Zen and the Art of Speedskating

Jess & I just passed our 8th wedding anniversary, and our 10th year of being together. I am at a loss to find words to properly encompass the joys and challenges of the past year. It has been the best of times and some of the hardest of times.

Between becoming parents and Jessica’s severe illness, our relationship has been tested thoroughly, and we passed….

Now we are not just 2, we are 3, the word FAMILY has been thrown into a clarity I never before understood, both within our house, and reflecting on the wonderful families that raised us & who really came through when we needed them…

This is a cause for celebration– so hand us 2 dozen oysters & a glass of wine, it’s time for some BIVALVICIDE!!

So much was talked about over dinner. Oddly enough we talked more about some close friends who are having some truly terrible times more than about ourselves. This world can be a weird, cruel place sometimes, and our focus is often outward, even during a dinner to celebrate us.

After oysters & wine were done, we walked next door, started in on some sushi and sake!

Excessive?? maybe, but through pregnancy, and because of some of the very powerful immune-suppressive drugs Jess has been on because of her illness, we haven’t eaten like this in a long, long, long time (and can’t afford to again, for a long, long time).

Only the edge of Jess is visible in the above photo, but I still look at her with stars in my eyes. My sentimentality annoys her sometimes, as she is the logical side of our marriage, but I prefer honesty, and I honestly love her with all that I am, and I’m proud to say so out loud in pubic places.

I’ve written about our 7th anniversary (spinning rings)

And the 6th one (Jess doing a long swim, something I could never do)

5th Anniversary (I like this entry the best, writing-wise & muddy dog photos)

and the 4th Anniversary (Blog had not really evolved yet, primordial entry)

May this year be more remembered for the joy Arzelia has brought into our lives than anything else.

My past entries were more “arty” than this year’s, but I had more “space” for contemplation then. I used to think my life was “busy”. Ha… how little I knew! A blog can be a personal index, where you can look back on where you were at that time in your life, and marvel. This is post #631… Wow…

(P.S. Thanks Ashlee Barnett for babysitting! You made this dinner possible!!)

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

At the elite level of speedskating, 99% of athletes use custom made carbon fiber boots. A perfect fit is an absolute necessity when trying to push hard while balancing on 1mm of steel at 30+ mph (add in gallons of lactic acid induced haze for more fun). Custom boots are even more important if you have unusual feet like I do.

If you read this blog by visiting the website, you might have noticed the dancing skeleton on the right. This is because of my long time relationship with the mad scientist of carbon fiber, Bruce Kohen. If you using an RSS reader, you might not have seen it. So here it is

Bruce has made me several pairs of boots over the years, trying for that perfect fit, balance point and push. At this point, he “knows my feet”.

here he is, molding my feet, at the short track world cup last year.

In fact, as he started the drive back from Utah to Missouri, he had a whole trunk full of feet.

and notebooks full of detailed measurements from skater’s boots. Here he was noticing some unusual positioning of my right blade, and he is modifying the mounting placement because of it.

Then, it what could be a strange scene from a horror movie, he took those casts from his trunk, and remade our feet in his workshop. There are quite a few very fast feet here.

In the post I made for my last pair of boots, you could see my feet baking in the oven. This time I just got a picture of the carbon fibre casts. There are my funky hammer toes, my high arch & narrow ankles not so clear in the photo.

And here is the final product, with blade attached & on the ice!!! The lace cover is actually a hologram, it moves depending on the light. The important thing is they skate wonderfully well..

Most skaters pick out the color/design of their boots. For my last 2 pairs, I’ve asked Bruce to pick out the design based on a question. Last pair the question was “what would Darth Vader do” This time question I wanted him to answer for these boots was “What would Pink Floyd do?”

Bruce must have been listening to the early albums, so I now have Psychedelic boots. I call them the “Floydships”. Because there is a hologram of a spaceship on the heel, and when I look at them, I think of the song “Set the controls for the heart of the sun“.

This is my 3rd pair of Kohens. They all have distinctive personalities. Bruce’s work is wearable art. Here are all of them in a line reflecting the scorching Utah sun.

