Zen and the Art of Speedskating

One moment– Riders being called to the start line for a race about a week ago.

I did not realize this when I shot the picture, but think the fellow on the left is longtime speedskater/bike racer Mark Chrysler, who was a regular at the summer training crits.

I mostly did local training races, and when I tallied it up, I was surprised to find I had raced 20 times this summer and consistently placed very well. I did not think I would be fast this year at all.

Also it was very satisfying to feel part of the “bike trash” racing culture again for the first time since I got serious about skating 7 seasons ago.

Cyclists are certainly a different crowd than speedskaters, but the bike season is over, ice racing is here, and now I have several painful months of converting bike muscles to “static position skate muscles” (going from skate to bike is so much easier).

Last year I PBed in every distance but the 500 & 1000, let’s see what happens this year. I think I have a shot at a 1500 PB, maybe a 3k on a fast ice day, but probably no others.

Of course, I might have other priorities overwhelm my time. 1998 US olympic trials champ, and new dad Cory Carpenter recently joked with me & said “just sell your bike, you won’t be riding much for a while”.

However if it means I will end up with a kid as cute as Cory’s, then I will let go of the bike with a resigned smile, and the skates with a few fond tears.

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

How does that catchy country song go?

‘Cause I’ve got friends in cold places
Where the snow howls
And hard ice chases my blues away
were I glide all day
I’m not big on frowning faces
So it’s time for those Lake Placid races!
Oh, I’ve got friends in cold places

Hmm, maybe that’s not that song goes.. But I miss Placid, like every skater misses that special hometown rink. It’s just that Placid (and Roseville) take a special something to skate there. Especially a sense of humor.

Here is a picture I took, during warmups before a race, maybe 5 years ago.

I’d love to make it out there to skate this year, but I don’t think I can.

They just released the Placid race schedule, here it is.

December 12th: Opening day (if it’s cold enough)

December 20th-21st: Dimon Sports Marathon

Late December: the break between Xmas & New years is the traditional Connecticut speedskating camp. A wonderful camp, that got me started many years ago.

January 3rd-4th Charles Jewtraw all-around

January 17th-18th: Jack Shea Sprints

What you see below is not a picture I took; this is the lake placid oval web cam, right now!!

Oh I’ve got friends, in cold places…

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

When terrible things happen, rumors fly, and there was an awful crash at the oval a few days ago. So the rumor mill is running at full speed, and on top of that, I am sure there are some in the skate tribe who have not heard.

I was not on the ice that morning, but I spoke to several who were, and Liam’s mom, so here is the latest.

Three days ago, a Canadian sprinter was doing an all out effort. At top speed he slipped, fell, and slid into a group of American skaters. Liam Ortega’s legs were taken out from under him, and he smacked the back of his head into the ice, cracking his skull behind his ear and bruising the front & back of his brain from the severity of the impact.

He was still unconscious when the ambulance took him from the rink. He woke up in the ambulance, but then went into seizures. They took him via helicopter to the top intensive care unit in Salt Lake. If not for ventilators breathing for him, he probably would have died that first day.

Yes, it was that bad.

But since that first, awful day, Liam has improved tremendously, is breathing on his own, and now is awake, eating, and alert. Despite the severity of the impact, the doctors give him a prognosis of total recovery in 6-8 weeks.

His friends and teammates have all rallied around him, and his mom is down here from Alaska, but it’s going to be a long, hard road.

But Liam is unbelievably strong; here he is on another hard road- the climb up Haleakala in Hawaii, where you start at the ocean, and reach 10,000 feet after 37 miles of climbing.

Liam’s mom Kate told me they had to recalibrate the machines in the Intensive care unit, He is so fit, and his heart rate so low, he kept setting off all the alarms.

Liam, I am tearing up writing this. Get well soon, ok?

You are in our thoughts & prayers.

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

I just got a semi-nasty comment on the last post, but I took it seriously, and spent as much time writing a reply comment as I do writing some posts.

So it’s worth republishing, and the discussion that might spin off from this could be interesting-

anyway, here is what Eddy “the cannibal” wrote:

Andrew why do you say “just for giggles” you decided to come out to the sprints on sunday??? We are glad you came because you rocked…and you help set the bar for people to ride faster

I mean you won, and it wasn’t by any short length, no one will contest that. However, we cheered you on to victory just like anyone else if they had won. You obviously have an aura of perfection about you by the way you glance and glare at certain “neo-beatniks” as you say while at an event. I think you are also numb to any kind of praise….

Is it possible you might be taking yourself a little too seriously here?? I detect some elitist bones in your body….There were two riders who usually come to the sprints but didn’t show up who are excpetionally fast, much like yourself.

i’m sure it would have been closer if they were there. It might have been a more enjoyable race for you to have some actual competition….and you wouldn’t feel like you were a god amongst men

I took this seriously, because his note got me thinking…. So here is my reply-

hey Eddy,

All this said, I had an absolute blast at the event, and I look forward to talking to you when I am back…

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Filed under: from the coffee shop

“I believe sports is one of the best places you can learn about yourself,” Ohno said. “Sports puts you head-to-head with the demons you face, and you have to deal with it — right then and there.”

Apollo Ohno

This is from a speech Apollo recently gave at the University of Arkansas

and he is absolutely right…..

I did my first bike race in about 4 years on teusday (on the evening of my close encounter with that car) and although bike racing is certainly a very hard sport, and FAR more dangerous than long track, the nature of the Demons speedskaters face are unique, and in my own experience, nastier….

(of course, I never was able to dream about being anything other than an average cyclist, on the skates, it’s different for me.

So maybe the size of the demons correlates directly to the size of one’s dreams)

Opinions?

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Filed under: Quotes, from the coffee shop