ATHENS TO ATLANTA 2001 86 MILE INLINE RACE  

I knew it was going to be a great day when I looked out the window of the Marriott Hotel and saw such a beautiful sunny day.  The temperature was perfect for skating, although it was chilly waiting for the race to begin.  I didn't mind the slight discomfort of the cold because I knew that this would help skate faster later on.  Vicki Harwick, and my daughter, Jenny dropped me off two blocks away from the start and I skated to the starting line.

At last the race was on.  Two miles or so later, I found myself in a pack of skaters including Ann English, and Blake Lambert. It didn't take Blake long to organize the group and soon he had us doing one minute "pulls" timed by his stop watch.  I had a Garmin GPS and kept the group informed about our speed, average speed, and miles elapsed.  Our descents were fabulous and we reached top speeds of 39 MPH!! What a thrill that was.

We had almost reached Dacula when I almost fell because something was definitely wrong with my skate. I felt a great relief to reach the bottom of the decent without falling but I was also very disappointed because I had been skating so well.  My group and I  lost contact.  I was using a Bont Slingshot frame on my Simmons boot.  One of the springs had broken making skating very hazardous.  I took them off and walked to the halfway mark.  Fortunately it was less than a mile.  Luck was with me because Vicki had brought her skates to Dacula, but we had no tools for her frames.

Jim D'Allesandro, a friend from Largo, Florida came by at that time.  He had tools in his car and skated over to get them.  Less than an hour from the mishap, I was back on the road with Miller frames mounted to my Simmons boots.  Shortly later, I caught up with Phil Hough from Michigan.  He and I teamed up and skated the rest of the way together. We were still  skating strong at the next check point where Vicki and Jenny were cheering for us.  That helped a lot.  

We skated onward toward the Sliver Road  Hill and the infamous railroad track at the bottom of a descent.  The Railroad track gave me the most trouble.  I almost fell there after jumping the track and upon the landing,  my legs cramped up.  We took a five minute break to stretch in the grass in the ditch. 

By 75 miles or so, my feet were starting to cramp excessively.  The skating wasn't as fun anymore. One bright spot was Alicia Villarosa and her group that were constantly passing us and us passing them.  Her smiles, friendliness, and encouragement  helped keep us going.  She looked fresh, but stayed with her slower group. Most of the people in the cars that passed us were friendly, although we had our share of horn blowing, salutes of us being number one and admonitions that we should, " get off the . . . road".  

Our next adventure happened less than two miles to the finish. That's when we encountered Police Car #25*** of the Atlanta Police Department. That car was driven by a tall young Officer with a very pronounced flat top hair cut and a moderately protruding abdominal area. We thought at first, he was doing what so many other fine Officers had done--help us through a busy intersection.   I guess he didn't listen in briefing that we had permission to participate in the race because he used his siren to pull Phil and I over. He lectured us about the dangers of skating on the street, explained the illegality of it, and told us that  we were impeding traffic.  After more threats and banishing us to the severely cracked sidewalk,  he finally roared away. At last we were on our way again toward the finish and not on our way to jail. 

That delay caused my feet to cramp again  and I had to stop to rest them.  A few minutes later, an ambulance crew showed up stating that people often called in dead body reports.  I told them to come back in five minutes and they would probably find one.

Onward we skated and were soon met by the GA Team in Training Coach, Cindy Spaulding..  She was an angel on skates as she lead us onward toward the finish.  That was a fantastic help because all we had to do was concentrate on following her--no worries of  where to turn or go.   Thank you, Cindy. At last we were there and finished.  What a fantastic day skating with fantastic people.  See you next year

Chris Valdez from Dunedin, Florida is finished at the half way mark in Dacula, GA.   He had a great race finishing 19th in 2:26:06.  Look at that beautiful sky!! 

Here I am at 7:55:30--Finished AT LAST. 

Phil Hough, from Roseville, MI  and I at the finish.  He was a great skating partner from mile 38 to the finish.

Jenny Henson testing the theory that you " have to kiss a few toads to find your prince" Thanks for coming to watch me skate.

Eddie Matzger winner of the A2A 2001 in 4:29:27.  I bet he sleeps in those skates.

Ann English from Athens GA and I at the finish.  We were part of a fantastic group including Blake Lambert of North Carolina. We made the half way mark with a 15.1 MPH average. She finished in 7:11:14.  She said she could have used my Massage Therapy skills to help with an adductor cramp which slowed her down