Basel: 25km Team Time Trial [+ this stupid hand…]
Posted on May 3, 2007
I leave tomorrow for Basel, Switzerland for my first WIC race. It is a team trial format, 25km, five laps of a 5km circuit. Five skaters start, and the time is given to the team according to the third skater to cross the line. In order to receive WIC points, the fourth and fifth skaters must cross the finish within 5 minutes of the finish time of their team.
Today my team gathered in Frauenfeld to train for the TTT, we tried to figure out the order of who drafts who, and who will start the pace etc etc. It was pretty cool actually. We decided that I will start the race, and find the initial pace, followed by Giovanni, Dario, Jasper*, then Wayne, and we will repeat this order in intervals according to the more acute race conditions. It is supposed to rain all day Saturday in Basel, which could be an advantage seeing how MY TEAM DREW FIRST!!! Ouch! Yes, my team will start the TTT first, which could make things interesting depending on how the rain plays a factor. We are followed by Matter, then Spirotiger (Who, by the way should be in top form after ‘tigering it up’ this afternoon. Though this may have caused them to skip the hockey game.) each a minute apart in start times. Anyway, it was a pretty cool day, and we spent a lot of time at the track. Wheel choice will be tricky, and will be chosen around the rain. Yellow Matters are pretty much the standard for just about everyone here. You see the odd Green Matter, but their dominance here is obvious. Anyway, Red Matters will be in use if the rain comes into play, but the real gem is this Matter rec. wheel with flags painted on them. People are making calls to retailers and distributors, and even pulling wheels off of some powerslide rec skates with those 100mm wheels on them, and replacing them with wheels that retail for nearly ~twice as much. It’s actually pretty funny. Those wheels are an extremely hot commodity with the forecast this weekend looking like certain rain. I was pretty excited when we decided today that I would start up front first. I thought that was really cool, and I am a total geek, but it meant a lot to me. I just hope I don’t start too fast or slow. In practice, I started a little too fast, and the boys let me know it. It will be really interesting to see the time gaps, and follow how we finish. It is my first team time trial, and there is a lot to it. You don’t just show up and bang off a bunch of really hard laps. First of all, its 25km. You have to be conservative, but not too conservative. It’s kind of like “time trialing goes extreme” or something like that. Anyway, this is likely my last post until I get back from Basel, and write a real report, my first since I arrived here. Anyway, after training, I got a cell phone for like $45, including the $15 worth of credit on it. I can receive text messages for free, and local calls as well. I plan on using it exclusively locally. Then played a game of hockey. I am off to get some good rest, and take it easy until training tomorrow morning at 10am, then we leave for Basel!!
Oh, and my hand looks like it was stung by a thousand bees.
Wish me luck,
A dot com.
*Newteammate in place of Christoph who is out for the season with a herniated disc in his lower back. I will explain later, but my new Teammate is Jasper Corne.
Oh, and DJ Nation is cool. He has a Lung volume of 7.2L. He’s basically an ox.
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