This is a busy and important weekend for most of the people that live in the Bont House in Weinfelden.
Tamara and Alexandra have both left today to head up to St Moritz for the Engadin World Inline Cup which is on Saturday. This is one of the most beautiful races in the World when the weathers good. It starts up at Maloja overlooking the lake which on a nice day is full of windsurfers and kite surfers. The fast course then snakes down the valley passing the inline village at half way and then going down a big steep hill which quite a few skaters dread. The last couple of years I have lead the pack down this fast down hill stretch. You have to be very confident to lead as you can hit speeds of 70-80+ km. If you make a mistake in the front it could be very dangerous for the whole pack. The only up hill section of the race is about 1km after the down hill. The race heads up towards Pontresina and it's a long up hill drag. In the ladies race this is usually where most of the attacks are launched, quite a few breakaways have stayed away from this point in the past. It's then predominately flat or slightly down hill all the way to the finish which is at S-chanf.
However when the weather turns, the wind picks up and the rain starts to fall it's not too beautiful. A couple of years back a storm passed through before the start of the race and everyone was left up at the start line freezing cold with no gear to keep warm. You get dropped up at the start line and then are left as the buses or team cars must leave before the roads get closed for the race. That year my zip also broke on my skin suit about 5 minutes before the start. I will never forget going down the hill with my skin suit held together by safety pins and the freezing cold wind hitting my bare skin between the gaps. It's also hard because the weather can change so quickly up there and it could be raining at the start but totally dry 42km down the road at the finish so it's always a gamble as to what to stick on your feet.
The weather forecast isn't looking too good at the moment for Engadin with about 60% chance of rain on Saturday. But we will just have to wait and see.
Everyone one else left early this morning to head to Le Mans, France for the Le Mans 24 Hour Race. It's held around the Le Mans car race track where the famous car race is held. Bont have a 10 man strong team entered with skaters from all over the World. The race starts at 4pm Saturday and ends on 4pm Sunday. The course is about 7km long and each team has one skater out on the track at a time. The skaters relay as they choose and the team that has covered the most distance in the 24 hours wins. This is a tough race and this year there are some very strong teams entered so all the best of luck to the Bont Team.
Wayne Begg (New Zealand)
Ben Alchin (New Zealand)
Willem Hut (Netherlands)
Ard Veneman (Netherlands)
Kert Keskpaik (Estonia)
Philippe Matter (France)
Guillermo Trinaroli (Argentina)
Ruben Martinez (Argentina)
Alfredo Moreno (Venezuela)
Livio Wenger (Switzerland)
Friday, June 26, 2009
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3 comments:
Hello Nicole - thanks for the details describing some specifics of the Engadin Marathon.
Would you please add a few words and outline what makes it "safe(r)" to go downhill with 70-80+.
What is pre-condition and what are your recommendations?
Thanks, Markus
Hi Markus
Going down a hill at those speeds isn't really that safe unless you have full bodysuit so at the Engadin marathon there is carpet laid out to slow skaters down that are not as experienced and don't feel confident. But if you are in the main pack and take the carpet it slows you down that much that you probably wouldn't see the pack for the rest of the race.
I haven't seen anyone fall during this section in the main pack and probably because everyone takes care, concentrates, goes single file and skaters don't tend to fight for positions in the pack during a section like this.
Here are a few things I find useful going these speeds:
Body position is really important. You try have your body weight centered over your skates. It's also important to try keep in a nice tuck position and down reasonably low then you have better center of gravity.
Try keep your feet shoulder width apart, no closer together than that. Not too wide either otherwise they are outside the center of your body and hard to control.
I wouldn't recommend hands behind your back.
When I have lead these sections I have had my hands or forearms on my knees kind of acting like a brace. The skaters in the pack usually hold the skater in front of them lightly by their hips with both hands. This acts like palming off to make sure they keep their distance. By using two hands it means they won't put the skater in front of them off balance.
The main problem going these speeds is that you get speed wobbles and once you get them they are hard to control. If I feel like I am going to get them I lift each foot slightly off of the ground, quickly alternating between feet and it usually gets everything back under control.
Probably the most dangerous part is when people try to start skating again after the downhill. I don't start skating until I feel stable and first start by shuffling from foot to foot, trying to skate full to start with can easily put you off balance.
Previous years I have practiced going down a hill and working my way up to a steeper hill prior to the race then it's not a foreign feeling when your feet start to shake a little. I actually practiced going faster than the speeds we reached.
Probably the most important thing is not to panic if you get speed wobbles. Just stay calm, try relax and lift each foot slightly of the ground a little.
I wouldn't recommend anyone that wasn't experienced trying to reach these speeds on an open road.
Many thanks !
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