Zen and the Art of Speedskating

I like this picture, the only thing truly in focus is the sky, and drops of high quality Puerto Rican coffee oils floating in the sky.

no matter what the cup says, this is not really a big glass of chocolate, but that is an intriguing possibility.

I’ve been quiet on the blog, deepest apologies….

I’ve been just about 20% sick, 20% overworked, 20% training-tired, 40% overwhelmed with housework, and pushed over the emotional edge by some recent entries on one of the best blogs I’ve ever read.

The Fat Cyclist has won several awards, inspired a lot of people, and his recent entry Dandelion Seeds is the only time in my life I have openly wept reading something online.

And it’s going get worse, be worse, and not get any better…

It’s one of those situations where it would be so comforting to be able to say/write to someone “I’m praying for you“, because that is the exact sentiment needed; an appeal to the cruel wheels of time & fate.

But if you don’t believe in prayer, what do you say? to them, or to yourself if you were in their shoes?

What do you do when all you have is that reflection of oil & sky in coffee-multiplied alertness?

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Filed under: from home

Is this blog about speedskating? Or about something else? Sometimes I don’t honestly know, life takes you along for the ride. Sometimes you drive, sometimes it drives you.

But I do know that the driving forces in my life are going to converge with another force that will overpower all.

People are constantly asking me how Jessica is doing… In a few days she will be at 4 months, her energy yo-yos up & down, but she feels great & is slowly starting to look pregnant.

But ultrasound photos are what really blows me away-

There are the beginnings of a face there (with my forehead?) and it’s trying to suck it’s thumb. There is a real person there; I can’t wait to meet him/her. Its funny how we all started out like this, every one of us.

But life goes on, no matter this huge looming change (do I hear the soundtrack from 2001: A space odyssey, playing off in the distance somewhere)?

If I ever change the name of this blog to “Zen & the Art of Diaper Changing” then all my speedskating friends are permitted to have a good laugh & I will be truly lost to the sport.

But I can’t image that fully happening. To lose out on endorphin-addled grins like this one, taken tonight as I pedaled home from a bike race, would be just awful-

And I would lose something that I want to share with my future kid. Not necessarily cycling or skating, or even competition, but that essential something about an active, physical life.

Besides, isn’t a happy parent a good one? Doesn’t having one’s own passions & happiness also make one a more effective role model (me? Role model? The world is in trouble!).

Here is another weird camera phone pic after the race. Lots of strange details in this shot

1. Fellow-skater/biker Inacio Lopez, incredibly happy after his strong 2nd place finish a few moments before-

2. Some looming clouds, about to rain on us-
3. The strange curves of my carbon fibre bike, the number plate affixed to the seat post-
4. smeared on my rear brake, a glob of human spit, or snot, or some other biological substance. I can’t tell exactly what it was-
   I don’t know if it’s mine or someone else’s. But I found this quite funny-

Somehow, just from riding my bike to & from work, and doing a regular lunch hour ride with some extremely fast folks I work with, I’ve found myself a bike racer again.

It’s a fun sport, a bit dicey at times. There was a moment during the race, as the 40 person pack was tightening onto itself at high speed & folks were jockeying for position, I blurted out to a friend: “wow, I’m used to having a lane all to myself, all these people are freaking me out”.

Over the hiss of tires & wirr of gears, I heard a lot of good-natured chuckling at that. I bet a short tracker would have felt safer than normal.

I know my friend Kirk threw away his rock climbing shoes the day his first son was born, and as I respect Kirk tremendously, I have thought a lot about what that means.

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Filed under: baby stuff

Training monotony is something to be avoided like the plague, both in the body & the soul, as doing the same thing all the time leads to stagnation.

So just for giggles, I showed up at an “Alleycat” sprint race on my track bike. These are urban races that sprint the full length of a city block from a standing start. I was racing with the same bunch of biking neo-beatniks I filmed during the Salt City Sprints

Some of these urban riders are quite quick off the line, and there was a smattering of true bike racers as well, including fellow speedskater Inacio Lopez.

The bikes ranged from titanium & velodrome worthy rides, to things scrounged from dumpsters & rattle can painted.

I had good sprint legs this day, and ended up winning $30 for first place of the 30-ish riders, plus as much beer as I could drink at the after-party at the W Lounge (2 PBR’s was all I could down & still manage to bike home safely).

In addition to the sprints, they also had a fun event, called “foot down”, where the spectators form a ring, and the cyclists circle like sharks within the ring, and try to knock each other off their bikes.

The spectators slowly contract the ring during the event, and as I said, it’s low key fun, note the fellow drinking a beer during this-

My aluminum track bike is similar structurally to the beer can this fellow has in his hand, so I skipped this part of the competition.

However it got me thinking, imagine a short track event, maybe a relay, where the spectators are on the ice, creating an ever shrinking circle pad barrier. Contact would be natural!

