Inline instead of online
We were working hard and with pleasure in our new surrounding of the UPF. We worked on a new version of the Program SQP with Daniel Oberski and a new programmer ,Thomas. However, this was also the year that I got the feeling that I had to go back to my favorite sport, skating. I was willing to move to inline skating in Barcelona. The questions was where ? I decided to go online again to look for a possible contact person.
Looking at the internet I detected two papers of Laure Sintes; one about the mathematical analysis of the inline skating movement (the double push) and one about the effect of the size of the wheels on the speed. I thought that he must be a fanatic skater, so I contacted him. He was very nice and invited me for the training of his club, PC Nickys, in Terrassa on Wednesday evening. I went there and I got to know Laure and Nestor, both around 40 years old, and two Rogers; one being 15 and the other 20 years old. They were nice to me, this strange ice skater of 62 years who hardly spoke any Spanish nor Catalan. The training took place on a bicycle circuit with small climbs and descends and many curves. This was very different from my normal skating. The training was mainly directed to prepare for races. As a long distance skater I had never done such trainings but it was interesting. They showed me that inline skaters use a different technique than ice skaters. Although it looked impressive I have not been able to master this technique. The first test of what I had tearned came with the participation in the marathon of Tarragona.
Looking at the internet I detected two papers of Laure Sintes; one about the mathematical analysis of the inline skating movement (the double push) and one about the effect of the size of the wheels on the speed. I thought that he must be a fanatic skater, so I contacted him. He was very nice and invited me for the training of his club, PC Nickys, in Terrassa on Wednesday evening. I went there and I got to know Laure and Nestor, both around 40 years old, and two Rogers; one being 15 and the other 20 years old. They were nice to me, this strange ice skater of 62 years who hardly spoke any Spanish nor Catalan. The training took place on a bicycle circuit with small climbs and descends and many curves. This was very different from my normal skating. The training was mainly directed to prepare for races. As a long distance skater I had never done such trainings but it was interesting. They showed me that inline skaters use a different technique than ice skaters. Although it looked impressive I have not been able to master this technique. The first test of what I had tearned came with the participation in the marathon of Tarragona.
My first marathon on inline skates
In this marathon all members of our club were participating. I have had experience with skating against the wind in the Netherlands. This can be very hard but normally the skaters share the burden by exchanging the position at the front of the group. This does not help in races where you have to skate uphill. In this marathon we had to skate 9 rounds of nearly 5 km each. That meant that we had to skate 9 times approximately 2 km up a hill. For an ice skater this was not an easy task. The last time I was really wondering whether I would make it. Fortunately I could finish this marathon in time. It was interesting to experience that just 42km on inline skates could be so hard to do. But it was nice and so I continued training with Laure.
In this marathon all members of our club were participating. I have had experience with skating against the wind in the Netherlands. This can be very hard but normally the skaters share the burden by exchanging the position at the front of the group. This does not help in races where you have to skate uphill. In this marathon we had to skate 9 rounds of nearly 5 km each. That meant that we had to skate 9 times approximately 2 km up a hill. For an ice skater this was not an easy task. The last time I was really wondering whether I would make it. Fortunately I could finish this marathon in time. It was interesting to experience that just 42km on inline skates could be so hard to do. But it was nice and so I continued training with Laure.
Championship of Cataluña on inline skates
The next event where I was expected to participate, being a member of a speed skating club, was the championship of Cataluña for masters (people above 30). Laure had to put a lot of effort to realize that I could participate because the age of the masters in the administration of the Catalan Skating federation was of 30 - 40 and of 40 to 50 but not from 50-60 let alone from 60-70. They had first to adjust the registration before I could participate. I was placed in the group above 50. We skated 10 km on a circuit in Villadecance and I must admit that I had problems to keep up with the younger masters but nevertheless became champion of Cataluña above 50. This was not so surprising because I was the only one above 50 and because no others participated I correctly was honored as the best of Cataluña.
The next event where I was expected to participate, being a member of a speed skating club, was the championship of Cataluña for masters (people above 30). Laure had to put a lot of effort to realize that I could participate because the age of the masters in the administration of the Catalan Skating federation was of 30 - 40 and of 40 to 50 but not from 50-60 let alone from 60-70. They had first to adjust the registration before I could participate. I was placed in the group above 50. We skated 10 km on a circuit in Villadecance and I must admit that I had problems to keep up with the younger masters but nevertheless became champion of Cataluña above 50. This was not so surprising because I was the only one above 50 and because no others participated I correctly was honored as the best of Cataluña.
Liza´s graduation party
In June this year I got a call of my niece, Liza, that she would come with her friends after their graduation to Barcelona. She asked what I suggested they should do in Barcelona. I thought that all these Dutch girls can skate so why not make a skate tour with them alonmg the beach and have a diner there later on. She thought it was a nice idea. I had organized that they could hire the skates close to the beach. Before we started we made the foto presented at the side of the group.
