Samurai Noir: Montreal 24 Hour Inline Race 2007

This is the most fun I have had skating in a racing event this year.

Huge props to my team-mates on The Rabid Lap Dogs, and everyone else at the Ottawa Inline Club, as well as all my other skate friends (particularly Morgan for driving us back to Toronto with little sleep) that were in attendance, for making my first 24 Hour Montreal Inline Race such a special experience for me. The folks who run this event (is it Roller Montreal?) really deserve a huge round of applause for making this such a well organized and fun event for the participants.

A few months back I was fortunate enough to be invited by my friend Mike Garvin from Ottawa Inline to join their competitive fitness team The Rabid Lap Dogs. It looked like the team consisted of many of the Ottawa Inline skaters that I have skated co-operatively with in the past few years at different race events. This was the team that had given my Toronto team-mates and friends Andrew, Sigrid, Travis, and The Pauleys (The Incredibles) a run for their money at last years 24 Hour Montreal Race. I was thrilled and honoured that the opportunity to skate with them presented itself to me. This excitement increased after the Eddy Metzger/Barry Publow weekend hosted by Ottawa Inline where I had the opportunity to spend time with them socially in a casual fun skate environment (as opposed the the normal on-course racing conditions that I've generally become acquainted with many of them).

My biggest mistake was probably not getting enough sleep the night prior, particularly since Morgan and I had planned to get on the road by 4:30am. I was crunching some deadlines and worked late, only getting an hour or so sleep. I managed to get another hour or so of shut-eye in the car on the way to Montreal and slipped in a nap just an hour prior to the start of the race at 1:00 on Saturday afternoon.

Morgan and I arrived there a little later than anticipated (we also got pulled over for speeding) but we were still lucky enough to eventually score a sweet parking spot in front of the paddock housing the five Ottawa Inline teams.

Ottawa Inline had a larger collective space than most due to the size of the club, and it seemed to house more than fifty (including supportive family members) of us fairly well for the 24+ Duration of the event. It helped that the club had also put together some luxuries such as tables (which became the makeshift bearing-cleaning station when it started to rain), a microwave, toaster oven, blender for smoothies, coffee machine, drying racks and lines, fans, hair dryers (to dry skates and bearings), bearing cleaning machines, and a seemingly endless supply of Gatorade, Energy Drink, Bagels, Oranges and Bananas. With all of that space and common luxary items, it looked to me like a virtual palace compared to some of the other spaces. I was definitely benefitting from the combined experience that they had accumulated doing this event since it's inception.

Here is a pic of the Ottawa Inline Paddock which we shared with the Toronto-area T-Recs (Blue are Orange suits) and the Flying Fossils (Gray and Black suits) who you can see were right next to us. The French Team from Cannes is beyond them in the Orange uniforms. It gives you an idea of the organized chaos of this space.

I decided to grab a small space in the back corner next to the T-Recs where my buddy Kevin Noh had set up his sleeping bag and gear. It was nice to have fellow TISC Skaters like Richard A, Candy and Munro adjacent, and I was happy to see Carla and Bruce were there as well. Flying Fossils, a team of Super-Fast over-55 Skaters, were also next to us, which included my TISC teammates Stephen Fisher and Ed Duncan. I was told by Ottawa Inliners upon my arrival that the FF's had declared they were "gunning" for the Rabid Lap Dogs in a friendly competitive manner, and that I should try not to give too much or our strategy away when chatting with my friends on the FF Team.

I was greeted by my Team Captain Danny D, who suggested I set up my bunk upstairs where it would be quieter and more comfortable, but I was a bit concerned about stories I had heard about team-members falling asleep and team-mates not being able to find them when it was time for their shift. Since I didn't pack an alarm (and have the uncanny ability to sleep through alarms) and generally can fall asleep most places when I'm tired enough, I figured I'd be fine. I even managed to grab my quick power nap before the event started with no difficulties.

I woke a little before the start of the Warm-up lap that everyone does in order to acquaint themselves with the race-course which was mostly on the grand prix track. I was handed a Blue Ottawa Inline shirt and I pulled it on. It was pretty cool to see the sea of Blue shirts as four dozen of us skated along the path and race car track where we would be pounding out non stop laps on inline skates for a full 24 hours.

The Rabid Lap Dogs gathered as a team and introductions were made all around for the benefit of myself and fellow Toronto Inline team-mate Scott Pauley (who I am happy was also invited into the team after some initial confusion). I had met most of them previously, but there were a couple of folks I don't think I had met prior. The Rabid Lap Dogs consisted of Danny D, Pascale, Steve (Ottawa Inline Club President), Dan, Dean, Dominique, Andrew, Scott, Myself, and Benoit, who ended up being the team anchor with some incredible and consistently fast lap times. I was told later that Benoit has Olympic class Cardio! Michael Garvin had pulled some fantastic times at recent race events and was called up to the Ottawa Inline "A" Team when they had a spot to fill at the last minute. Although I had looking forward to skating the Mike on my team, I was proud that he had made it to the next level and got called up to the "Majors". I'm still very grateful that he had thought of me when they put together the Lap Dogs.

