LondonSkaters Speed Team - Speed Skating & Rollerblading Club in London

merten · Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 8:58 pm Subject:

Well, back as well, after a nice chilled morning with Helen, Ray and Glenn in Koblenz and an almost non-jammed drive home.

So, I returned with a new PB of 1:15... but a not so good race. Started in the usual manner (too far back so that I needed to overtake right from the first moment - damn) but after some hard skating and chasing people managed to get a quite good position in the second large pack that formed. But - blew while trying to maintain a position in there long enough to actually recover. So needed to drop back, with a little intermezzo in a 10 people line, until getting swallowed by this huuuge swarm of 200 people with Glenn, Rick and Steff. Their pace was reasonable and not too hard for me to maintain, so stuck with that pack until the end, catching the faster part when the split happened. Finished at the end of the pack, didn't really care at that point Confused

Some notes on the race. It is indeed quite boring and stressful, as these huge packs make you only look at what happens in the race and give you no time at all for scenery. A 20km straight before any turn helps create these huge packs which can be really mean if falls happen. When our group entered the cobbled section I was near the end, watching about 100 people brake, cram and then hobble through this 3m wide bit at 20+ miles hour. One fall there would have meant a serious group stack. Fortunately all went well, but seeing this kind of freaked me out.

One problem will be that this race, like Berlin, is marketed as "the PB course". That will ensure that all people eager for a PB will turn up, and risk a lot to actually get it, which makes packs uncooperative and dangerous.

Overall, I had a nice weekend, OK race, new PB and I might return next year. So - not bad Laughing

Two more quick additions:
1) Start and finish were not moved short-noticed, they have been the same last year, because the last bits are just too dangerous at speed. Just somehow the guys at the "2nd finish" failed to inform the spectators like Helen of this Sad

2) Media coverage will be good I think - there are pictures, and there is a short YouTube video - some impressions of the course which we might have missed Wink

merten · Posted: Sun Jun 17, 2007 8:59 pm Subject:

That wouldn't have worked in the packs further behind, unless you force your way back in afterwards... Confused

Mikey-two-Names · Joined: 24 Feb 2004 Posts: 4108

Gav's right though, even back in my level at Berlin this is ABSOLUTELY key to staying fast at the front of the pack and not getting tired.

Glenn · Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Posts: 1109 Location: ST Pauls

Glenn’s race report

Obviously a very fast course, with much better organising it could have been a lot better. I can understand Gavin’ impression of the race as a “must do” – but I am not sure that the elite guys had to contend with the same mass packs that us plebs had to – with approximately 200, largely un-cooperative people in the pack with mixed abilities all finishing on similar times.

The start was very chaotic. The elite guys started, then the girls and then it was the mass – with no real separation for ability/speed. Hopefully, this should be addressed next year (the race size apparently increased from 500 to approx 2,200. With lots of pbs on offer, expect more next year). So the aim, for me at the start (like much of the race) was not to fall over – rather than worry too much about going like a train to catch a fast train (no pun intended). There were at-least 3 or 4 people who did fall at the start in front of me.

I decided to take the first half hour easy and skated with Daniel Junker for a little (he dropped of the elite pack early and was obviously struggling for fitness, having done next to no skating this year). Still it was great for me to have company of somebody I knew and indeed the best part of the race for me was that at different times I had the company of about 5 or 6 people that I knew in the pack, which kind of made it a little sociable.

I ended up skating the race quite conservatively, as it soon became very obvious to me that so long as I didn’t fall over (which in itself is a little bit of an achievement given that, at times there were over 200 people in the pack) I was going to get a reasonable time. It was also difficult for me to move up the line – as not a lot of room when there’s 2 or 3 big lines and was not that easy to get back in the line (so this is something that I definitely have to improve upon). So I ended up skating well within myself for most of the race (apart from a little after the start and towards the end) but still managed to take about 14 minutes of my previously best recorded flat time – definitely not getting too carried away with it though as it was a very fast course, with a tail wind and lots of big packs to shield you from the wind. I note that of the 7 LST members that raced at least 5 (if not 6 – not sure about Steff) achieved their PBs and probably would have been 7 out of 7 had Ray not had such problems with his boots and Steff didn’t fall over.

