Montreal, Canada - A gloriously sunny Saturday afternoon whetted my appetite for the Sunday morning's 42km roll through the streets of Quebec’s most cosmopolitan city.

On race day, I drove with Xavier Raclin towards a location between the start and finish lines. As we skated towards the starting line, I was greeted by many of my Roller-Montreal cronies from north of the border along with some friends from Victoriaville, New York and Toronto. Many are pictured below. The local skate club is always well represented at  local skating events. In addition to the Festival de la Sante, Roller-Montreal brought the 24-hour Roller Marathon to North America in July. Furthermore, many skaters also participate in the 80 mile endurance classic around the island of Montreal known as the Defi.

After exchanging handshakes and pleasantries, it was time for the race to begin at 8:15am. As the start gun was fired, several riflemen also shot their guns to get the festivities started (see picture below).

Once again, the majestic Jacques Cartier bridge served as our starting point. This year however, it was from the main section of the bridge, which towered over the St. Lawrence River. Right from the beginning, skaters had to negotiate the downhill slope of the bridge, sharply turn in front of a crowd of onlookers and then traverse a curving, downhill exit ramp that was capped by a long hairpin turn at the bottom. However, no early morning downpour to worry about this year as in 2003. Everyone knew about Montreal’s tar snakes. They bit you if you weren’t paying attention. But to be honest, the snakes weren’t as much of a nuisance as I had remembered in previous years.

Much of the improved skating conditions can probably be attributed to significant course changes that took us on smoother pavement, and arguably, along a more scenic route. Skaters hit the traditional points of interest, including the Technoparc, Parc Jean Drapeau, Parc Angrinon, the Old Port, and Chinatown. Connecting all these points resulted in a very serpentine course. In fact, this was probably the most technical course I’d ever skated, with ample opportunities for both right and left crossovers in close succession. I recall the Disney World Marathon had a few twists and turns, but nothing like today.

As I exited the Technoparc, a strong group of about 8-10 skaters, including Marcel LaFontaine, Bernard Doth, Benoit St. Jermain, and Pierre Pauw, were in my draft. Cruising through the open expanse of the Gilles Villenueve Grand Prix Circuit evoked wonderful memories of the 24-hour Roller Marathon.

By the time we were on Pierre Dupay heading towards downtown Montreal, our pack had dwindled to three skaters because others had made a break or were temporarily broken (caused by a fall on a loosely held metal plate). Fortunately, no one I knew was seriously injured because they later caught our pack.

As we headed back towards the main island, the number of 90 degree turns in this course quickly became evident. Good thing I worked on those crossovers. Marcel and I skated in a pack of 5 or so along Rue St. Patrick until we merged with our earlier pack of skaters. I looked back after making a turn and saw about 15 skaters trailing me.

A very pleasant surprise was skating through Parc Angrinon. The entry to the park was not yet complete, but the roads were smooth as a baby’s bottom, with newly laid asphalt greeting the skaters. I gladly took this pull. Maybe by next year, they’ll renovate the main parking lot also and completely eliminate all road hazards in the park. Hopefully, they'll work on some of the down streets and exit ramps also.

The last 2 km consisted of two hill climbs on Rue St. Laurent and Rue Berri. Because of the course change, the St. Laurent hill climb was a bit longer since it started by Montreal’s Old Port. Thanks to plenty of hill training in beautiful Burlington, Vermont, which is destined to be a weekend excursion favorite on Roller-Montreal’s 2005 calendar, these hills were conquered with some energy to spare.

As we hit the last 1km toward Parc LaFontaine, Marcel and I picked up the pace and sprinted into one of the best finish line areas in the inline skating circuit. Not quite the jackrabbit on skates he normally is, Marcel showed incredible toughness by skating this marathon with a recovering ribcage muscle injury.

After the race, I was greeted by a few more Roller-Montreal cronies and others in my skating circle, including John Dimon. I also ran into Festival de la Sante winner, Eddy Matzger, outside LaFontaine Park, and had a pleasant discussion about today’s race as well some of his upcoming events. The list would include the Northshore Inline Marathon and his 2 signature long-distance events, the New York 100K and 87-mile A2A race.

I also met Ottawa’s Adrian Loewen, who anchored our Vermontario team to a 2nd place finish at the 24-hour Roller Marathon. Possessing one of the most effortless skating motions on the circuit, Adrian was with the lead pack for most of today’s race and finished only farctions of a second from 4th place.

The new course was well received by most of the skaters. However, in some places, with the left and right turns coming so quickly, it was not always clear where to turn. Nevertheless, my experience going through the course was much more enjoyable this year. This event continues to be one of the most scenic inline skating races with very strong spectator support throughout the course. It should continue to grow in popularity in the inline skating community.
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Back of skating contingent meets the front of the running contingent	Ms. Nefit (Julie Robert), Jonathan Royer, Frederic Rouette relaxed before the start	Vincent Bellemare (147) and Xavier Raclin along with some other skating clubs
Skaters bunch closer to the start line	Pan Lau is always in a good mood	Guy, Bernard Doth, and Benoit exhibit the Roller-Montreal camaraderie
(L to R) Pierre Pauw, Guy Boivin, Benoit Julien, Isabel Bourgault	The main span of the Jacques Cartier watches the skaters at the start	The start of the race approaches
Rifles are fired!!	Cruising down the exit ramp from the bridge	Continuing our rapid descent
Daniel Picard skates in the Technoparc	Stephen Fisher drafts me going down a hill	Marcel LaFontaine and I head down the St. Laurent hill towards Chinatown