T Track Video

There is now video of the womens T Track relays held last Friday night up on Bont TV. Click here to view.

Double A Visit

Cheryl and myself went to Frauenfeld Hospital today to visit Aaron Arndt otherwise known as double A. He still had a smile on his face and cheerful as usual with the usual greeting "hey guys". Ed Dimmock kindly lent Aaron his PSP to keep him entertained but with no adapter Aaron was unable to play it. So before leaving we found an electronic shop in Frauenfeld and brought a swiss plug then Aaron's eyes really lit up.


I don't know about all the technical terminology but there are two breaks that will need to be operated on and probably have plates put in. On Saturday he had an operation to put the screws in to stabilize his foot so the swelling can go down before they operate again.

Weinfelden World Inline Cup

The sun came out to shine over Weinfelden on Saturday for the World Inline Cup race. It was still around 30 degrees at 5pm when the race started, a water bottle in the back pocket was crucial.



The race started smoothly with not too many problems but coming down the hill for the first lap we were told to slow down and take care. There had been a big crash in the mens pack and still around ten to fifteen skaters on the side of the road plus gravel and stones everywhere. It looked really bad and I wish all the skaters involved a speedy recovery.

Some of the teams changed their tactics this week in an attempt not to let the race finish in a pack sprint. The Alessi team made quiet a few attacks but everyone was quick to jump on them including me. With a few little sharp hills, the heat and rough roads there were quiet a few girls hanging off the back of the pack throughout the race. The race still came down to sprint finish with about 25 skaters left in the pack.

The road narrowed to one lane with about 2km to go which meant you could only skate two abreast. Most of the teams wanted to be near the front including us so we were constantly chopping and changing to get on the right train that was moving through. With about 300 meters to go Giovanna Turchiarelli hit the lead. Tamara towed our team up equal to Giovanna but couldn't quiet get past she then moved over so Alexandra could come through. After a few meters Alexandra moved to the outside so Cecilia and myself had space to move up the inside. With 200 meters to go I ended up being slung by two hands from the hip and then slung from my skin suit as the skater was coming off me. I lost all my speed and went from being behind Cecilia in about 4th to 25th in the space of a few meters. Cecilia hit the lead not long after this and took the victory comfortably. Alexandra came in 10th, Tamara 17th and myself crossing the line in 22nd but moving up to 21st after the skater that slung me was relegated.

Womens sprint with 200 meters to go.
Photo - Nadine Benz juka linthline


Womens Finish
Photo - Niki Neck


Womens Podium
Photo - Niki Neck

There is also video of the race on Bonttv with footage taken by Niki Neck and Cheryl Begg.

T-Track Victory

Tonight our team took the victory in the T-Track relay. In the final we attacked and formed a gap with about 9 laps to go and stayed well clear of the field for the remainder of the race. World Inline Center Matter came in second and Cado Motus third. Bont IDRD skated well in the heats and could have contested a podium place but Martha Ramirez fell with 6 laps to go in the change zone.

T-Track & WIC Weinfelden

This week the World Inline Cup is in the town Team Bont Wheels calls home, Weinfelden. We are based in Weinfelden for the World Inline Cup season and live within skating distance to the course and the bank track.


Tonight the T-Track racing gets underway at 7pm with relays held on the bank track. Each team is allowed to enter 3 skaters each for the 3km relay. There are no World Inline Cup points allocated but every team is still determined to win for the prestige. The ladies will have heats and a final and the men 3 rounds, heats, semis and a final. At this stage the Bont Wheels Team will have Alexandra, Cecilia and myself lining up to compete.

Tomorrow the marathon starts at around 5pm about 1km from the team's house. The course has changed slightly from last year with the big up hill being taken out. We will skate 3 laps of the course this year as apposed to 2 last year. The course is a real mixture with rough and smooth road, corners, long straights, slight rises and a fast downhill stretch.

Finally what will the weather do? Last year it looked like it would rain until about an hour before the start. This year it should be a clear day and very warm.

Incheon World Inline Cup

The first World Inline Cup race in Asia this year attracted huge numbers, with reports of over 10,000 participants. The womens race got underway at 9.30 am under reasonably clear skies and like every year in Incheon warm weather. The course was the same as in 2007, two laps of the road running along the coast and then branching off for the final finish straight. The last 2km of the race was held on reasonably new road that was smooth and very fast, however the rest of the course was the total opposite. The road that ran along the coast was rough and bumpy. Heading out away from the start we had a head wind and heading back towards the finish a tail wind.


The womens pack kept the pace steady for the first quarter of the race. With a head wind heading out to the turn around point no one was keen to push the pace or attempt to breakaway. After the turn with the wind now behind us our team decided to test the water and see if a breakaway was viable. Tamara, Alexandra and myself all made a couple of attempts each but none turned into anything serious. The Alessi Powerslide team didn't hesitate in sending Nathalie Barbotin to chase us down before the gaps had time to grow. Sara Ervetti from Bont Bacata and a few Korean skaters from the Anyang Club were the only others that tried to instigate breakaways.


