Canadian Peter Doucet provides a look into the world of speed skating. Online since March 1999, Speed Skate World (used to Peter's Inline Racing Web Page) provides the skating world with results, photos, news, gossip, and just plain fun! Contact Peter Doucet at shaloheat@hotmail.com
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Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wheel Anti Reverse Technology
Wheel Anti Reverse Technology: Recently, I had the opportunity to test Bruce Honaker's Wheel Anti Reverse Technology. The technology prevents wheels from rolling back. It is fairly simple, extremely light, and not intrusive.
I know there are a lot of sceptics who think that the applications for Bruce's system are limited. This could be true for advanced skaters. However, I think that in the broader sense of inline and roller skating, the wheel anti reverse technology has some important applications.
For example, the wheel anti reverse technology could prevent wheels from rolling back during a 300-meter start. Emerging and new skaters will benefit because they won't be able to push backwards while they are skating. This encourages a more efficient side-ways push. This doesn't apply beyond certain speeds though because skaters can't move their legs back fast enough for the system to engage.
Another very good application is that new and emerging skaters will not roll backwards down a hill. Rolling backwards down a hill is not something that concerns me, but when I taught a group of beginner skaters in a parking lot last year, over half of the 16 skaters struggled with the slight inclines, especially the ones that led to the sewer grates! How great would it be to watch one of my skaters roll into the grate?! Not at all (heheh I know you like my play on words here).
I recently read a thread on the PlanetForum: Peter's video review. I am going to selectively quote what's been written (you can go to the post and read for yourself): ' wish my brother had this option last year when I was teaching him how to skate. Unfortunately he fell and broke his elbow and no more skating for him '.
I made a video outlining some of the strengths of the technology- If you'd like to see the video , click here or press play below-
This Weekend- RSO & Quebec Cup, Dutch Videos, Growing The Sport, Reports (The Great Race & Detroit, & Israel), Training For The 100k, Ask Bill Begg
This Weekend- RSO & Quebec Cup: This weekend marks the first races for both the Roller Sports Ontario Outdoor Speed Series and the Quebec Cup. The RSO will take place in Aylmer (near Ottawa) on June 2nd and the Quebec Cup will take place on Montreal- about 1 1/2 hours from Ottawa, on June 3rd. I'll be there at both events, so there's a good chance that SSW will be silent over the weekend.
This is a very important weekend in the USA- the outdoor nationals are taking place. The races begin Friday- click here for the race schedule. I'm sure that you'll find plenty of updates if you scour the message boards.
You might notice the Quebec Cup ad on my site. I am trying to generate some income from the website- seeing that I put about 3-4 hours of work per day on the site, I don't think it's unreasonable. I'll be having a fundraising drive a little later on in June to help for the Pan Am Games and the World Championships. More on this later. For now, I just want to thank those who have supported me and my site Speed Skate World.
Goelo FIC Pics: click here for a whole bunch of photos from the Goelo French Inline Cup posted by Roller En Ligne.
Reports (The Great Race, Detroit, & Israel): Click here to read up on what went down at the Great Race 1/2 Marathon last Monday. You can even find some pictures by clicking here.
It's true! There's a flying dog in the pictures- look above the skater on the right... weird... really really weird...
Training For The 100k: The New York 100k is fast approaching- it's set for September 29th. I'll be there accepting money that you want to give me. The race is a monster of an event to tackle and there might be some advice you're looking for/ needing in Training plan for 100k wanted. See you there...ugh.
Colombian World Team: Going into the final day of the trials for the Colombian world team, Bill Begg writes 'Most of the seniors have been announced, Rosero, Garzon, Cifuentes & Rivera Distance, Caicedo, Puello, Moreno ladies Sprint & Vivas, Martinez & Mendez distance.
Conzalez, Prada & Orozco, all locked in an 8 pts equal battle for the one seniot T/T position'. Click here for more.
Results- Handi Glob'roller & Haulerwijk: Click here and here for results from the Handi Glob'roller (France).
For a report on the Van Lingen wedstrijd Haulerwijk (Netherlands), click here. If you'd like to see pictures from the event, click here and you can find the album.
Wolverine Detroit Marathon Pics, FIC Goelo Roller Nature Results, Vorden & ' T Veld WoW, The Great Race 1/2 Marathon
Wolverine Detroit Marathon Pics: A couple of photo galleries have emerged from the Wolverine Inline Marathon. Click here for the Wolverone Sports Club's photos and click here for ms3675's pictures.
