Vowing to get in as much racing experience as possible in my first serious
year of inline speed skating, I had decided to sign up for the Toronto Inline
Race Weekend at the last minute. What definitely got me onboard in the end was
the fact that Pan, Said, and Bernard were offering me to join them in their
carpool and hotel room. We met bright and early at Pan's place in the Old Port
and took off from there. The trip was relatively quick, mostly because I slept
for nearly all of it! We got to the hotel with lots of time to spare, which we
used to make all the necessary preparations. With the weather threatening to
rain on us, we all had an extra set of wheels and bearings we were willing to
sacrifice.
Pan put some new 84mm wheels on his skates as his older ones were worn down to something like 50. Bernard and Pan changed into their brand new Roller-Montreal skinsuits while Said grudgingly put on his old one after not having his new one delivered to him on time before leaving. I just went with my good old bike shorts and jersey.
We arrived at the site for the long distance races that day: the marathon and
half marathon. We came to what almost seemed like a small tailgate party as
the parking lot was full of names I'm only beginning to familiarize with such
as Stéphane Tremblay, Bob Tysen, Bret Whitman, Aaron Ardnt, etc... All the
Mogema, Bont, and Hyper skinsuits adorned by virtually everybody there were
starting to intimidate me. The really great thing about this entire weekend is
that the skaters from different categories participate in different races. In
other words, we amateurs get to watch the really good skaters go at it, unless
of course, your name is Pan, who decided to participate in both the marathon
and half marathon that same day. There was a little commotion before the start
of the pro's 42k skate when Mr. world-record holder, Steve Robillard, had frame
problems without the proper tools with him. He quickly ran over to the
equipment booth and borrowed the rep's skate. He ended up skating the entire
weekend with different skates on each of his feet!! [That's him in 2nd place below.]
During the pro race, I could see how attacks were made at different moments,
especially when the pack slowed down, to shake off the weaker skaters. In the
end, Bret Whitman won the race with a strong sprint, giving him a comfortable
margin in the end. Steve Robillard and his two skates unbelievably came in
second.
It was a bit harder to follow the women's race as they were intertwined with the slower men, but I could spot the Empire Speed girls controlling much of the race. At the final sprint Beth Clarke got knocked down and Samantha Carr took the controversial win. Pan had a gutsy race but was obviously spent afterwards, as his reserves dried up and hunger took over. We were also greeted during the race by our very own Rod Willmot, who was visiting his parents while vacationing with his wife and dog.
It was now our turn to skate! The horn sounded, and I had wanted to start off at a relaxed pace, but then I heard someone shouting from behind me, and that was enough for me to lose my nerve. I went out gunning and by halfway through the first of five laps, people were whizzing by me as I was gasping for breath. Luckily, Pan came swooping in from behind and rescued me. At the expense of a better result, he placed himself in front of me to cut the wind and set a pace I could handle. On many occasions, I offered to take a pull, but Pan, who is obviously the faster of the two of us, wouldn't have it. We got lapped by Said with Jordan Belchos, a young gun from TISC, in tow. Apparently at that moment, Jordan thought they were on the last lap as he sprinted and hawked for the line. Said pulled the entire last lap, but Jordan was too spent to even try an attack, and Said easily beat him out for second place overall.
Pan and I were joined by another two skaters on the last lap, where we dialed up the speed and managed to shake off one of them. At the last corner I told Pan to go for it since I would never try to outsprint him after letting him pull for virtually the entire race. The other skater, however, took off in front of both of us in a sprint she could not sustain. Pan reeled her in and passed her at the line with me needing another 200 meters to take her. And here's a tip: make sure your frame is nice and tight before a race as mine became loose on the last lap. The skaters at this event were very strong compared to some other events I've raced at. Almost everyone here belonged to some club or team. I didn't see Bernard the whole race, but he placed pretty well and earned himself a podium for his age group. Pan was bestowing me advice following the race with his Yoda-like wisdom: with every race you learn something, and you'll be faster the next time. He then proceeded to take a nap at the first aid tent and then Bernard's car during the medal ceremonies as he probably learned that doing both races was a little too crazy.
Day 2:
The following day, we went to St Clement's School to use their 200m track
for the 10k and 1.5k events and were once again joined by Rod. This day was
even better for the spectators as all of the action took place in front of us
the entire time. Bret Whitman easily took both races in the pro categories in
another display of skating superiority.
In the men's advanced category, Said hung in for third place overall finish
in the 10k despite being slower in the turns (50 laps!!!).
The Toronto skaters practice here every week, and it was very obvious in
their technique over us roadies. Bernard also took in some hardware for his
age group and actually ceded a higher placing in the podium when the judges
miscounted another skater's laps. Pan put in another strong race but was still
feeling the effects from the previous day's adventures.
I, on the other hand, wimped out of the 10k as I knew I'd never have the
legs to do that many turns and took pictures instead. I did participate in the
1.5k, and even there my left leg died by around the fifth lap (out of seven).
Having virtually no experience on track, I'm just glad I didn't bail as I hit
the first corner at full speed off the start! Said was fast enough in his heat
to qualify for the finals, but had absolutely no juice left for the final race.
The women's races were once again dominated by the Empire Speed girls, but it
was 12-year-old Shenna Freeman that took home the gold in the 10k, but Carr got
her revenge and won the 1.5k.
Despite a great exhibition of skating by some of the best skaters this side
of the Atlantic, the spotlight was fixed on little Harmony Yambor, who is only
7 years old!!!
And can she ever skate! In the advanced category, she finished third overall in both the 10k and 1.5k races. She defied all logic in the 10k where she formed a chase pack, dropped it, bridged the gap, and caught the lead pack!!! The poor girl was feeling the burn halfway through the race and started to cry while skating around the track. What a great sensation, but I hope her ever-present father doesn't burn her out first...
As I sat on the grass watching the races, I got the opportunity to talk with Beth Clarke, a 43-year-old mother of two that can skate with the best of them and who represented Canada at last year's world championships. She let me in on the ordeal Aaron Arndt, TISC skater and representative for this year's national team at the worlds, had to go through the last few years. A few years ago he was involved in a snowboarding accident that left him with a shattered pelvis. After being told by doctors he wouldn't even walk again, he recovered, rehabbed, and is now skating with the best again. You can still see him limp whenever he walks, and the poor guy is in pain every time he goes out skating. This makes any excuse I've ever come up with for not skating faster completely insignificant.
As the final awards were given out, with Bernard and especially Said collecting
a lot of them, our fabulous weekend ended. The entire racing weekend was a
resounding success, thanks to a lot of work done by Peter Doucet to organize
and run it. We made sure to stop by the Big Apple (no, not NYC) to get those
famous pies on the way back, and we were once again subjected to Said's
obsession with Subway and Shania Twain the whole way back.
A word to the wise: bring your own music when traveling with that guy...
Note: Almost all the racing pictures are the property of Peter Doucet and can be found with many others on his website.
Eric Bui-Quang