Scott Arlidge

2006-02-25T15:04:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from the New Zealand Banked track nationals that were held last weekend in Hastings.

All photos property of Ken Wright & SK8PHOTONZ Copyright

Results for this competition can be found at www.teamrollerblade.com

Links

2006-02-23T21:11:00.000-08:00

http://www.athleticum-inline-team.ch (german)

http://www.teamrollerblade.com

Also a couple of links about the events:

http://www.world-inline-cup.com

http://www.swiss-inline-cup.ch

Skating vs Cycling

2006-02-23T19:07:00.000-08:00

Cycling is often considered the best form of cross training for skating. You can't go out and skate for 4 hours, but you can go and ride your bike for 4 hours. This summer though skaters are taking over some bike races. Wayne Begg has been down south wining a couple of local club races. At the "Round the mountain" race held every year, and goes around Mt Taranaki, starting in New Plymouth, and finishing back there 150km later. Shane Dobbin won the bunch sprint with a late attack to finish 7th, Aaron Lawson after being in a breakaway for 45km finished in 13th, myself, Shaun Perkinson, and Kalon Dobbin also finished in the lead bunch.

Me finishing the round the mountain race.
Course profile for the 150km race

In Auckland here we have been doing criterium racing. Its short, but intense. After one race in B grade it was time to step up into A grade with the big guns. The races are 30min + 3 laps. Not long by any means, but with an average speed at nearly 50kph, its hard. It has been good training though, the pack "moves" in a similar way in which a pack will move in a skating marathon.

New Zealnd Champs 2006

2006-02-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

photo credit to ken wright sk8photo new zealand copyright
1st of Januray you're tired from something, but its not usually from racing the National Champs! New years this year didn't happen for those in the NZ skating community. Going into this competition I didn't know what to expect. I knew I was in pretty good shape physically, but without being able to push some weights I wasn't fast. In the end though I was in quite good form coming away with 4 golds: 20,000m elimination, 5,000m points, and the 10,000m indoor.
photo credit to ken wright sk8photo new zealand copyright photo credit to ken wright sk8photo new zealand copyright
These days racing in New Zealand is as good as you can get anywhere in the world. 4 skaters at some stage have won world titles, junior or senior. Another handful of skater have won medals at world championships, and the days of turning up to race out of shape are long over. However everyone is good friends, and the social is always top notch!
photo credit to ken wright sk8photo new zealand copyright

Recovery.

2006-02-23T18:01:00.000-08:00

I'm in there somewhere! This was the moment that my 2005 season came tumbling down, quite literally. It was the first time that this particular stage of the Swiss Inline Cup was held. The race was plauged by problems from the start. On the day of the race the organsiers changed the course. Instead of 2 complete laps of the lake, we would do 3 lengths of only the finishing side. The crash happened inside the final 1km, so the speed was pretty fast with all the teams setting up their sprinters for the finish. Then on this nasty right hand corner skaters started crashing on the inside of me, I hit the deck, and skidded feet first into a motorbike that was parked on the side of the road. So that was basically the end of what I thourght was going to be my best season to date. I was in good form claiming to 6th placings in Dijon, and Zurich, in hot tough conditions, and with the World Championships looming I was excited to see what I could do. Alas it wasn't to be, and before I knew it I was flat on my back in a hospatil bed with a broken leg. I had broken both the Tibia and Fibula just about the ankle. A super important joint for a speed skater. Similar to a wrist for a tennis player. I was lucky, I had a top notch surgeon; My team manager from the first year I was in Europe offered to bolt me back together. So now I have several pins, plates and screws holding my ankle joint back together. I flew back to New Zealand 10 days after the operation, with my mind already on 2006.

Again I was lucky I had a good physio. She knew my history, I'd worked with her for several years now, and she knew what it meant to me to be good as new, as soon as possible. And so it started: Physio 4 or 5 times a week, and about a month after returning home I hit the stationary bike. Just 10mins, then 15, then 20. I was getting bored though. I couldn't ride out on the rides just yet, because it was simply too dangers, I couldn't twist my foot to unclip my pedals, and the drivers in Auckland, aren't to polite. However after 10 days of this indoor bike carry on I'd had enough ( anyone who knows me knows I'd rather ride in a monsoon than on a wind trainer), so still using both crutches I climbed on my bike, made my girlfirend drive behind me to act as a shield (and so I could hold the car at traffic lights so I didn't have to unclip the pedals), and away I went. Believe it or not it felt good to be in lycra again. Each time I'd slowly do more and more, getting longer, and riding faster. I couldn't stand on my pedals to accelrate yet. It got to the stage where I was doing over 70km per day.

Walking was the next issue. After 2 months I cut it back to one crutch, then a couple of weeks later, I was free. This was by now the longest time I had spent off skates since I was about 5 years old! I thourght if I can walk I can skate. So I squeezed myself into my skates around the middle of septemeber. Just rolling around the indoor track. It felt good, but it hurt. Gradually though I could skate more and more. I made myself a goal (which everyone said couldn't be done) was the 1st of October I was going to be skating normally, with my eye on the New Zealand Marathon championships a month or so later.

I raced the marathon champs. It was hard, most of the guys seemed to have abit of form left in the tank from the World Championships. I got through it ok, went in a few breakaways, and ended up 6th.

photo credit to ken wright sk8photo new zealand copyright

This was the end of my "recovery" and now it was full speed ahead to the New Zealand Nationals in Chistchurch in early January.

Welcome!

2006-02-23T17:23:00.000-08:00

photo credit to ken wright sk8photo new zealand copyright
Hello to everyone inside and outside the skating world!

Its only six or seven weeks until the new World inline Cup season kicks off. Starting in Seoul, then a quick flight down to Taipei, and then over to Europe for a majority of the season. This will be my second season racing as part of the Athleticum-Rollerblade international team. Well hopefully it will be my first full season after the crash that so dramatically halted my 2005 season.

Its been an eventful offseason for my team. Firstly with the departure of our leader Kalon Dobbin. This was a shock to say the least. Kalon has been, in one way or another, in the Rollerblade organisation since 1999. As always with things like this there are positives and negatives, but it does create alot of oppotunities for the other guys on our team with it being such a young team. Maybe it was just time for a change for him, and me, along with the others on the team we are still very good friends with him. Both Alain Gloor and Roger Schneider have been in Holland and all over Europe competing in the ice season. Alain has got himself several victories and podium placings. Raphael Pfulg has been in New Zealand, training and racing hard to prepare himself for the 2006 season. He has discovered what its like to have Christmas in 30 degree heat!