Maybe this picture will convince you that it was raining?! Danny Fredericks finishes in front of Jilleanne Rookard and Morgan Williams- photo from Wolverone Sports Club
Great Race (Elkhart) Report, CDS Dave's Detroit Pictures, Colombia Selection Races, Eric's Gee's Sweet RSO/ Pan Am Trials Photos
Great Race (Elkhart) Report: I'll keep this one quick; I am headed home home. It was wet and rainy for the 10k, thanks to Glenn Koshi for taking the pictures. The men's race was decided in a 4-skater sprint, Peter S. edged me out for the win. Herb Gayle placed 3rd. Women's race; Helen Havam won, keeping in touch with the lead group. Huge thanks to Glenn Koshi (Bont, EZ Fit) for taking pictures. I'll load up all the pictures tomorrow. A few of them for you below;
Men 10k 1- Peter Starykowicz (TUsa) 2- Peter Doucet 3- Herb Gayle (Team Aloe Up) 4- Mike Anderson (Bont) 5- Bobby Piedra (Bont)
Women 10k 1- Helen Havam 2- Rebecca George 3- Mechele Bubsy
I know very little about Elkhart. When you come off the highway, it looks like one of those cheezy places with all sorts of plastic/ new/ franchised places that looks like every highway stop, but when you drive into Elkhart, it seems as if there's a rich history, with old houses, buildings, monuments, etc.
Race director Greg Major kept things running
That's me leading the first lap. My plan was to skate agressively for the fist half of the race, and then relax and leave the race up to a final sprint
Sean Bratton in 1st while 3rd place Bob Harwell follows- I'm not sure who's in 2nd in this group
Bont's Mike Anderson in charge out in the front of the race
It was a really close finish between TUsa's Peter Starykowicz and I. He ended up having the better sprint...by a few wheels ;) It was nice to race him and face him off in this race
Bont in the house- it was nice to see them out supporting this great weekend of racing; left to right are Mike Anderson, Bobby Piedra, Mechele Bubsy, and Helen Havam
Greg Major interviews women's 2nd place finisher Rebecca George
CDS Dave's Detroit Pictures: If you'd like to find a couple of videos from cdsdave, the click here and click here (best one legged racer...Danny Fredericks and I saw him scootering to the finish line while we were going back to our cars. When we saw him, he still had few km's to scooter on one leg! gutsy, guuutsy)!
Before the start of the Wolverine Inline Marathon- photo from Detroit Skate
Start line at the Wolverine Inline Marathon- photo from Detroit Skate
FYI- last minute addition; according to some posts in Colombian World Trials, some Colombian skaters were not allowed to participate in the Colombian trials; read it over; Bill Begg writes 'Not guilty of Doping, but healthlevels a concern, as well as question over why levels so high'. Click here to read the official announcement (in Spanish).
Eric's Gee's Sweet RSO/ Pan Am Trials Photos: I think I said before that Eric Gee was on hand taking pictures at last week's RSO Outdoor Speed Championships/ Canadian Pan American Games trials. Eric has posted just under 300 photos, and to be honest with you, I think they are beautiful pictures. They are a must-see!
Sarah 'the sponge' Hopkins leads Morgane 'the mouse' Echardour, Pascale Messier, and Dominique Lalonde- photo from Eric Gee - EGCSkates.com
Little Paisley Perrie out in front in the juvenile girls category- behind her are Bailin Xie and Liz Perrie- photo from Eric Gee - EGCSkates.com
Martine Charbonneau (in the blue) almost goes down at the end of the 500-meter sprint close to Sarah Hopkins- photo from Eric Gee - EGCSkates.com
Pure joy; the moment that Brian Jalbert earns a spot on the Canadian Pan American Games team, and in true style by winning the 500-meter sprint- photo from Eric Gee - EGCSkates.com
Paisley Perrie and Bailin Xie race to the line for the point in their points race. Perrie won the race- photo from Eric Gee - EGCSkates.com
Detroit's Wolverine Marathon Report, USARS News, Publow In Toronto, Inline Planet Tip On Weight Training
Detroit's Wolverine Marathon Report: Hello everyone! I am somewhere in Michigan at an Indian restaurant right now enjoying some chicken tikka, samosas, and some kind of fresh juice that I am unable to describe. I've got time to kill since I am en-route to Elkhart for the 10k tomorrow morning.
