Cycling and Speed Skating



Tubbs

Tubbs

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Jul 11, 2005
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Does anyone here participate in speed skating in the winter to compliment their cycling for the summer??? I'm curious as to what your experience is. What are the benefits? I'm seriously thinking of taking it up. It just seems waaay more fun than riding a trainer in the basement.
 
Tubbs said:
Does anyone here participate in speed skating in the winter to compliment their cycling for the summer??? I'm curious as to what your experience is. What are the benefits? I'm seriously thinking of taking it up. It just seems waaay more fun than riding a trainer in the basement.
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I used to coach kids in a (shorttrack) speedskating club. Would say it's a great sport for doing hard and fun winter workouts, and that it compliments cycling better than running.

A few of our skaters rode bikes in summer to build endurance, and had no problems jumping into local crit training series. Most of them had good sprint power, but lacked the endurance needed for the bike.

You're working in a low position similar to the bike, so major muscles in the glutes, lower back, hips and quads will be strengthened. The big difference is that in skating you push directly out to the side, not down like on the bike.

It is way more fun than riding a trainer. Like swimming, it's a sport that takes a while to develop technique, so I'd recommend you learn with other speedskaters in a club. But watch out. Once you get your edges right on the crosscuts, build up speed and feel some g-loading in the turns, it can be addictive.
 
SolarEnergy said:
Canadian cyclist Clara Hughes won bronze in both cycling and speed skating.
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Yes... that's right... she is one of only 4 people I believe who have won a medal in both the summer and winter games. With her most recent silver, She is the only person to have won multiple medals at both the summer and winter games. Atlanta 2 bronze, Salt Lake City 1 bronze, Torino 1 silver.

She's actually one of the reasons why I'm thinking of taking it up. I recently discovered that there is a short track club near my house.
 
Tubbs said:
Yes... that's right... she is one of only 4 people I believe who have won a medal in both the summer and winter games. With her most recent silver, She is the only person to have won multiple medals at both the summer and winter games. Atlanta 2 bronze, Salt Lake City 1 bronze, Torino 1 silver.

She's actually one of the reasons why I'm thinking of taking it up. I recently discovered that there is a short track club near my house.
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She's not Clara Hughes - but there's a woman on the same team I belong to that was (I've heard) was an olympic level speed skater. She's a cat2 racer on the team and she's darn fast.
 
frenchyge said:
5-time gold medalist and TdF rider Eric Heiden is another famous skater-cyclist crossover. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Heiden
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Very impressive.


Tubbs said:
She's actually one of the reasons why I'm thinking of taking it up. I recently discovered that there is a short track club near my house.
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That is a good idea in my opinion.

Although, I am not sure that sort track skating would be as good (and safe) as long track skating. But I guess it is worth to give it a try.

The bigger risk would be that you start to enjoy skating more than cycling, like Clara did. :rolleyes:
 
SolarEnergy said:
The bigger risk would be that you start to enjoy skating more than cycling, like Clara did. :rolleyes:
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In-line skating is a blast. That'd be a bigger pull for me than ice-skating. Too bad it's not really "off-season" for cyclists.
 
frenchyge said:
In-line skating is a blast. That'd be a bigger pull for me than ice-skating. Too bad it's not really "off-season" for cyclists.
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Former elite triathlete of mine has got involved into in-line. I know nothing about it, except that I often get drafted by in-line skater while riding on the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve (Formula One track). These guys are fast.

I have heard on tv that most of the US long track speed skating actually come from in-line.
 
6002 said:
Eric is also one of the finest individuals that you could ever meet.

Modesty everywhere, considering his achievments if wonderful. :)
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Yes, for sure. He's an orthopedic surgeon now. He genuinely enjoys being able to help out the speedskaters as their team doctor for the Olympics. He's going to do a little fix up on my wife's knee as soon as he gets back from Torino.
 
SolarEnergy said:
Very impressive.


That is a good idea in my opinion.

Although, I am not sure that sort track skating would be as good (and safe) as long track skating. But I guess it is worth to give it a try.

The bigger risk would be that you start to enjoy skating more than cycling, like Clara did. :rolleyes:
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well... if I lived in Calgary I would most likely take up the long track... but I live in Toronto. Hockey rules this town and short track is what I've got to work with. As for liking one more than the other... meh... I prefer to do things that are in season... cycling just plain sucks this time of year. I like the cold and the snow... but I don't like riding in it.

The short track club doesn't operate in the summer anyway.
 
Tubbs said:
well... if I lived in Calgary I would most likely take up the long track... but I live in Toronto. Hockey rules this town and short track is what I've got to work with. As for liking one more than the other... meh... I prefer to do things that are in season... cycling just plain sucks this time of year. I like the cold and the snow... but I don't like riding in it.

The short track club doesn't operate in the summer anyway.
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Yes, the limited availability of longtrack facilities in the US is a big reason most of the skaters start with shorttrack or inline skating. Would love to skate on the longtrack at Calgary or West Allis, WI; never got to try that.

Risk of injury in shorttrack is probably no higher than in bike racing. Good padding on the boards is an important safety measure. Helmets and gloves are used too.

If you've got a shorttrack club near by, would certainly check it out. Perhaps you can borrow or rent speedskates to try; our club kept a box of loaner skates.
 
SolarEnergy said:
You're telling me? I live in Quebec ;)
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Solar, I grew up playing hockey and have done some short track and inline. A blown acl and the cartalge damage that came with it made the movement uncomfortable for me. I tried long track in Lake Placid once, and couldnt figure out that wide turn. My inclanation was to turn up the middle of the infield. Short track was more like hockey and came easy and is a blast. I am glad to hear that Eric Heiden is a good guy. He was one of my heros when I was young enough to have them
 
The Bos brothers from the Netherlands seem to enjoy the 2 sports. I wish there was a track around to try it out. On the other hand if they use the same marketing department that most Velodromes use...then there probably is one within minutes of me. :rolleyes:
 
Meek One said:
The Bos brothers from the Netherlands seem to enjoy the 2 sports. I wish there was a track around to try it out. On the other hand if they use the same marketing department that most Velodromes use...then there probably is one within minutes of me. :rolleyes:
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There is alot of short track near me, but an indoor oval seems like it would be alot to build and up keep. Cant do inline to start?
 
Clara Hudges has won gold in woman's 5000
In one singular pretty race, smartly paced, with an explosive final lap.

Her only dream now, being able to participate in an Olympic 10k event :cool:
 
Eric Heiden is the guy who did orthopedic surgery on my knee (torn meniscus).



6002 said:
Eric is also one of the finest individuals that you could ever meet.

Modesty everywhere, considering his achievments if wonderful. :)
Click to expand...
 
AmpedCycle said:
Eric Heiden is the guy who did orthopedic surgery on my knee (torn meniscus).
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There was an interview with him the other night on our local TV station since he's from here. He said while it was a great thing to be the best in speedskating for a period of time, he wants his work as a doctor to define "Eric Heiden".

One time at the end of the work day I was in my coach's (Dr. Max Testa) office chatting with him and Eric (his office is down the hall) comes in with this big flat of strawberries and he's eating some of them. Eric is quite pleased about these strawberries and he says that one of his patients gave them to him after he had done surgery on her knee. Max says," Maybe you screwed up her knee and the strawberries are poisoned!" The look on Eric's face for the second when he considered this possibility was pretty funny.



Here's a link to a little article in today's paper...

http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/olympics/bee_coverage/story/14221409p-15047153c.html
 
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