I arrived back in Geisingen safely last night but my luggage didn't. What an awful trip, two late flights and then one delayed by about five hours. I had to run from one end of the Madrid terminal to the other to make my final flight and to top it off we ended up hitting an air pocket and the plane just dropped. I have my luggage now so that's the main thing.
This Sunday is the WIC in Dijon, France. Happy that it's only a car trip away and I don't have to board another aeroplane.
My dad has discovered Twitter and started an account, check it out http://twitter.com/billbegg
The weather is still not that great here in Geisingen. Summer came this afternoon for a couple of hours then a big black cloud rolled over and let loose.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Pamplona Track Racing
First up this morning was the 300m time trials, followed by the 500m and then the 10km points.
500m
Not too sure how they drew the heats for the 500 meters but some were stacked and then others easier. For instance one ladies heat only had two starters and then others had five or six and it was the same in the men's heats. The first two qualified for the next round.
My first heat I had Nicoletta Falcone, a French skater and a Spanish skater. Nicoletta and I qualified easily into the next round.
The next round was tough I had Jercy Puello (1st 300m), Nicoletta (2nd 300m) and Francesca Lollobrigida who is Nicoletta's team mate. The track is really hard to pass on and the start is really crucial. I don't have a great start at the best of times and today it was really bad, I was a few meters behind off the start line. I wound up and tried to pass on the outside but Francesca drifted up to protect Nicoletta and I couldn't get past. The women could nearly hug the pole line so it was very difficult to pass covering extra distance around the outside. I ended up getting Francesca at the line to finish 3rd.
The final had three Colombian skaters and Nicoletta, Colombia took 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Nicoletta was last off the line and with three skaters from the same team it was always going to be a tough task especially round this track.
10km Points
The men had heats for the points race with 15 from each heat going through to a final with 30 skaters. The women's was just a straight final. Going into the race I thought the Colombian team would really dominate. They had two really strong distance skaters plus Cecilia. But I think the Colombians were too busy racing me instead of racing the race. The French team raced smart and took advantage of their numbers and the situation, they had about nine skaters start the race.
I got quiet a few points early on but had to use a lot of energy at the front to get my points, no one to lead me out. Then quiet a few times the Colombian team and myself were battling for the same points. So I used energy and missed out on points on a few occasions. After this someone from the French team would lead Laetitia through and get a bit of a gap, they picked up points that way for most of the race.
At one stage towards the end of the race Alexandra, kelly and Laeitia got a bit of a gap. It was looking very dangerous especially with Cecilia controlling the front of the pack. Everyone else in the pack was dead and no one looked too keen to chase them down. I had no choice but to chase, the three skaters out ahead were the ones with the points.
With about three laps to go Sabine and Laetitia had a gap. I tried to chase but then Alexandra got in front of me and I thought she would chase but she seemed to slow down. I got past her and then Kelly got in front of me. I got passed Kelly with about one and a half laps to go, I was dead and my legs were wobbly but I was catching them. Going into the final corner they still had a bit of a gap and we had to go around a lapped skater. I couldn't lunge properly and Laetitia beat me by about half a wheel or so for the second points.
Laetitia ended up beating me by one point and Alexandra Vivas finished third. I'm not sure on the other placings, Kelly had a few points and Sabine. Sabine also found it hard without a team, Cecilia was racing for Colombia and Nathalie wasn't racing on the track.
500m
Not too sure how they drew the heats for the 500 meters but some were stacked and then others easier. For instance one ladies heat only had two starters and then others had five or six and it was the same in the men's heats. The first two qualified for the next round.
My first heat I had Nicoletta Falcone, a French skater and a Spanish skater. Nicoletta and I qualified easily into the next round.
