The Power of Perserverance - Mike describes his journey towards completing three street skates in three cities!

Last summer at the ripe old age of 52 I decided it was about time to do something ‘completely different’ I have done martial arts and football and wanted to do something else so I thought what about in line skating. I kept things very quiet and joined one of Asha’s intensive one day courses. At first I thought this was one of the craziest things I have ever done and it took me some while to stand up on skates let alone skate. That first Saturday was in many respects an eye opener seeing all these people skating for fun and really enjoy life. I made the decision this is really for me! The rest is history after many trials and tribulations and dark nights I finally began to skate, although I looked in awe at those around me! Tricks I can’t do and struggle yes I do but I thought with a little bit of luck I might be able to do the Paris Sunday skate. I trained very hard – in fact five days in a row with Asha and I might add Tim Wheals of Eastbourne who has also been an aspiration! So on Sunday, 17^th September I completed the Sunday skate in Paris. Three hours long and about 20km with a short break it was truly amazing. The staff estimated there were about 4000 skaters although I didn’t count them. What a thrill to get back to the Bastille and I plan to do it again soon. Staying in France for a week or so I drove the short to distance to Lille in Northern France . It’s a great vibrant city and yes it has a Sunday skate as well as Paris. So on Sunday, 24^th September we are off again, an easier pace great people and a nice skate duly completed!

Back at work colleagues thought I had gone completely mad which is not surprising! And so last Sunday 8^th October 2006 the so called ‘Roller Stroll’ So I took off at great speed for me with Asha and thought ‘when do we slow down’ as the pace seemed to be faster than both Paris and Lille – we didn’t and apart from a minor fall I got back to Serpentine Road in one piece. So for me that’s my hat trick in four weeks!!

My dreams were fulfilled in Paris and Lille and just added too in London. So don’t despair it is possible as if you had said twelve months ago that I could have completed the three Sunday street skates in Paris, Lille and London I would have said you are completely crazy. Thanks are due especially to Asha for persevering with me when I am sure there were easier ways of making money but to all at Skatefresh for their support.

So thanks a million for making my dreams come true.

Mike.

Skatefresh Instructors Diary October 2006

Every year, October spells a change in conditions that make the majority of rain- and cold-fearing people stay indoors and hibernate until the spring. The nights are drawing in and the weather normally changes into a rather damp mess. I’m happy to say that October 2006 has been nothing of the sort and was a refreshing change to the balmy sweaty days of July and August. Until Saturday the 21st…

My “normal”, if there is such a thing, teaching week this year has seen me with private clients in Greenwich park in the weekday evenings and early weekend mornings and then the weight of my sessions in Hyde park on Serpentine road (the “Serp”) during weekend days.

Saturday the 21st was an exception, I had an early start on the Serp, I arrived at 9.30 with the intention of checking our route round the park for Skatefresh’s latest course; Beginner to Street Skater. I was to be teaching week 3 of the 5-week syllabus at 1pm. This involved checking all of the specific places we workshop those tricky obstacles such as kerbs, surface changes and hill technique. Happily this went off rather well, even with a light sprinkling of rain.

After a coffee and a sit down I met my first private client of the day at 11am, a wonderful lady who was honing her heel braking and wanted to look at parallel turns (my favourite lesson, always happy to oblige). She is one of those brilliant clients that has great confidence as well as a good visual understanding. So basically I demonstrated things, we talked a bit then she skated it all pretty much flawlessly. Frankly, a dream! Some people aren’t that lucky, me included. I really need to feel it in my muscles, when I’ve got it right, some people just watch and copy. They’re the really lucky ones.

1pm rolled round and I charged up the road to Serp Rd East to meet our group for the street skate course, as well as Nina, a new addition to the Skatefresh team for 2006. Nina’s team teaching all 5 weeks of the course and assisted my efforts in teaching this week. I think it’s really good how Skatefresh motivates its instructors to observe each other and team teach wherever possible, as far as I know we’re one of the few schools that does this at all.

We started with some revision to allow the stragglers time to sort themselves out before departing the safety of the Serp and heading up the hill towards Marble Arch. Most of the group by this time had refined their hill technique so that they could keep up with me and Nina (very impressed). We looked at a range of different issues including the large grid near Speakers Corner and combination manholes on The Ring. Just as we arrived at Victoria Gate the heavens opened in a way I’ve never seen whilst on skates, really heavy blobs of rain and then running water everywhere. At this point I decided to finish the class early and pick up earlier next time. Some of the guys departed the park from there but there were those students that needed to get back to the Serp to get changed into dry clothes to get home. These three negotiated the road junction at Victoria gate, and then the car park at the end of the Serp, in the rain. Absolutely brilliant!!
After a good hour and a half of skating and being pushed by me and Nina, its not easy to keep your calm and deal with the unexpected.

I then finished my day in Greenwich Park with another of my wonderful private clients…. in sunshine?…. I don’t get it?