It would eventually become just one long, endless corner pivot, punctuated by the thud of bodies into the pads.

If that does not attract the attention of ESPN, I am not sure what would (half naked, fur-wearing cheerleaders?)

It is one of the true mysteries in sports that short track is not all over American television, as it has EVERYTHING Americans love about sports….

Oh yeah, maybe if we did it in WWF masks, or in Speedos, or…..

P.S.SaltCycle blogger Blaue Reiter wrote about this event, and called me a “heap-big speedskater and general cool dude” in his post.. That made my day… Yeah!

Again, this was just a lot of low-key fun.

18 Comments »
Filed under: from home

I have been chatting with Tom DiNardo via email- Tom is a photographer, and he directed me to some AMAZING galleries that he took of the North American Longtrack Speedskating Championships that occurred February 8th-9th & 10th.

For example, here is Kreg Greer warming up:

I love photos like this, where you can clearly see the light coming in under the front half of Kreg’s right blade, it shows exactly where his weight is driving through.

There are a lot of Canadians in this gallery, including Nicole Garrido, who I met 6 years ago in Calgary, she was just a kid then, now she is a cruise missile of Canadian national team speed.

Connor Slivocka, another young skater whom, every time I see him, seems to be an inch taller & 10 lbs bigger.

Here is a wild Panorama, of Canadian Kerry Simpson, (we think) crashing. Click on it for the big version.

I’m not sure who this is, but wow… that’s some nice 500m corner form.

Here is Tom’s homepage and the direct link to his North American Longtrack Speedskating Championships Galleries

Tom has tried to organize his galleries by skater, so if you competed there, check it out. Here are the skaters he has identified, and has multiple shots of:

Midway Speedskating Club - Women
Midway Speedskating Club - Men
Puget Sound - Non-Race
Saratoga Speedskating Club
Sault Speedskating Club
Askervold, Thorston
Belanger, J-R
Belchos, Jordan
Bergeron, Stephanie
Bernhard, Nathan
Berriault, Tobey
Blouin, Vincent
Boutin, Michele
Bucsis, Anastasia
Cribb, Evan
Dankers, Arne
Duffeld, Kelsey
Dutton, Will
Dyrud, Rebecca
Gendron, Kyle
Garant, Alexandre
Garrido, Nicole
Gladys, Timothy
Gregg, Sarah
Greer, Kreg
Goplen, Nick
Gozinsky, Marcin
Growden, Dan
Haire, Marty
Han, Jimmy
Hambly, Lisa
Hawke, Erica
Henry, Elyce
Hill, Jackson
Huot, Veronique
Jackowniak, Steve
Jeong, Clare
Johnson, Andrea
Kemp, Jennessa
Kitura, Jeff
Kriek, Ricky
Kryski, Eric
Kury, Tim
Lanser, Erica
Lapointe, Sabrina
Lay, Kirsti
Lee, David
Lewis, James
L’Heureux, Justine
Makowsky, Mykola
Marsh, Pat
Martel, Peter
Maunder, Justin
McCabe, Adam
Nam, Julia
Ouardi, Muncef
Parrot, Kyle
Phillips, Crystal
Plummer, Matt
Queen, Amanda
Riopel, Phil
Sadlier, Aaron
Savard, Mireille
Sibold, Shannon
Simpson, Kerry
Spencer, Haley
Stinson, Fraser
Starke, Alister
Sugden, Lynn
Sugden, Scott
Sulzer, Keith
Tutt, Breanne
Waples, Stephan
Zettler, Spencer

5 Comments »
Filed under: from the coffee shop

So I am riding my bike to work on one of those huge, open, Salt Lake roads that has room for 4 lanes + turn lane + parking + ample bike lanes.

a minivan darts through an opening in traffic, AND ALMOST RUNS ME OVER!!!

I barely have time to grab my brakes, as the minvan flashes by a mere foot in front of my wheel, -they are turning into a gas station.

My heart is jumping & twisting like a fish on a hook. After a few seconds to collect myself, I turn into the gas station after them.

These idiots are driving through the gas station, using it as a shortcut to get to a different road!!

Traffic is brisk, and they are stopped at the exit. I roll up behind them, angling towards the drivers side window….

Suddenly traffic clears and the minivan rolls forward. I am about to put my fist through their back window, but at the last second remember that is a really bad idea (for my hand, I don’t care about their window) so I do a loud open palmed thwack, and let loose with a stream of All-American obscenities at the top of my lungs (and I can be LOUD when neccesary).

Usually, confronting a 3,300 pound Plymouth Voyager while riding a 19 pound Bianchi is a VERY bad idea, but with a gas station full of people sympathetically watching, it’s a bit safer.

The minivan spins it’s wheels, & zips away with the driver giving me the finger.

I continue back on my commute, wobbly, angry, sick to my stomach, wondering if I did the right thing, and with a wild new feeling mixed in, that my life is not just about my life anymore…

32 Comments »
Filed under: on the road