Why 3 pairs of boots?

Top Pair: The “Disco Snails”. My first pair of boots from Bruce. Scary fast on the ice, but Bruce did not “believe” that my toes were as weird as they were, so the forefoot fit was off. To use these I have to tighten the laces so much, as everyday boots my tendons get irritated. However I have skated my fastest 500m & 1000m races in these because of the toe ramps. I might end up one them again, they are scary fast.

The blades on here used to be Kreg Greer’s. I am sure they miss him. Kreg can actually SKATE short track. I just flounce around & try hard.

Middle Pair: The new “Floydships”, so far so good. They seem fast, light, and everyone notices the lace cover. Have not done a flying lap in them yet, so we shall see if they turn out “fast”. There is not a “toe” raise, it’s more “ball of the foot” raise.

Bottom Pair: The “Vader Kroners”. I wanted something black & shiny, and with a particular Norwegian Kroner embedded in the heel. These boots are incredibly comfortable, and are fantastic inline boots, and do distance long track ice very well. I set my 1500m, 3k, 5k, & 10k PB in these, and raced respectably well at the Napa Inline Marathon a few years back. (Photo link here)

However I discovered that the toe ramps on the Disco Snails made me faster, and the Vader Kroner’s have flat-oriented feet. Great for inline, not so great for ice sprinting.

Here is a detail on the heels, and the holograms that Bruce puts in there. You can really see the swirling Nautilus/Snail pattern, the Spaceship, and the Kroners quite clearly.

Although 3 pairs of boots might seem a lot, all 3 boots together is cheaper than a high end carbon fiber road racing bicycle, and given how much of my heart & soul have gone into speedskating, it is a worthwhile investment, and repaid with the joy I get from skating these amazing intersections of engineering and art.

Thanks Bruce!!

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

For both short track & long track, my blades are 17.5 inches long, and 1mm thick,

Measured on a flat surface, depending on the blend, both blades have only 50 to 70mm touching ice at any one time. They probably do sink into the ice a bit during a hard push, but still, the “balance point” is under 3 inches, and can be as little as 2.

All your weight, on one leg, projected thought that tiny spot, at high speeds.

It’s amazing we can even skate at all.. And it is why the balance & proprioceptive skills needed for ice speedskating are so demanding, and a true mind-warper to try and perfect.

Inlines are, of course, different.

It’s hard to measure these 4 contact points, as they are squishy urethane. But inline has it’s own unique challenges, and although not nearly as precise technically as ice, it’s still brutal when you try to excel, to be your best.

At once point I thought the balance point of a solid ice speedskating stroke was the hardest balance to achieve. Then I became a dad, now I am balancing:

• Fatherhood
• Being at least a passable husband.
• Work Work Work! Blogging about work is never smart. But I just wrote my own job title & description at work & things are thriving.
• Trying to still be an athlete of some sort.
• Blogging/Writing/Thinking

This must be the hardest balancing act for a person. I am sure the competitively minded are challenged by this balancing act frequently. Honestly the first thing to go has been blogging, then training takes a hit.

Although I need to stay at least physically active enough to keep what Winston Churchill called the “black dogs of depression” at bay.

Sometimes they bite at my heels, and that gets me out the door to the gym, or on the bike to turn the day around. Maybe I should thank them, they are an impulse, and can be fed, can become almost tamed. I rode them like a horse to all sorts of facinating places.

But it’s damm difficult to balance. I love my life right now but I have no time.

Time… Time… Olympic trials are 5 months from today.

Balance—- Balance—-

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

This is my 3rd time riding and writing about this 100+ mile ride. My first year I rode my brothers rusty Bianchi & had a blast, last year I had a flat very early in the ride, and had a hubris filled day..

This year I wanted to have a different experience. I wanted to see how fast I could ride the distance. But life has been challenging recently, and this koan came into my head as I spun to the start through cool 7am air.

You must learn how to ride, to learn how to ride.