Smiles all round really, but now the season seems to have changed and Autumn is upon us. So into the next few months, I’m planning my personal skating and intending to make use of the fact the park is generally quieter and easier going than in the summer months. I’m off to Andorra ski-ing in January so as much time on skates through till Christmas will help me have a better ski-ing experience.

Its all about the balance you know….

See you’s all soon

Matt….

Asha is the manager of skatefresh and the skate schools most experienced instructor. Below she has given an account of a typical/ untypical week.

I am often asked this question, ‘What’s a typical week like for you at work’? Of course, as a skating instructor, there is no ‘typical’ for me, unless that means being busy at weekends and often looking up at the sky and talking to clouds (negotiating rain allowances with the Gods).

Well, the last week of August and into September saw an unusual weekend off skating for me as it was Notting Hill Carnival and as I live in the area its hard to get to and from my house on skates once the festivities start, so its my designated ‘weekend off’ in the summer. This year I decided to celebrate my birthday by organizing a pre-carnival street skate on the empty streets of the Notting Hill carnival circuit. Andy’s write up (link at bottom of home page) is far superior to mine but let’s just say every skater loves the combination of empty streets, no speed limits, no oncoming traffic of any description and the smoothness of Ladbroke Grove (downhill) for over a mile and the freedom to see just how fast you can do your back crossovers. It was fantastic and will be repeated next year for sure! (Picture here)

My days during the week revolve around computer in the mornings and private skate lessons in the afternoons/evenings. This weeks admin consisted of conversing with other Skatefresh instructors, dealing with bookings and email enquiries and this week very heavy admin load with ICP (Instructor Certification Programme) candidates coming from overseas to become qualified skating instructors and needing admin for their VISA applications (thanks again to Mark who takes care of much of that for me). It is good to know that skating is growing in other countries and that they want to become certified skate instructors. We have interested parties as far away as Pakistan, Nigeria and South Africa.

Speaking of ICP, this week I held the last skating skills preparation session where interested candidates get to see what’s expected on an instructor course in terms of skating ability. I hope the participants were encouraged and not put off by my strict but fair approach. We need to focus on the course on teaching candidates how to teach, not how to skate. I am encouraged that generally the standard of skating is getting better and better.

Last week of kids not being at school, so I had a lot of goodbyes from some of my regular younger clients from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Sri Lanka. See you all next summer!

Skateschool on Sunday (3^rd Sept) saw Nina teach her first real class (with me chipping in too often). Well done Nina, she did a good job and all students progressed well in their brand new (fast) skates. Monday (4^th Sept) saw the last of a 4 week SkateFit course, where the hill got steeper, the need for knee bend got greater and students’ ability to change their cadence in response to different skating environments now looks great. We ended the session running up Marble Arch subway stairs (2 at a time) and everyone was surprised at how doable it is, even though they all laughed at the beginning of class when I mentioned the stairs….SkateFit will continue in one off workshops during the autumn/winter.

I had a great time teaching the weekend Intro to Street class at the weekend. Here we are learning toe-roll position to help with landing long jumps (over 1, 2 or 3 manhole covers). (Picture here)

That’s it from me. Catch up with another Skatefresh instructor’s weekly diary. Next week is Nina and right now she’s skating at the Berlin Marathon, so can’t wait to hear about her time there (as well as the other Skatefresh instructors, Andy and Maja. Good luck to you all.

Wow, wow and wow again. I can’t describe in words how amazing it was to skate on the Londonskate urban street skate last Wednesday night. I haven’t done anything that has felt so exhilarating in years and years. Nothing has left me so speechless (partly from lack of words to describe how I felt and partly from being so exhausted). But I have also not felt that happy, relieved, fulfilled and energized in perhaps all my life. I can see why people don’t stop doing this in the winter. I can’t wait now till next Wednesday for the next street skate.
It started off strangely as I found it hard to skate with so many skaters all around me, but somehow everyone fits in and we all keep moving. It’s mesmerizing watching that side to side movement of skaters’ skates in front of you. There were some rough roads and some beautifully smooth ones and I felt I didn’t lag behind too much. The long open stretches of fast skating were fantastic, as was seeing spectators surprised smiles as we all whooshed by. I remembered being one of them and looking at this group and now I was the one on wheels!
When I had the courage to lift my eyes from the tarmac (always looking for those ‘bad’ manholes covers) I was shocked to see one London landmark after another, as we skated past Trafalgar Square, Soho and Piccadilly Circus. Then I got really lost and had no idea where we were but that didn’t matter. The way the skate in marshaled means all you have to do is follow, and that’s what I tried to do.
The half way stop was a welcomed break and I enjoyed chatting to other skaters. Everyone was so encouraging when they heard it was my first time. Skater solidarity.

“Vacancy on LSST2 (London Skaters Speed Team 2) Le Mans Team” said the posting on the SerpRd skaters Forum ( www.serpentineroad.co.uk )I’m not sure what on earth made me reply, but reply I did and, in a whirlwind, I was in training for this tortuous inline skating event.I was very encouraged when I later found out that my fellow skater, and Skatefresh instructor, Nina, was also signed up, for the LSST1 Ladies team.

