pavedwave distance skateboarding distance skateboarding, flatland pumping, cross-country adventuring, boardwalk cruising, and all things skateboarding and good times
I'm back home on the couch.
My 50 turned out to be about 30-35.
I think it's about 27 from my house to my son's house and the bike path goes from really close to my house to really close to his.
My original goal was just to skate there, but not knowing how to get home again, I figured I'd shoot for a round trip.
Naturally it was raining today. Started out not too bad, but the last 8-10 miles heading up there, it poured. Most of the trail was pretty clear, but some spots were so covered in leaves, I actually had to push downhill!
I rode my new (used) Cambiar and I love that deck. I was trying to pump early on, but wound up pushing almost all the way. It was nice to dial the wedging out of the front Bennett on the fly so I could push mongo/goofy just to use some different muscles.
Unfortunately time was running out as I had to get home to the dogs and my girlfriend/back-up-plan had plans this evening so I had her come meet me about 8 miles South of my apex. The southern part of the trail is where the worst spots were, so I didn't mind not hitting those again.
All in all, I had a great day. Am I disappointed that I didn't get the 50? Nope. I'm a 40 year old guy whose "training" has been skating 1-1/2 miles to the coffee shop to sit around for half an hour and skate back.
My original goal was to skate from Batavia to Lake in the Hills and I did that. I'm even happier that after getting there and chilling for an hour that I got back on the board and knocked out another 8 miles or so.
The Fox River Trail in Illinois is a great trail and anyone who's in the area should check it out. It runs along the Fox River and through forest preserves, parks, neighborhoods and the like. The southern portion, near me, has a lot of art and sculptures along the way. I'll upload a couple of pics when I get a chance.
And I do have until tomorrow at 8 to get some more miles in...
Hi guys.
It went great, the Dangerous Decks board was good for pushing. The trail was wet and sluggy but it dried up through the morning. The first ten miles went well but it got a bit harder towards the fifty. All the while it was energy gel, energy bombs, energy nut bars, energy fruit bars, energy drink, ENERGY EVERYTHING! When we thought the trail was dry enough, we excharged our boards at the van for our Mermaids. My dad was all tuckered out by the time we'd done fifty, and he'd only done thirty,, but he took some pics, I haven't seen them yet though.
Today I'm tired but no aches and pains and up for more!
Hey Gecko sounds like you had a really rough time with the weather! Sorry to hear about all that rain and well done to have skated so many miles in it.
We were so lucky. Rain was forecast and it was looking pretty overcast when we arrived so we decided to start pushing, that way we could see how leafy/sluggy it was. So we pushed, and pushed, but the rain didn't come, despite the sheep all lying down (those sheep know a thing or two about the weather) and then eventually... the sun even came out. Amazing! The track dried so nicely that we put away the pushers and changed to our LDP boards. That was the best moment of the whole ride! It was so brilliant to pump after all that pushing. We had one MP3 player to share but me and Jack both agree that skating with tunes is brilliant. The miles just fly by, especially if you've got nice scenery to look at.
We stopped every 5 miles for snacks, timechecks and to get a full bottle of water out of our rucksacks. The 5 mile times were all between 38 and 49 mins. We were out for 9 hours, skating for 7hrs 17mins, so we averaged about 7mph throughout. The trail here is pretty rough and bumpy and it was harder work than I expected. I didn't think the rough surface would make such a big difference but dodging the dead leaves, slugs, dog poo and mad dogs was fun.
The weird thing was that just when we got back to base to complete the 50, and the dusk was falling, the rain arrived! It held off all day for Jack to reach his target, and then it started. It's such a shame because although Jack was tired I really think that after a cup of tea and an energy snack he would have wanted to skate some more. I had also hoped to skate on in the dark but the rain carried on, on and off all evening and it was too wet for pumping and I really didn't want to push anymore! I just kept thinking 'what if I push and slip and mess up my recovering knee?'.
I can't tell you how proud of Jack I am for digging in and skating all day. He set himself a target and really went for it and managed to raise just under £200 at the same time.
We're both already looking forward to the next time.
Thanks James we had such a good time and it was cool to think of you guys skating over there and that for a while we were all skating together.
Here's a picture of Jack in the early morning. James I'm not sure you can tell but... he's stolen my t-shirt.
PS I'll get some more photos up.
Last edited by barefootboarder on Sun Nov 01, 2009 12:51 am; edited 1 time in total
Gecko that's a great write-up, it sounds like we had the wet leafy terrain in common. Congrats for knocking out a solid ride in it!
And it sounds like the rain gods were a little kinder to Jo and Jack-- way to go! Not to mention you actually got some pumps in as well. Probably a smart move to wrap it up for the wet night, and that's an amazing pace for a full day as it is!
I just woke up from a half-day's sleep, and have been busy with trick or treaters at the door all night. So here are just a few highlights on Seattle's Ultraskate:
First off, huge thanks to Panda Dave. We both started out strong and made it through the full 24, and I couldn't have stuck it out without his support especially. Forecasts of constant rain and 50 degree overnight weather don't exactly sell the event to our friends and family. But in reality, this skate had a lot more support than a couple in the past!
So a quick thanks to this gang of hard-core support crew:
dave
sakae and sophie
john stryker
brad jackman
sheldon lessard
calin
sean "Forty2"
blake
ariel
DH-allan
gunther
kenofseattle
jomar
gareth
kathy and john
the seattle police (our good-natured 3 a.m. chats are becoming a tradition!)
This ultraskate schooled me with the revelation that: Rain is nothing -- WIND is everything. Mother nature was relentless. At seven hours into it, I was still on track to break Paul's record, maintaining a consistent 11mph+ average, pushing into gusts that seemed to be in the 20-30mph? range. It felt like I was giving it a 13-14mph effort and getting 11mph return, but I was trusting that the night would calm down the wind to a standstill. The wet pavement didn't matter at all. It was tough, but steady progress.
