Speed Skate World- By Peter Doucet- Online Since 1999

Monday: Good Monday to you.

Time is short, I am in the middle of the teacher-feared report-card writing time.

If there are few updates on my site, well, now you know the reason why.

I'm trying to train as best as I can and, well, trying to avoid the cupboards of cookies and freezers filled with ice cream sandwiches at the school where I work.

Zen's LT World Masters: Andrew Love provided some excellent coverage of the World Master Long Track Speed Skating Championships- see his posts (in order); Preamble, Masters Worlds, Day 1, Masters Worlds- Day 2, and Masters Worlds, Day 3.

These reports are rich with details- funny and inspiring, historical and informational... I can't even begin to capture the breadth of what Andrew Love wrote.

'I wonder if wind-tunnel tests could show an optimal way for an individual like Sylvia to arrange her hair for maximum aerodynamic benefit. '- photo and caption from Andrew Love

'Any day is a good day when you are at an indoor oval, and chatting with fellas like Ragnvald Naess. He is as warm as his smile indicates. Click on this image of him to see a larger version, & so you can see all the detail of the amazing patches on his jacket. He has skated all over the world, and has patches on this jacket from everywhere'- photo and caption from Andrew Love

'There were no official warmup-warmdown bikes at the rink. But there was an area you could set up your own, and if you put a bike there, the honor code said it was 'available for everyone'. For example- here is Russian Sergej Avdejev on a Swiss bike'- photo and caption from Andrew Love

At the end, he wrote 'The closing banquet starts in a few hours-

I will apply one of my life rules tonight, and drink joyously with Italians, Russians, Norwegians, and every other nation that shared this.

I will refill my wine glass repeatedly until I clearly understand every word the Italians with their hands.'.

Thunder Bay Skate For MS: The Inline Skate for MS will be taking place in Thunder Bay on July 27th. You can find some information here, a PDF here, and registration here.

Time Management For Cyclists: I've been following the Fat Cyclist blog for some time, but I lost touch in the last few months. Here's a great post that a friend sent me; Time Management for Cyclists. You can find the whole article here.

REL News: Plenty of good stuff coming from Roller En Ligne today- click here for results from the Lille French Inline Cup... whoooa, hold on. Results already? Oh man. I feel like a big potato right now, sitting in front of the computer in non-race shape while these people in France are racing around the streets. They probably have to dodge palm trees and animals that live in the tropical heat... Am I wrong about that? Probably.

The World Long Track Speed Skating Championships are coming soon to a Nagano near you. REL is reporting that Tristan Loy will be the only French skater present.

Tristan Loy- photo from Roller En Ligne
And how about this; plans to cover the Valence d'Agen track.

Tampa Names: I like this name-dropping post; These are just some of the Elite Skaters racing in Tampa This year...; '...JOEY MANTIA! Anthony Lobello Harry Vogal Kalon Dobbin Stephan Carter Michael Cheeks Justin Stelly Willaim Bowen Kevin Quandt Dallas Hebert Nelson Garzan Andres Munoz Emily Scott Ceciala Beana Briana Kramer...and the list goes on...'.

USARS Mag: Here's a thread that has grown with lots of comments. It will give some USA perspective of how big the speed discipline is in the United States; USARS Magazine- Snow Problem write 'Fish nets and black lips sells...
Like it or not that's where the $$$$ is.

5,583 members - Roller derby
2,188 members - Artistic
1,992 members - Speed (we are low man on the totem pole here...)

I couldn't find hockey, but then I was in a hurry....

It's all about the $$$$$$$$$$ Roller Derby brings it! '.

PS News Plug: This is a plug for the Powerslide, Racing, News, Core, Matter daily facts- they're putting all sorts of fun and interesting little snippets or history as daily facts. I was doubtful that they would keep up their daily facts this long when I first read about them last year, but they proved my scepticism wrong.