“Les 24 Heure Rollers” (to give it its correct title) takes place at the Le Mans motor racing circuit in France. The principle is simple, 500 teams (from 22 countries) of 2-10 skaters per team, start racing at 1600hr Saturday, finishing 24 Hours later at 1600hr Sunday. The course used is the 4.5 km Bugatti circuit. Each team can have only one skating member on the track at any given time, normally changing the ‘baton’ to another member after completing one lap. Winner is team completing most laps in the allotted time. To add some authenticity, just like the motor race of a similar name, where the drivers run across the track at the start to get into their cars; opening skaters are expected to run across and put their skates on! Simple? Well not exactly. For a start, immediately after setting out on a lap you are confronted with a 600m 3.5% incline, not bad the first time you skate it, but after a few hours even the first 100m makes your thighs burn. Then when you make it to the top and pass through the famous Good Year Bridge, you have to traverse the 1km 2% Dunlop downhill with two sweeping curves. Because of the gradient and the fact that your legs are like jelly after the climb, the bends are daunting (especially when you notice the two vehicles sited at each bend are in fact ambulances!) Most competitors tread (or skate!) very carefully after seeing others come to grief!Then there is the fatigue. On average teams skate 140-160 laps, that means each member is expected to skate 15 laps or just short of 70kms! As most teams run a 3 shift system, whereby 3 or 4 members cover a 2 or 3 hour period, each member of the shift is skating a ten minute lap every twenty minutes for their entire shift! Very tiring. But this means there are a few hours between shifts to get some much needed nourishment and sleep (and to take your skates off!). And sleep is the next problem, or more important, how do you get some? There are over 8000 people on site including teams, support crews, event organisers etc. Tannoy announcements and the constant echo of the sound system, as well as team talks and rantings make it very difficult in the pit area. Back on the campsite is not much better. Skates are off but BBQ’s and catering run all night; comings and goings of participants both on foot, in cars and on motorbikes (yes, really. Even in the middle of the night!) Everyone is doing something at different times so there is no ‘quiet’ time.This is also the case when it comes to loo’s and showers, there are permanent queues from start to finish. This is not helped by the fact that the temp was well into the 90’s during the day and high 60’s at night meaning everyone is taking on vast amounts of water and need to wash seemingly all the time. So how did we fare? My first shift began at 1700, one hour into the race. The very first thing I became aware of was how fast some of the professional and semi professional skating teams were travelling. Even up the hill they give you a sense of motionlessness as they fly by; try following them at your peril they skate at speeds in excess of 75kph downhill! My first lap was just over 10 mins which all things considered I was happy with. Not so my second. As I now knew the track I thought I would put some serious effort into it, imagine my surprise when I found it was actually slower than my first! I did manage to shave some time of in my third and final lap of this first session and come in below 10 mins.My team LSST 2 Mens, was almost on a par at this stage with Nina’s LSST 1 Ladies, both hovering about 100^th place in the standings. As Nina and I had similar shift patterns we spent some time in the pit area talking skating tactics and swapping skating experiences. Nina was already confidently breaking the 10 mins mark, in fact she was coming very close to 9mins. As dusk came and went and the night cooled I was really looking forward to my next shift at 2100. The bubble soon burst when after equalling my best lap of the first session I proceded to go back to the 10 mins mark. Nina continued with very competitive times a fact reflected by her team who had now moved up to about 90^th position. LSST 2 Men had dropped to about 105^th During my main night time break from skating between 1100 and 0500 I managed to eat (1145 - 0015), grab a shower (0030 -0045), sleep (0115 – 0345 well actually, I had drunk so much water, had to interupt that sleep!) rise (0400) and get ready to be back at the pits to skate by 0500. After the earlier disappointment of not being able to improve my lap times, I arrived for my early morning shift to see that it had been the same story for my team mates. As a result we had slipped to 136^th place. Nina’s team on the other hand were really flying, moving up to 86th position.With the race well into its second half, Sunday morning and early afternoon, through a combination of tired legs and more intense heat, saw many people having falls resulting in grazed knees, arms and elbows. In one session alone, all three members from our Shift 3 team had falls, fortunately nothing serious. It was also noticeable how quickly the day was going, and before we knew it we were planning for the finish. Through a combination of energy drinks, Mars bars and probably pure adrenalin, I had my best session of the event, putting in my four best lap times around 9 mins. Although some members of our team were exhausted, we still managed to claw our way back and finished in 115th. Nina’s team had a stunning finish climbing to 81^st overall, and 5^th in the Ladies category, almost on the podium - rollerblading nirvana!This is a fantastic event for which I am already signing up for next year. I strongly suggest that if any of you have the opportunity you do to! Other Skatefresh instructors taking part in this event were Maja for LSST 2 Ladies and Jason for Guiness Draft. Both completed the event successfully.