The turning point was when the rain kicked in, but the wind stayed the same. There were a couple places where it was exactly like pushing up a steep hill -- one push and only a foot of progress. The wind just never let up. I saw the average speed start slipping and the weather actually worsen. At around 8 hours it was time to write off the record attempt.
But what kept us charged this time to make it all through the night, was bringing the aspect of charity back into the event. The chasing of records has been fun for the last few times, but it was very satisfying to see with very little promotion, we were still able to drum up a significant amount of canned food and cash donations for the North HelpLine food bin!!
I had a blast. A lot of firsts this time around, definitely learned a lot. James is a machine, his endurance is truly inspiring. It was great to see old friends and make some new ones. A special thanks to Sakae and Striker for the much appreciated burgers. The weather and trail conditions were certainly a challenge through the night but coming through it (mostly) unharmed has given me new confidence.
A blast indeed Dave, and I never stop learning something new from these. It was fun to wake up this morning and the body feels like it's just another day, other than a toenail that will probably be departing in a few weeks.
Other things I remember through the haze:
- Yes, Dick's hamburgers are the best. Thanks Sakae and Stryker!
- The bald eagles in the morning, I probably freaked the pedestrians out pointing and shouting BALD EAGLES!! Have never seen them at Greenlake.
- Pushing into the headwind with Dave ahead of me, seeing the huge whitecaps on the lake, wish I had a camera for that
- The duct-tape rollsrolls yoga-mat vibration-dampening hack solution picking up leaves and branches until the stickiness finally wore off
- Not being able to fill my water bottles because the wind was blowing so hard
- The homeless bench-guy camped all day and night, who only flipped out once and only at himself. That guy was made of steel.
- The bathrooms being locked up in the wee hours! Fortunately wasn't an issue but better track down the park policies (seasonal?)
- Ken's pimped-out blinker and headlighted longboard cadillac
- Seeing skater-girl and expectant mom Beth Fishman on a couple laps!
- The Critical Mass bikers doing their monthly bike race after midnight, and the guy spitting Smarties juice at everyone
- Gunther's surprise overnight appearance, apparently I dozed a few minutes and missed his exit - good to meet you dude!
- Hiccups from eating too fast
- The requisite spastic dogs jerking their owners arms out of socket
- Stryker thoroughly enjoying blasting through the deepest puddles on the rollsrolls boards (and not getting wet)
- The morning croissant Sheldon bike-delivered from Ariel
- The trip to Starbucks with Sheldon
- Brad busting out his "chopper" bike again!
- Telling Brad how 97mm wheels plow over "everything", then a minute later Stryker eating #### on a branch
- Taking a "last lap" with the gang, then Calin showing up and taking another "last lap" for tradition!
- Peeling off about 9 layers of clothing afterward
- Coming home to find the storm blew my backyard gate off its hinges
We did a lot of that mongo-goofy as well Gecko. When it comes to pushing, switching it up is really the only way to go!
I'm so stoked we could share this ride across the country and across the globe. We even talked a bit about the prices of tickets to the UK and about Dorney... pipe dreams, but hey you gotta start somewhere.
Haha, when I got home, all I could think about was pancakes! I've read one too many of these threads.
I plan to work on my conditioning as this was a blast and I want to go further. It was so cool to just be out there alone. Because of the rain, I didn't bring any music, so all day long I listened to the song of the Avilas on the wet pavement. I only saw 6 or 8 people all day who all thought I was nuts being out skating in the rain.
It was also a lot of fun to know that even though I was alone, I was skating along with with you all in spirit.
Fantastic guys! Well done to Jack and his able crew (hi guys, I was away at a wedding this weekend...wishing I could have skated!) keeping it real in the SW! Where on earth is that trail? Super good work, Jack keep on skating because you're the future!
Brilliant looking event all round...bring on the next one, my legs are getting twitchy... _________________ Laura | Proud Practitioner of Karmic Longboarding | http://www.happyskater.org
- Seeing skater-girl and expectant mom Beth Fishman on a couple laps!
Wow! That's brilliant!
Gecko wrote:
It was also a lot of fun to know that even though I was alone, I was skating along with with you all in spirit.
We felt just the same way. It was cool to be skating ‘with’ you all and when we got a text through from James, Jack was like 'YES! This is it' and got really excited Crikey tho’ your weather sounds rough, we really had it easy.
Our LDP split times were faster than our pushing times and it was a darn sight easier too.
Laura, we skated along the Tarka trail, it's quite similar to the Bath to Bristol surface wise but the scenery is much nicer.
Gotta say that the food in those pictures looks really good...
Jack, 50 miles is quite an accomplishment for anyone of any age but to pull that off at your age shows dedication and commitment beyond your years. I sincerely applaud your efforts, not only overcoming the physical and emotional challenges of putting out 50 miles in a day, but also raising money for a great cause. Keep up the great work, you are truly the future of this sport. Bravo!
Thank you to everyone for your great comments and support for Jack and apologies that it's taken me so long to get back on here to acknowledge them.
He's still totally stoked about his 50 miles and thanks to the great pavedwave front pager, he's been able to show all friends and families and those people at school who didn't believe him So thanks again to James for that - Jack raised almost £300 in the end which is brilliant.
Poor boy is recovering from a nasty case of flu at the moment but I know that he's got a little pump video from the day that he'd like to share with you. AND... he can't wait until the spring because he wants to try and hit 100 miles, he's caught the LDP bug big time I think
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, but he took some pics, I haven't seen them yet though.