The next round was tough I had Jercy Puello (1st 300m), Nicoletta (2nd 300m) and Francesca Lollobrigida who is Nicoletta's team mate. The track is really hard to pass on and the start is really crucial. I don't have a great start at the best of times and today it was really bad, I was a few meters behind off the start line. I wound up and tried to pass on the outside but Francesca drifted up to protect Nicoletta and I couldn't get past. The women could nearly hug the pole line so it was very difficult to pass covering extra distance around the outside. I ended up getting Francesca at the line to finish 3rd.
The final had three Colombian skaters and Nicoletta, Colombia took 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Nicoletta was last off the line and with three skaters from the same team it was always going to be a tough task especially round this track.
10km Points
The men had heats for the points race with 15 from each heat going through to a final with 30 skaters. The women's was just a straight final. Going into the race I thought the Colombian team would really dominate. They had two really strong distance skaters plus Cecilia. But I think the Colombians were too busy racing me instead of racing the race. The French team raced smart and took advantage of their numbers and the situation, they had about nine skaters start the race.
I got quiet a few points early on but had to use a lot of energy at the front to get my points, no one to lead me out. Then quiet a few times the Colombian team and myself were battling for the same points. So I used energy and missed out on points on a few occasions. After this someone from the French team would lead Laetitia through and get a bit of a gap, they picked up points that way for most of the race.
At one stage towards the end of the race Alexandra, kelly and Laeitia got a bit of a gap. It was looking very dangerous especially with Cecilia controlling the front of the pack. Everyone else in the pack was dead and no one looked too keen to chase them down. I had no choice but to chase, the three skaters out ahead were the ones with the points.
With about three laps to go Sabine and Laetitia had a gap. I tried to chase but then Alexandra got in front of me and I thought she would chase but she seemed to slow down. I got past her and then Kelly got in front of me. I got passed Kelly with about one and a half laps to go, I was dead and my legs were wobbly but I was catching them. Going into the final corner they still had a bit of a gap and we had to go around a lapped skater. I couldn't lunge properly and Laetitia beat me by about half a wheel or so for the second points.
Laetitia ended up beating me by one point and Alexandra Vivas finished third. I'm not sure on the other placings, Kelly had a few points and Sabine. Sabine also found it hard without a team, Cecilia was racing for Colombia and Nathalie wasn't racing on the track.
Pamplona update
Racing has just started with the ladies 300m tt. There was heavy rain here this morning so we are racing on the track. The temperature is about 15 degrees at the moment so a big change from yesterday.
Saturday, June 5, 2010
Pamplona Results
It was really hot here today for the ladies race, 30 plus degrees. It came down to a sprint finish. No one was keen to try attack and split up the strong teams apart from myself and the French, who tried a couple of times. The course was tricky with a tight U-turn at each end. The hot weather, dust, white lines and uneven surface made these turns slippery and tricky. The pack had to slow down at each end to make the turn so there was a lot of rolling. If you wanted to win you really had to be at the front of the pack out of trouble going into the last turn. The finish line wasn't far after this and positions from out of the corner didn't change a whole lot.
The lead out for the sprint started early with the Colombian team up in front. I was hoping to get on a good wheel coming through that could get me closer to the front without having to sprint so far out. I was on Giovanna who was on the Powerslide train. The last skater in that train stopped skating and when Giovanna and I tried to pass her we couldn't get past easily. We ended up doing a bit of a zig zag across the road, bumped into each other then I got jammed between a rubbish/skip bin and the skater.
Going into the final corner there were quiet a few skaters still in front so I done a big T stop to slow myself down so I could try cut underneath them as they drifted out. There were people going kamikaze into the final corner and others blocking the road, it was messy. It worked but I lost all my speed and had to re accelerate out of the corner. By that stage the front 6 had a gap formed and I ended up finishing 8th.
1st Arnedo
2nd Kelly
3rd Alexandra
It cooled down a little by the time the men raced but it was still pretty hot. The winning breakaway formed pretty early on in the race. At first there were five skaters in the break, the Italian dropped off with about 15 laps to go and ended up pulling out of the race once the pack caught so that left four. The breakaway group consisted of Yann, Fabio, Cobo (Colombia) and Ewen. It came down to a lunge at the end between Yann and Cobo. Cobo won and if he didn't there would have been a Colombian riot because the line Yann took down the final straight was questionable.