There are so many ways to wrap the mind around this, and as several thousand people clipped into their bikes like a thousand single hands clapping, it made sense. How to ride? How many ways of knowing riding multiply into each other?

Low angle sun, cool, still air. Shadows & humming gears. I love these big organized group rides.

A mass century is not a competitive event. It’s not a race. But in a group this size, there are always people who want to ride the distance as hard & fast as they can. That infers a certain amount of drive & weight to the pack.

I wanted to be a part of that drive. To reach as far & hard as I can to see if I will crack. I call this fun.

My father has ridden so many organized centuries; I wanted to make him proud that his son can ride a fast one. I want to take that competitive part of me, and batter it into happy submission.

The front pack of several hundred was clipping along nicely at 25-27 mph in absolutely perfect conditions. No one fighting for position, just solid fast riding in the shadows of the Wasatch

I encounter a co-worker of mine in the lead pack. “R” has lost over 120 lbs and gone from 35% body fat to now about 13%. He is smiling and spinning the big ring. I admire his effort and accomplishment tremendously. He works harder than most Olympic hopeful speedskaters I know.

The miles clip on by. 40 miles seemed like a warmup. The first year I did this, I wrote that the pack reminded me of fish. I wish I had seen these jerseys then. This is a custom bike builder in Salt Lake. Fishlipz,

But the weird jersey, shorts, and logo winner has to be the DZ-Nuts folks. This is a saddle sore cream.

Some people peel off at the rest areas to eat. I munch an apple from my jersey pocket & keep riding. Maybe 100 people are still zipping along at 25mph most of the time, surging to 27-28 at times. I used to be a speedskater who raced bikes occasionally, but in the last 2 years, I seem to have turned myself into a cyclist who speedskates occasionally. I feel at home on the bike now.

We come to the Antelope Island Causeway. It’s an absolutely gorgeous, awe-inspiring place that if you ride across it, you will never forget.

This image does not do proper justice.

However, the Great Salt Lake does stink in places, this is one of them.

A breeze picks up from the fetid waters, echelons form, and people start riding very intensely. 27-29. 30, 31, back to 27. This is what is called fun? During my turn at the front I do 38 pedal strokes, one for each year of my life. I can be weird like that.

Near the Island itself. There seems to be pillars of faint smoke rising from the waters. No wait!! Those are not pillars. Those smoky tubes are millions of FLIES.

We ride right through several, people start yelling, “look down!” “close your mouth & breathe through your nose” “Yummy!”

Looking at the pavement, I see this living snowstorm pouring all around me. I am being pelted by millions of tiny bits of life, My arm hair is full of squirming bugs. One richochets around between my eyeball & glasses.

Gross.

We exit the causeway and hit the rolling hills of antelope island 75 strong & leave the flies behind. I follow several who are in a mood to big-ring the uphill rollers. This is not a race, it’s just how we roll, & it’s a good pace.

Leaning through turns, popping across the rollers, speed builds on speed. Dropping off the backside of the island onto the causeway again, there are only 7 of us left.

Sharing the work, we fly along. Spinning big gears. At my turns at the front, I take pedal strokes equal to how many years I want to live. 80, then 90. over and over.

We see big packs starting up the hills we are leaving.

No time to ask someone to take a picture of me. We are going way too fast. But this self-portrait is accurate to this moment. Not big pain, but using all the oxygen I can suck in. (and rocking my fat cyclist jersey ,the Jersey has a Clydesdale on it. Clydesdales are traditionally 200+ lb riders. I am seeing about 198 on the scale these days, do I still qualify? Maybe only after a big breakfast.).

There is a major rest stop 67 miles in. This is the one with the best food. Someone says we have been averaging 24.1 mph so far. 4 turn into get some food. 2 keep riding and urge me to come along. I hesitate.. Then U-turn back for some food.

Riders from many of the distances are collecting here. Bikes are everwhere.

I inhale oranges, bananas, stuff food in my pockets, refill bottles, This is the only break I take all day, and it’s less than 10 minutes.