I was also nervous because my Ottawa team-mates had been training together for this with their own program and had also been practicing the baton hand-offs. Luckily Dominique went over the baton pass with me prior to the start a few times, both as a hand-off and as a push if we did happen to get bumped up to Elite, which was anticipated. Even after this, I still managed to mess up my first two hand-offs a little bit, but at least I did not drop the baton! I got the hang of it pretty quick though, and I think for the most part most of my hand-offs went quite smoothly. However they could have been better in the long run since I often would reduce my speed during the handoff since I had a greater fear of dropping the baton.

From the start I was amazed what a relatively well-oiled machine The Rabid Lap Dogs were and Danny D was a very excellent Team Captain. I think this was very obvious given how effortless they made it seem from a logistical and organizational standpoint. Almost all of the team-members had skated together in this event previously, everyone was generally well-matched in terms of the range of skill and ability, and there was such a positive and supportive vibe going on in this small tribe of skaters. There was very little complaints heard, everyone stepped up to bat ready to give it their all, not only when it was their turn to skate, but in support as well, taking turns with the clipboard/stopwatch (which was probably the most essential part of the efficiency of our team).

I had been told that there were many many different ways that a team could organize themselves to do this event, and things could start to be improvised on the fly if the competition heated up to a boil (as it did last year with the fierce and friendly Ottawa Inline/Incredibles rivalry). We were going to start with everyone doing a lap which would essentially be our initial time trials and broken into teams to take different shifts. It was very clear from the start that we were all generally very well matched on the team which spread the workload out fairly evenly for most of the 24 Hour period we were racing. After some back and forth, it ended up with me taking the position of "Fourth Man", meaning that i'd straddle shifts and provide some fresh energy to the mix when required.

It turned out that the way the Rabid Lap Dogs were organized into sub-teams worked out perfectly. Once we got going, we stayed in the lead of the fitness category for the entire event and there was very little deviation from The Plan. We were generally ahead of the nearest competition at most times that things remained very relaxed on our team through the 24 hour duration. It seemed everyone got a sufficient rest interval as well, although I have to admit I missed some sleep trying to get my bearings cleaned around the Hour of the Wolf. My 2 hour nap between 9:00 and 11:00pm was crucial. For the final few hours of the event, we were generally about a lap ahead of the closest competition at most times. The Flying Fossils trailed us for the majority of the event, with Les Clowns from Montreal shifting past them at some point in the evening.

What was great about a 24 Hour event like this is that it is not only a great deal of fun, but I found it an interesting event in terms of testing the bounderies of what I am capable of and how I skate, particularly once I fatigue, or seeing how I handle difficult conditions like the rain and the dark.

The course itself is interesting and proved to have some challenges that highlighted my weaknesses as a solo skater. It used to be that a majority of my skating was hard solo skating, but the past year or so has shifted that focus to more strategic pack-skating. This event has made it clear that I need to balance that out a bit more. Instead of focusing on conservation, I should be taking longer harder pulls when I'm on the trails with friends.

I also need to work on that initial uphill climbing, and testing my manuverability with a couple of tight turns and squeezing past slower skaters on the smaller path. Wind, particularly on the back-stretch on the way back in. I'm just not as strong in the wind.

My biggest problem was probably staying warmed up between laps during my rest interval, and at the start of my shifts, particularly when it rained. During Detroit, when it was raining, I took a cue from Peter and Morgan who did high knees up jogging, on the spot and around the small rain covered area. Taking the opportunity to stretch more would have been a better

My technique fell apart once fatigue started to set in. I would often compensate with skating in a more upright position with “fast legs”, which brought up my speed in the short term, but probably only served to wear me out quicker in the larger picture. Through some trial and error, and using my Garmin, I determined that I benefited more from taking a quick upright stretch and getting back down and focusing on low long technique to keep my speed high.

The Rain was also probably the greatest drawback, but I also posted my best times in the rain (adjusted for the shorter lap distances at night). It seems like I always generally do better in the rain. In my other shifts, the third of fourth lap becomes more and more tiring, but I was still feeling very good towards the end of my night shift.

I also didn’t have my rain set-up fully ready before the rain came. When I ran into spacer problems just before my shift began at 11:40pm, I had to abandon my rain setup to make it to the start of the shift on time. Abandoning my rain setup also meant that it took more time to save my bearings afterwards (sealed C-rings!), which shortened the amount of time I had to sleep. I also didn’t put on my contact lenses, which limited my vision once the rain started and covered my glasses.

My most crucial mistake in terms of this race was the fact that I had a golden opportunity to draft in and work together with Morgan, and missed it because of a wrong turn in the dark. What could have been my fastest lap time turned out to be one of my slowest.