I'm sure you're waiting and waiting to hear about what went down at the Wolverine Marathon Report. Well, I'll tell you; rain, rain, and more rain; lots of rain! Frankly, I was surprised to see the good turnout of skaters that braved the rain, wind, and cold. I was even more surprised to really feel everyone's enthusiasm! Everyone was positive, in a good mood, and wanting to skate in the rain! I really enjoyed the fact that everyone was friendly and saying hi and cheering each other on during the marathon and half marathon.
I left my house at 3am and arrived at Belle Isle in Detroit with enough time to say hi to a few friends, warm up, and start the race (FYI Herb Gayle and Ryczard Adamczyk left Toronto at 1am-ish!). There was a good number of skaters who came from out of town, including a strong contingent from Toronto, Chicago, and even Florida! Inline skaters are hard core bunch, let me tell ya!
I won't go much into the race details because I prefer to spend my time uploading the photos and making a video. I think the pictures and the video will do a better job communicating my (and a few others') experiences than what I can write.
Just before we go on, I just wanted to say that I was impressed on a few skaters and how strong they were, in particular Peter Starykowicz, Mike Anderson, Jillianne Rookard, and Helen Havam. There were some really really exciting group sprints, and everyone in each bunch sprint was really going for it right to the line (and beyond for a few)! Danny Fredericks (sp?) looked really strong, and he's a really nice guy! A few of us were shiverring in the pouring rain after we finished our race, but we stayed near the finish line to cheer and watch the sprints.
42km Overall (results are approximate) 1- Peter Doucet 2- Peter Starykowicz 3- Mike Anderson 4- Danny Fredericks 5- Jilleanne Rookard 6- Morgan Williams 7- Bobby Piedra 8- Helen Havam 9- Herb Gayle
EDIT: Toronto-area skaters faired quite well, with Ryczard Adamczyk placing 3rd overall in the half marathon, Ed Leung and Stephen Fischer winning this age groups in the full marathon, Sarah Hopkins placing 4th in the women's marathon, and of course yours trule (that's me) chalking up a win!
Before I you check out a couple of pictures, I'll first put up my video- click here or press play below to view- I think that the end of the video is very funny. It's worth watching to listen to the story that Herb Gayle tells. Herb's a great story teller!
Skating friends gather up for a blurry/ wet picture before the start
From Florida (Lenny Wilcox) and from Toronto (Sarah Hopkins)
Top-3 42km overall women and men (Helen Havam, Jilleanne Rookard, Mechele Bubsy, Mike Anderson, myself, and Peter Starykowicz)
They all came from Toronto (and surroundings) at different times- Ed Leung, Munro Foster, Morgan Williams, Herb Gayle, and Sarah Hopkins. A few Toronto-ites are missing including Stephen Fischer and Ryczard Adamczyk
Bont in Detroit- Glenn Koshi and Michelle Bubsy (sp?)- many of us took some time to check out the Bont boots, but the real hot-ticket was the ultra cheap bearings that Glenn Koshi was selling. He'll be in Eklhart tomorrow
The mighty GM tower disappears into the Detroit clouds
USARS News: For a list of registered athlete-team sponsors, click here. There's a little bit more information on the USA Panamerican Games trials, which are takig place in conjunction with the USARS outdoor nationals.
Publow In Toronto: Barry Publow will be running a SpeedCamp in Toronto June 8-10. Click here for more details.
World Entries, France Road Champs Photos, Doucet (That's Me!) Heart, Asturias Championships, Swiss Championships
...and hello SSW fans, it's kind of you to drop in and say hi ;)
Whatever your plans are this weekend, make sure you enjoy it amap (that means as much as possible). I am headed to Detroit for the Wolverine Inline Marathon and perhaps to Elkhart on Sunday for The Great Race. A few friends from Toronto will be there as well. I really really (really again) hope that it doesn't rain.
This entry will finish the catch-up from the last weekend, but first on to more recent news-
World Entries: If you like to look at flags AND also you like to know which contries are going to be at this August's world championships in Cali, Colombia, then click here
France Road Champs Photos: This set of 200 photos of the France road championships from francois_and_marie is fantastic- I find that looking at them is like eating chocolate; it's too good and delicious!
Doucet (That's Me!) Heart: In his most recent entry called Doucet Heart, Andrew Love examines the physical, psychological, and emotional components of training, racing, & sport.
Asturias Championships: Mundo Patin has posted the results as well as photos from day 1, day 2, and day 3 from the Asturias Championships.
Mundo Patin has also put up a video from the competition; Click here or press play below- (it's got a pretty funky tune- do da da da do dum dum, do da da da do dum dum, do da da da do dum dum...
