 200 racers. Linda keeps breaking away on every uphill. I stay put in the line, that is until there is a breakaway that I miss. Linda nicely drops back and takes me up to the new shortened line. Thanks girl, this wasn’t a break to miss. We stay with that line for a long time, its perfect for me, right speed, right size and too fast for most skaters we overtake who cant join us.
The rest is more of a blur, as tiredness creeps in. The rain also becomes now a feature of the race. Approaching the final 20, Linda and me part ways as she is stronger and can attack the final climb in a way I cant.I whish her luck. Surprisingly enough, she is the only skater that overtakes me on the last 20km. The climb is not a continuous one but more short 1-3 km followed by 1km of resting flats or even downhill. I still have decent amount of energy and keep a good rhythm getting some good draft on the flats and catching loads of struggling skaters on the ups. This in turn fuels my energy each skater in front of me becomes a target to reel in.
On the last climb, I pass a reminder of how gruelling this race is, when I see a skater receiving a cardiac massage by an ambulance crew. I whish him luck in my head but later learn that he tragically died at the hospital.

I reach the line in 5h08, I'm happy as my target was below 6 hours. I paced myself well and really never went beyond my means. But what I’ll remember is that I finished and had a great time. I think we all did.

The proof will be in the pudding next year if we all turn up again. A quick poll at the end of the race had NEARLY ALL of us saying I WANT TO DO IT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

So see you next year!