In June this year I got a call of my niece, Liza, that she would come with her friends after their graduation to Barcelona. She asked what I suggested they should do in Barcelona. I thought that all these Dutch girls can skate so why not make a skate tour with them alonmg the beach and have a diner there later on. She thought it was a nice idea. I had organized that they could hire the skates close to the beach. Before we started we made the foto presented at the side of the group.
Then we started to skate. Paolo and Andre of my research group liked to join in skating. Unfortunately for them these Dutch girls skated much faster than them so that they were always far behind. When we came at the point along the beach where the road went slightly down, most of the girls went down without problems but one who didn´t know how to reduce her speed was so afraid that she skated directly to the first tree on the slope. From there I helped her to go down because this was of course my mistake. There were no further problems and It seems that they liked it a lot. Later we had a nice diner in the harbor of Barcelona where people of my research group also joined in this graduation party
We started Roller speed in Barcelona
Every Wednesday evening I attended Laure's training at Nicky's PC in Terrassa. On weekends I skated early in the morning around Barcelona avoiding traffic problems. Other days I went to the river Besòs and skated the 5km of the bike path parallel to the river, where it was quite safe to skate and you were not stopped by traffic lights. In September of 2011 I was surprised to see Emma putting on speed skates there. Enthusiastic about seeing someone with speed skates, I did not hesitate to contact her to find out more about speed skating in Barcelona. She told me that it was the first time that she put on speed skates and she also told me about the initiative of two other people, Kim and Gaston, to start speed skating along that river and that if I wanted more information I could find it on Facebook. And there I looked. September 10 was the first day of speed skating training along this river. I was delighted with this initiative and there I went. In the photo you can see the participants of the first hour.
Every Wednesday evening I attended Laure's training at Nicky's PC in Terrassa. On weekends I skated early in the morning around Barcelona avoiding traffic problems. Other days I went to the river Besòs and skated the 5km of the bike path parallel to the river, where it was quite safe to skate and you were not stopped by traffic lights. In September of 2011 I was surprised to see Emma putting on speed skates there. Enthusiastic about seeing someone with speed skates, I did not hesitate to contact her to find out more about speed skating in Barcelona. She told me that it was the first time that she put on speed skates and she also told me about the initiative of two other people, Kim and Gaston, to start speed skating along that river and that if I wanted more information I could find it on Facebook. And there I looked. September 10 was the first day of speed skating training along this river. I was delighted with this initiative and there I went. In the photo you can see the participants of the first hour.
The start of APB Roller Speed
We skated along the river, back and forth and then discussed the idea of creating an open speed skating group. We agreed that it would be called "APB Roller Speed" and that we would create a Facebook page with the same name to make our activities public.
I suggested not only to go skating along the river but also on a square very close to my house.
We skated along the river, back and forth and then discussed the idea of creating an open speed skating group. We agreed that it would be called "APB Roller Speed" and that we would create a Facebook page with the same name to make our activities public.
I suggested not only to go skating along the river but also on a square very close to my house.
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dThe others did not seem very convinced that my proposal to skate in a square would be successful.
I told them that skating on a track was also a lot of fun based on my own experience. Moreover, it is advantageous because the group remains together. By the river people are dispersed if the speed is not reduced to the slowest skater of the group. This indeed happened for months in our trainings by the river as you can see in the video. Trying it out they got convinced of my idea and we announcesd it. |
This is how we advertised our activities on Facebook:
Saturday afternoon at 5pm: speed skating training along the river Besòs
Monday at 8pm: Speed Skating Training at Willy Brandt Square next to the Forum, Hilton Hotel.
Wednesday at 6pm: Speed Skating at Willy Brandt Square next to the Hilton Hotel Forum.
Saturday afternoon at 5pm: speed skating training along the river Besòs
Monday at 8pm: Speed Skating Training at Willy Brandt Square next to the Forum, Hilton Hotel.
Wednesday at 6pm: Speed Skating at Willy Brandt Square next to the Hilton Hotel Forum.
At the beginning, we were not going very fast, especially in the square, because the participants were not familiar with skating curves. We organized specific training courses to practice it. When the group grew, the quality of the skating improved for a large part because members of PC Nicky's and other clubs came to participate in our activities. Also a second ice skater , Oliver, joined us and we ended up baptized as the "ice men" by our different style of skating.
On December 3 I organized "a day of skating on a track"
On December 13 Mateu organized a resistance route of 100 kilometers through Barcelona.
Every time we met we made fotos that were posted on Facebook to promote our activities. This was lot of fun as the video below demonstartes.
On December 3 I organized "a day of skating on a track"
On December 13 Mateu organized a resistance route of 100 kilometers through Barcelona.
Every time we met we made fotos that were posted on Facebook to promote our activities. This was lot of fun as the video below demonstartes.