It's pouring with rain here now and plenty of thunder so there is about an 80% chance that will be racing at the track tomorrow which has a roof instead of the road.
The lead out for the sprint started early with the Colombian team up in front. I was hoping to get on a good wheel coming through that could get me closer to the front without having to sprint so far out. I was on Giovanna who was on the Powerslide train. The last skater in that train stopped skating and when Giovanna and I tried to pass her we couldn't get past easily. We ended up doing a bit of a zig zag across the road, bumped into each other then I got jammed between a rubbish/skip bin and the skater.
Going into the final corner there were quiet a few skaters still in front so I done a big T stop to slow myself down so I could try cut underneath them as they drifted out. There were people going kamikaze into the final corner and others blocking the road, it was messy. It worked but I lost all my speed and had to re accelerate out of the corner. By that stage the front 6 had a gap formed and I ended up finishing 8th.
1st Arnedo
2nd Kelly
3rd Alexandra
It cooled down a little by the time the men raced but it was still pretty hot. The winning breakaway formed pretty early on in the race. At first there were five skaters in the break, the Italian dropped off with about 15 laps to go and ended up pulling out of the race once the pack caught so that left four. The breakaway group consisted of Yann, Fabio, Cobo (Colombia) and Ewen. It came down to a lunge at the end between Yann and Cobo. Cobo won and if he didn't there would have been a Colombian riot because the line Yann took down the final straight was questionable.
It's pouring with rain here now and plenty of thunder so there is about an 80% chance that will be racing at the track tomorrow which has a roof instead of the road.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Flight Delay
Well the first flight from Zurich to Madrid was late and now my flight from Madrid to Pamplona has been delayed. So I will be getting into Pamplona a lot later than expected. Thankfully the WIC race is in the late afternoon so I will be able to sleep in YAY!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Thursday Night Racing
Tonight there was racing for all ages and abilities at the Geisingen Arena. These races will be held every second week on a Thursday night. There was a great turn out with over 60 skaters racing.
The senior skaters had a flying lap (200m) and 3km race, the 6km points race was cancelled. The seniors also paired up with skaters from the B and C categories for 2km ProAm races. Each skater had a partner and it was like a teams race, with so many skaters we had to skate 4 of these 2km races.
Here are the times from the flying lap, these were done solo so there was no drafting. With more skaters showing up than anticipated there was a shortage of timing chips so some skaters had to share with others, hence the funny names below. Kalon and Najib had the exact same time, they both ran another 200 but neither of them could better their first time. I done a 15.667 so I'm pretty happy with that.
The senior skaters had a flying lap (200m) and 3km race, the 6km points race was cancelled. The seniors also paired up with skaters from the B and C categories for 2km ProAm races. Each skater had a partner and it was like a teams race, with so many skaters we had to skate 4 of these 2km races.
Here are the times from the flying lap, these were done solo so there was no drafting. With more skaters showing up than anticipated there was a shortage of timing chips so some skaters had to share with others, hence the funny names below. Kalon and Najib had the exact same time, they both ran another 200 but neither of them could better their first time. I done a 15.667 so I'm pretty happy with that.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Pamplona
This Friday I head to Pamplona for the WIC race on Saturday and the road racing on Sunday. The WIC race is 30km for the women and 42km for the men. The course is 1200 meters with a turn at each end and apparently a slight rise. I didn't get the chance to race in Pamplona last year so this will be my first ever visit to the city. Quite a few national teams will be there, including Colombia so there should be some real top class racing. Had a quick look at the long range weather forecast and one site I looked at is predicting rain with the chance of thunder storms on Sunday. Then another site said Saturday afternoon/evening chance of rain and thunder. What is up with the weather?
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