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Quentin
Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 240
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 Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 1:45 pm Subject: Suicide skates. I almost died |
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So I tried to do a suicide skate again after months with almost no skating.
I almost died a couple of times.
1st warning:
Going down a very steep street in Highgate, I was faster than the car in front so I was going to overtake it on the outside lane (probably going at around 50km/hour) but didn't see the bus coming the other way, so jump onto the curb still at full speed but they was a car coming from the street on the left and was blocking me the way, I managed to dodge the car and the lampost to end up on that left street. It was a very close call.
2nd warning:
I knew I was unfit, but I didn't expect Sparky, Owain, Duracell and Sam to actually drop me behind and I got lost god knows where. By this time I had cramps on both legs and was almost nable to actually skate at all.
So i managed to skate to Bank and and took the bus back to Marble Arch. But When I say that, I mean Grabbing onto a bus and let him pull me along. Everynow and then I skated off to the next bus in front but everytime I did that, my legs had cramps again, so I simply stayed with the same bus almost all the way. I almost died of exaustion!
Driving form the Vic to Rick's, I was trying really hard to not fall asleep and stay on the road.
What are the lessons learned:
1) Training is clearly not for me
2) It's fun to go downhill but be careful of traffic
3) I prefer downhills than uphills
4) Busses are good to grab, but they stop far too often
5) I must try and value my life more
Conclusion: I am most likely to be out again next Wednesday!
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Mikey-two-Names
Joined: 24 Feb 2004
Posts: 4108
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:27 pm Subject: |
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That's so much fun Quentin! You're a complete nutter!
I know all about the cramps thing, you should have seen me at the top of Ditchling Beacon. I didn't know my quads could look like a Z! And all because I didn't want that girl to beat me to the top, but she did. |
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Duracell
Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 683
Location: ShepherdsBush (Work - Paddington/Heathrow)
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:32 pm Subject: Re: Suicide skates. I almost died |
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| Quentin wrote: |
| I didn't expect Sparky, Owain, Duracell and Sam to actually drop me behind and I got lost god knows where. |
Oops! Heard you yelling, but thought it was about the guys behind. Didn't realise your dropping off was tiredness/cramp, just thought you had somewhere to be...  Give us a bell next time.
That was definitely a very hill-intensive suicide.
I found the uphills a bit of a struggle, but thought that's a good thing, 'cos doing things that are hard will make them easier eventually. 
I forgot that I had my front wheels rockered up, so was on three wheels, but that probably made the uphills easier, right? And I think that it made the t-stopping on that downhill (Muswell Hill? not sure) more stable, as it was the second wheel taking most of the grief instead of the front one. Certainly the highest speed that I've t-stopped at with that amount of stability.
Cost me a wheel for little reason, though. I'd not been down that hill before, only up. On the up, I remembered it going on forever and being hellishly steep, and having a roundabout at the bottom of it. I'd forgotten there was a hundred metres or so of flattish stuff before the roundabout, so plenty of time to scrub off a bit of speed.
Will know better next time. (And maybe I'll get around to refitting a heel brake, as a back-up option...) |
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Rick
Joined: 25 Feb 2004
Posts: 5914
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| Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 9:44 am Subject: |
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| Just skated to work from Paddington. Slightly knackered and sweaty. Route check tomorrow is going to hurt unless a few others are in the same boat. Forutnately it's only tiddly as it's for a Stroll. Fortunately I got pulled out of having to do route check on Tue as someone got me a ticket to a show and I have a FISS committe meeting tonight so I'm being broken back in rather than throwing myself in at the deep end like Quentin. |
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Naomi
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 374
Location: London
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| Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 10:53 am Subject: |
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| actually Duracell, Id say that the rockered front wheel made the hills harder... I find hills easier in speed skates. |
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dan_b
Joined: 15 Jun 2004
Posts: 2428
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| Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 11:45 am Subject: |
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| Rick wrote: |
| Route check tomorrow is going to hurt unless a few others are in the same boat. |
This is only my prediction, but I think you'll find that nearly everyone's in that boat.
Commuting is very nearly the only skating I've managed all year (the exception was Tuesday's RC). It's fun, but it's probably too short and too fast to be much good as base mileage.
Still, Bill says do intervals all year around, right? |
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Quentin
Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 240
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| Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 12:54 pm Subject: |
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| Naomi wrote: |
| ... I find hills easier in speed skates. |
I found hills easier from the back of a bus, but the annoying thing is that they do not follow the same route as Sparky. |
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Naomi
Joined: 01 Jun 2004
Posts: 374
Location: London
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| Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2007 3:38 pm Subject: |
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| Quentin wrote: |
| Naomi wrote: |
| ... I find hills easier in speed skates. |
I found hills easier from the back of a bus, but the annoying thing is that they do not follow the same route as Sparky. |
inconsiderate. |
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Duracell
Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 683
Location: ShepherdsBush (Work - Paddington/Heathrow)
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Quentin
Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 240
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| Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 1:28 pm Subject: |
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| I think it's Sparky who should make sure I have the opportunity to rest. lol |
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