Still a very good learning race for me. Key points of notes/improvements are:

- to get better at very tight pac skating. Aside from more races, Adrian’s Tatem sessions are excellent for this and actually for this particular race – the FNS is good as well (albeit much more chilled for participants);

- Need to keep improving cross-overs. Lost a lot of ground on the only place in the race where you had to cross over – although I didn’t see the second one coming. Also lost ground on the cobble section – so next time will have take that faster like Rick and Ray.

- Starting to get to the level where my lines are regularly changing pace (rather than skating the whole race at the same pace) – so interval training is becoming more important. Though there were no real fast surges whereby it was difficult to stay on the line in this particular race.

- I note Gav’s point about using the push from behind as a benefit and will definitely learn from it – but in this particular race would have been difficult for me to implement. May be its something we should practice.

Koblenz is a surprisingly beautiful city and would make a great long weekend race. A real shame there was no party afterwards.

We also met (and had dinner with a couple) of some UK marathon runners from the 100 marathon runners club (you have to had run, or be on your way to running, 100 marathons to join the club). There was one particular fellow who had run over 500 marathons – think about it – that’s roughly the equivalent of 1 marathon every week for 10 years – talk about endurance (and madness).

Glenn · Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Posts: 1109 Location: ST Pauls

Well done on finishing with the lead pack Gav; I guess also having a little more rest during the week may also have helped.

Were there many surges during the race or was it hard for anyone to really get away on a flat course?

Ray · Joined: 30 Mar 2004 Posts: 806 Location: Dagenham

Yes this race had great potential for a fast time. And this is what others achieved - well done Gav, Glenn, Rick, Merten, Michi and Stephan.

For me it was a struggle. I set off reasonably well averaging over 19 mph for the first 4 miles; then things started to go pear shaped - I started feeling a breaking senation on my left stride then I got a sharp pain on the ball of my foot as I pushed out on the left foot. It only eased when I pulled off the line and skated more gently which I did for a couple of miles. For the rest of the race I jumped on pacelines stayed on till it became too uncomfortable and then eased off for a while. In the end I came in at 1:34. Helen made me head for the first aid tent - the ball of my foot was black and bloody and the first aid guy though it was necrotic tissue - however things looked rather better when it was cleaned up. The firstaider looked into my boot with a torch and showed me that a hole had been worn through the carbon - he speculated that when I pushed out the skin of the ball of my foot was pressed through the hole and touched the wheel, slowing me and injuring the foot. With this working against me it makes my time look a little better.

Now I need to get my boot fixed - a carbon repair or resin perhaps? I'll call Philippe.

till then I'll have to skate on my Powerslide C4.

But I enjoyed Koblenz the drinks and ice-cream after the race went down well. The company was pleasant.

The new skinsuits looked good too!

Steff · Joined: 20 Feb 2007 Posts: 68 Location: Kilburn Park

Yes, I enjoyed it too, apart from my crash Wink

The first 10-15 km were fine, even though the packs were were really too big, which eventually caused my crash. The guys in front of me got slower and I drove against them. Of course the pack behind me had the same problem, so I suddenly had 10 or more folks pushing and the guy right behind me put his hands too far down and we both lost balance.
I landed on the back of my right thigh Shocked

I could stand up again after just a few seconds, but the pack was gone. -> Never think you could catch up again, I tried that for the next kilometers and exhausted myself...

However, the biggest pain was not the crash, but the disinfectant after the finish in the first aid tent - like 1000 needles...

The new suit is already shredded, but for me it was definitely too short, the zipper should have been 10cm longer.

Now I've got a nice graze and bruise (makes sitting, walking and showering a bit painful Wink

)

But it was worth the trip and I'm happy with my time!

Mikey-two-Names · Joined: 24 Feb 2004 Posts: 4108

Wow, Ray, that's a tough one to deal with. Oops! Sorry to hear about your crash, Steff, hope you're healing quickly.