With about 3km to go two Korean skaters tried to breakaway. With the pack going quiet slow and the two skaters coming through from the back with pace they easily created a sizeable gap. Alessi Powerslide were the first team at the front of the pack, they hesitated and didn't chase. After we saw this our team reacted quickly before the gap grew any bigger, Alexandra went to the front and reeled the two Korean skaters in. At this stage we were leading the pack and it was a position we did not plan and did not want to be in that far out from the finish. Our team reposition ourselves in the pack behind Alessi Powerslide ready for the sprint. Many skaters were fighting for our teams wheel in the end Sara Ervetti got it. Brittany Bowe was behind Sara and then the Rollerblade MPC team. With about 1500m to go the Alessi team took the lead passing the four Korean skaters in the front and started winding up the pace for the sprint. With 500m to go the Alessi team broke their formation and started spreading across the road. We knew we had to make our move soon so we didn't get trapped in and have teams coming over the top and swamping us. At 400m to go Alexandra found a gap between the Alessi skaters and our team hit the lead. With around 300m to go I passed Alexandra with Cecilia on my wheel and Tamara protecting her. Cecilia came through with around 150m to go to take the victory. I hung on to take 2nd place, Tamara 5th and Alexandra coming in 11th (not official) after doing a lot of good work in the final kilometers of the race. Rounding off the top five was Sara Ervetti coming in 3rd and Brittany Bowe in 4th. It was another great result for our team and another World Inline Cup victory making that the 4th so far this season.

For more photo's from Incheon WIC
visit www.bontwheels.com/team

After the race to finish off a great day Alex, Soo and some of the Korean Bont crew took us into Seoul for a typical Korean meal.

Incheon WIC

This morning our team arrived safely in Incheon, South Korea after a long flight. Incheon is the host city of the 5th World Inline Cup race this season. The race which is not quiet a full marathon (38km) gets underway at 9.20am Sunday morning. We have not seen the course yet but from the map I've seen it looks similar to previous years, up and down the road that runs along the coast. Tomorrow afternoon we get to have a look at the course and hopefully will be able to skate the last few kilometers.

No More Train Tracks

Yesterday I was back at Luzern hospital which is becoming far too familiar. I first had x-rays taken and then saw the specialist. When I saw the x-ray I was expecting the fracture to be gone, fully healed and no crack. Instead I saw an x-ray that to me looked exactly the same as the x-ray taken four weeks ago. The doctor wasn't too worried about the x-ray because the movement and alignment of my jaw was good and there has been no pain. He said it will take a while for the fracture to fully heal and disappear from the x-ray but was confident that the wire splints/train tracks in my mouth could come out. My mum, who now thinks she is a specialist tried to tell me that it wouldn't be painful "snip, snip and they will just fall out" she said. Well it wasn't like that at all, there was a lot of twisting, yanking and blood. The wires were pulled back out in between my teeth and gums how they originally went in and yes it hurt.

Even though the wires are gone I can only eat soft foods that don't require too much chewing for another two to three weeks. It just seems to be an ongoing never ending process. It is a huge improvement though from five weeks ago when I was slurping liquids through a straw at least now I can get a spoon in my mouth. My next and hopefully last check up is in two weeks time.

Weekend Racing

This weekend with no World Inline Cup race scheduled our team split up to compete in two different events held on the same day. Cecilia and Tamara went to Germany to race in the Mittelrhein Marathon, part of the German Inline Cup series. Alexandra and myself stayed here in Switzerland to race the Swiss Open Championships held on the Weinfelden bank track. Our team had another successful week with Cecilia winning the marathon in Germany and myself winning all the events at the Swiss Champs. Tamara was 4th in the marathon and Alexandra who was feeling ill over the weekend still managed to pick up a 2nd and 3rd place at the Swiss Champs.

Here are a few pictures from the Mittelrhein Marathon thanks to Jorg Dietrich. You can view more images on the Team Bont Wheels website.






Swiss Open Championships

I was very surprised on Saturday when I turned up for racing and saw the program. I was expecting something that resembled a Worlds program as far as the distance of the races but instead saw we were racing events that my mother once raced. The sprint events which included a 300m time trial, 500m and 1500m were all held on Saturday. The long distance event were all held the next day, this included a 5000m points race, 3000m straight race and a 10,000m elimination.

I won the overall sprint title and overall distance title after winning all six races. Nadine Gloor was the first Swiss skater in all events and finished third overall in both the sprint and distance races. Shaneen Howard (Colombia) was second overall in the sprint and Martha Ramirez (Colombia) second overall in the distance. Alexandra was a little ill over the weekend so she sat out a few races but was second in the 500m and third in the 5000m points race.