I am glad that I managed to take naps between shifts, even if they were shorter than I would have liked. It also worked out perfectly that Carolyn's shifts were opposite to mine, so that I could sleep on the airmattress and have her wake me up when her shift was ending to prepare for my shift, and then we'd switch off with her getting some sleep on the corner airmattress with me waking her up to skate for her team when I was coming off of my shift. I had a concern that I would sleep in and miss a shift, and having Carolyn there was reassuring safe-guard against that.

I needed to bring more substantial fuel for my body. The Bananas, Oranges, Bagels and Gatorade the club supplied were particularly essential for me since I don't think I came as prepared as I should of in the food department for a 24 Hour Endurance event. I knew I could buy Dinner and Breakfast, but the Dinner wasn't as substantial as I needed, and Breakfast was sold out when I finished my morning shift! I will be better supplied next time. Although I have to say, there was nothing better than throwing a couple of oranges into the blender before my morning shift and downing cup of fresh pulpy OJ.

I think I had my only "down" moment was after my second last lap of the day as we were wrapping up the final two hours. By then I think the fatigue and lack of sleep was starting to take it's toll, and my adrenaline/sugar crash started to set in and my body was rebelling against me. I had my slowest lap of the day, and I confessed to Dean that I was secretly hoping that Danny would sandbag me for my final lap of the day, for fear that I would come in even slower! In the end, it was pointed out that I was holding my own within the team, and that I did have some of the faster laps during the night on the rain shift in the wee hours of morning, and that everyone was feeling it and slowing down. Dean and Danny convinced me to go out one more time. I think it also helped that unless I decided to go for a Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwich at Schwartz's while I was out on my lap, the teams behind us weren't going to catch up to us. As I waited for my last lap of the day, it looked like everyone was picking up their game and giving incredibly strong finishes! I shook out my legs and squeezed my tired stiff muscles and gave it my all for that last lap. Suprisingly, perhaps because I knew I would not have to skate anymore after this, I found some spare reserves that propelled me through the course. I ended up with my fastest time of the longer full 4.7km lap, exceeding my very first (and fastest) lap time by a couple of seconds). What a great way to finish off the day! I was so happy that I ended up doing that final lap.

Overall, my average lap times held alongside my team-mates, which was my biggest concern going into the event. I really didn't want to let them down. I was really impressed by the fact that there really wasn't any weak-links on this team across the board. It was our even strengths and unity that propelled us through this more than anything else. We kept the planned order like clockwork with everyone rotating through and taking their turn on schedule up until the final few hours when Benoit put in some more laps as extra insurance. At the end, outside of the normal physical exhertions, it seemed like an almost calm and effortless victory as we finished off our 24 Hours of skating, with Dan doing the final lap and putting everything into it, even with an assured win. It looked like we finished as strong as when we started according to those final lap times. Everyone held their own, pitched in and pulled their weight and gave what they could.

Full props go to the Flying Fossils, the team of 55 and over inline racers that my friend Stephen Fisher put togother. Gathering some really great guys together, such as fellow Toronto Skater Ed Duncan, and Bob Harwell whom I've skated with in many races over the last few years. In my book, the Flying Fossils were the true “Elites” at this event. They were only a lap and change behind us at the end of the day. Their youngest guys are generally 10 to 20 years older than the folks on my team, and more than a quarter century older than the two teams that came in closely behind them. They beat the Montreal team Les Clowns and the French team from Cannes (#17) who all looked to me to be in their twenties. At one point a member of Les Clowns wandered over to our paddock, which we shared with to the Fossils beside us, and marveled on at length that a group of Senior Citizens were beating them

My hope is that The Flying Fossils become a staple and tradition at Inline events, and I can only in my wildest dreams dare hope that I would be able to join them in twenty years time. Those Flying Fossils skin-suits looked really awesome too! Here is hoping that The Rabid Lap Dogs can get uniforms as nice as some of the ones I saw racing in the event. The FF provided us some very fun and friendly competition, and it truly was an honour and a privilege to be sharing a podium with these fellas at the conclusion of 24 Hours of skating.

After the team did a Victory Lap, we took home the Gold Medals in the Fitness Category (although there was some confusion as we had to switch our medals since they accidentally gave us the bronze ones). I would have had a great time no matter what position we ended up in, but I have to admit that it was a nice topper to what has turned out to be my favourite inline event this past year. I was fairly confident going in that we would finish somewhere in the top ten overall, once we got going it was clear we would have a top-five spot at least even if they bumped us to Elite. The fact that we came in fourth overall with the "win" in the fitness category was a nice way to end the day, but that does not take away from all the things during the 24 Hours of comaraderie and hanging out with friends and just pure skating that made this thing so much darn fun for me. I am definitely coming back next year for this awesome event, and it is my hope that the Rabid Lap Dogs from Ottawa Inline would invite me back to their team.

My team: Ottawa Inline's Rabid Lap Dogs.