Settling in…
Posted on May 2, 2007
So, tonight was interesting. I finally met my Italian teammates, Dario and Giovanni. They looked really strong on the track. The night started out fun, handing out some flashy gear (skins, jackets, vests, etc.) and chatting amongst the Inlinecenter team members in the pro shop by the track. Then we all played a not-too-serious game of football (soccer) and Frisbee. Yes, I brought a frolf disc. I shlepped my trusty ‘yellow champion aviar’ overseas with me. It is a nice flat flying disc that has decent range, and isn’t a razor to catch. I have to admit, I’d like to have a few other discs with me. I haven’t played yet, but there is a 12-hole course in the city I am living in, Kreuzlingen. Check out the website to the course: http://www.pdga.com/course/courses_by_city.php?id=1276
There are also three courses in Zurich.
Anyway, once the games ended as more skaters arrived at the track, we started with a 10km warm-up, just at tempo. It was actually really nice, and I was beginning to feel comfortable, as it was really my first practice on the track. We cooled down for a bit, and familiarized ourselves which teammates, and talked about who we felt comfortable drafting. As more and more skaters began to arrive for the ‘regular Wednesday night practice’, we cruised around the track chilling until another 10km warm-up this time with a larger group. Then we did a bunch of ‘flying laps’ or 200’s… I slowly began to feel more and more comfortable, and was beginning to skate through the full corner almost at full speed. Then we did a fun little relay, followed by a mock points race. It was a whole bunch of fun.
Tomorrow is full of a training session, a photo shoot, and more team-building fun. I’ll figure it all out, and write something about it later. Oh, and relays could have been more fun without a broken hand. :P
-Aaron.
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…and I don’t even like blood.
Posted on May 2, 2007
At the first bike race of the year (04/23/07), I slipped off my right pedal and came down with my leg on the chainring. Ouch. My sock was full of the stuff. It was gross.
At yesterday’s Crit race, I crashed and took some skin off the back of my hand. I think I might have done a little more than that to it as well… it hurts a bunch.
Aaron Richard Arndt…
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Lichtenstein Criterium
Posted on May 1, 2007
Ok, so today I was in Lichtenstein, which is a tiny country (population 35,000) to the east of Switzerland, between the Swiss and Austrian border. I drove there with frankly some of the best of the best skaters in the world. It took us not much more than an hour, and to my surprise there were no border crossings. We got there a little over an hour before race start, and the race was to be a 40km points race on a 1km circuit. There were points laps every 5 laps. There were several WIC teams represented, with Athleticum sporting their full five man roster. With most other teams having 2-3 men (max), they had an advantage to say the least. The race started off quick, with the pacelines moving about with some amount of chaos. This was frankly quite new to me. There was never a chance to relax. There was movement all over the pace, with guys wanting to get to the front before every corner. Lines would be moving up your right and left, and choosing the line to skate in was tough on its own, not to mention the pace wouldsurge from mid 30’s to mid 40’s regularly between lines. It was tricky to switch lines without pissing anyone off, so lots of that was happening, which means pushing shoving, grabbing and yelling. Some of the corners were also a little hairy… cobbles and catch-basins at ~45km/hr is scary.
It was a tough race, and I crashed at around the halfway mark. I hurt my hand. There was a section where the road narrows approaching the most dangerous corner (and therefore fastest, because no one wants to go into it near the back). Anyway, three pacelines came together and I was in the middle, and just got collapsed on. My feet were taken from under me, and I was down, tearing up a BRAND new WIC suit, my hand, and my shin rather miserably. I got up and chased for about 4km until it was clear that I wasn’t going to catch, and the pack was moving away from me. I dropped out, and took some great photos of the rest of the race that Scott Arlidge won on a break with 3rd place DJ Nation. It was a cool race, and deserves a better write-up that this, but I will post this as I am likely to get backed up further if I don’t post something now. I think this is the best strategy for me. I will throw some pictures up in a ‘photobook’ type thing, all at once since it is probably the easiest for me also. Besides, my hand hurts.
-Aaron.
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