Back on the bike. I am alone. Still able to turn a big gear, all my body knows how to do is go hard. I ride alone for 10 miles, before hooking up with one of the original 7, a nice fellow by the name of Mike

Going the other way, on a shorter route, I see an inline speedskater whipping out a pro-level double push (It’s Josh Wood). As I whip by, I see all sorts of faces I know in a blur of bikes. There are the Speed skaters out for a training day. I miss my friends.

Around mile 85 Mike and I are caught by 3 more of the original 7. Two of them are stupid strong. How about “WRONGSTRONG”.

The pace is now a steady 27mph. I pull when I can, but 3 of us are just passengers. Wrongstrong in action.

The miles zip by. Mike is dropped. My mind fixes on a gold ceramic bearing in a fat Cervelo, bottom bracket glintings in the sun in front of me. Metallic red rear derailleur cable housing.

Gears, driving legs. I am just starting at wheels. Suddenly it’s a hot day.

One of the Wrongstrongers says “hey those pills, this morning, they don’t do SHIT” really? Hmmmm… Probably they are just talking about electrolye replacements. These are talented guys though. No matter the pharmacology.

I hit a deep pothole and my right quadricep goes into spasm. Don’t get dropped… not… Now… no..

The last few miles, we travel faster than the first few of the ride.. Blur.. effort… Blur…

We dive through afternoon traffic, and suddenly its over. Pulling into the finish. Two guys who have computers start discussing the stats for the ride. 105 miles, 23.9 mph average, 4:39 time.

Wow… that is the fastest I have ever ridden for the longest. I’ve ridden farther, but never at this kind of speed.

Aftewards, I take advantage of the post-ride creamsicles and massage. Being one of the first to return has its advantages. As I am leaving I run into the speedskaters I saw earlier. Heather Richardson, Josh Wood, Derek Parra, Ryan Bedford. Chad Hedrick. Chad is a new dad as well, his daughter is 7 weeks old, and he is happy as a clam.

Life is good. I get a text message from jess. “Lunch with the Kraans, be there”. I earned my chocolate Éclair today.

You must learn how to ride, to learn how to ride.

So many layers to this idea, and like most Koans, the answer is not something you can explain, but after a long, fast ride, your intution tells you that you somehow understand it deeply.

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

In my last post, I said that my lack of writing here was due to focusing on my family. That is true, but I was skirting the real issue.

The truth is that Jessica has been terribly ill. Scary sick. Absolutely debilitating pain.

She was starting to get really sick when I wrote that post, and it has progressed so that the past several weeks have been some of the most awful either of us have ever experienced.

She is suffering from what the doctors call “Reactive Arthritis.”

In simple terms, she had an infection (we both got food poisoning about a six weeks ago, so that could have been it) and in the aftermath her immune system went haywire and attacked her own joints.

She has been in an incredible amount of pain, often unable to walk or use her hands, and the first drugs they gave her to treat it created a very bad skin reaction on top of her symptoms. Painkillers, even very strong ones, have provided minimal relief.

Jessica does not want any fuss made over her, that is not who she is. For a long time she did not want me to mention anything here (not that I had energy to do much but care for her & RZ). But this awfulness has caused us both to be very thankful for each other & our family/friends.

My beloved mother-out-law flew to Salt Lake a few days ago, and has been an amazing help. My own mom will come out & take over in a week.

Despite her illness, we feel so lucky our child is healthy. RZ is babbling & gurgling away happily, blissfully unaware of what is going on. She is a talker just like Dad.

The doctors say Jess will recover from this. It might be a few weeks, it might be six months, but eventually reactive arthritis does go away.

I can’t imagine how horrid this would be if she had something lifelong like this, or if it was terminal. My heart goes out to those who have had this experience. It is so awful.

Yes, I still sneak away to the rink now & then. And when I am there, I fully immerse myself in Speedskating, sinking into the baptism of focus that is such an essential part of the sport; to forget, to renew my spirit, to remind myself of health & what it feels like.

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Filed under: from the coffee shop