We started Roller speed in Barcelona
Every Wednesday afternoon, from 2010 to 2012, I attended Laure's training at Nicky's PC in Terrassa. On weekends I skated early in the morning around Barcelona to avoid traffic problems. Other days I went to the river Besòs and skated the 5km of the bike path parallel to the river, where it was quite safe to skate and you were not stopped by traffic lights. In September of 2011 I was surprised to see Emma putting on speed skates. Enthusiastic about seeing someone with speed skates, I did not hesitate to contact her to find out more about speed skating in Barcelona. She told me that it was the first time that she put on speed skates and she also told me about the initiative of two other people, Kim and Gaston, to start speed skating along that river and that if I wanted more information U could find it on Facebook. And there I looked. September 10 was the first day of speed skating training along this river. I was delighted with this initiative and there I went. In the photo you can see the participants of the first hour.
The start of APB Roller Speed
We all skated along the river, back and forth and then discussed the idea of creating an open speed skating group. We agreed that it would be called APB Roller Speed and that we would create a Facebook page with the same name to make our activities public.
This is how we advertised our activities on Facebook:
Saturday afternoon at 5pm: speed skating training along the river Besòs
Monday at 8pm: Speed Skating Training at Willy Brandt Square next to the Forum, Hilton Hotel.
Wednesday at 6pm: Speed Skating Speed at Willy Brandt Square next to the Hilton Hotel Forum.
We all skated along the river, back and forth and then discussed the idea of creating an open speed skating group. We agreed that it would be called APB Roller Speed and that we would create a Facebook page with the same name to make our activities public.
This is how we advertised our activities on Facebook:
Saturday afternoon at 5pm: speed skating training along the river Besòs
Monday at 8pm: Speed Skating Training at Willy Brandt Square next to the Forum, Hilton Hotel.
Wednesday at 6pm: Speed Skating Speed at Willy Brandt Square next to the Hilton Hotel Forum.
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The others did not seem very convinced that my proposal to skate in a square would be successful. I told them that skating on a track was also a lot of fun based on my own experience. Moreover, it is advantageous because the group remains together. By the river people are dispersed and distance if the speed is not reduced to the slowest skater of the group. This indeed happened for months in our trainings by the river as you can see in the video. |
At the beginning, we were not going very fast, especially in the square, because the participants were not familiar with skating of curves. We organized specific training courses to practice it. When the group grew, the quality of the skating improved for a large part because members of PC Nicky's and other clubs came to participate in our activities. Also a second ice skater , Oliver, joined us and we ended up baptized as the "ice men" by our different style of skating.
On December 3 I organized "a day of skating on a track"
On December 13 Mateu organized a resistance route of 100 kilometers through Barcelona.
On December 3 I organized "a day of skating on a track"
On December 13 Mateu organized a resistance route of 100 kilometers through Barcelona.
Roller Speed in 2012
So far the APB Roller Speed was a success and therefore in the next year we went on in the same way. New members joined our activities, Antonello, Gloria and Elias, especially people who liked sportive activities. This led again to an increase in speed and quality but automatically also to people who could not follow the group anymore and so two groups had to be organized with different activities.
Below are the fotos of the skaters participating in the training when Sergi Foto Roller made them
So far the APB Roller Speed was a success and therefore in the next year we went on in the same way. New members joined our activities, Antonello, Gloria and Elias, especially people who liked sportive activities. This led again to an increase in speed and quality but automatically also to people who could not follow the group anymore and so two groups had to be organized with different activities.
Below are the fotos of the skaters participating in the training when Sergi Foto Roller made them
Special activities in 2012
Next to the normal training on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday the following special activities were organized
13 february a joined training of PC Nicky´s, Roller Speed and Tarraco in Sabadel.
27 maart participation of a team of 6 masters of the APB roller speed in the 24 hours of Calafat
15 April a 50km endurance race to Casteldefels organized by Mateu.
22 April participation in the marathon of Valencia by some members of Roller Speed and PC Nicky`s
2 December another endurance tour of 100km around Barcelona organized by Mateu
Skating along the river Besos was not always without risk
Training along the river Besos was not always without risk because of the playing children, the dogs, the cyclists and unexpectedly horses as well. One day we skated with four on the small extension of the cycle path when we saw in a distance two people on horses coming to us. We thought that we could pass them, so we continued but when we were close to them one of the horse got nervous and blocked the way for us. We could not stop anymore. We had the choice to pass underneath the horse, hit on it or jump in the green next to the path. We all decided for the latter and in this way survived without too many injuries this accident. But this was the end of our love relationship with the Besos river.
We started to look for other places to skate: So we went to the skating rink of St Boi, the Canal Olympico in Castedefels and detected the quiet roads close to the Airport of Barcelona. This became later our favorite training track on Saturdays as alternative for the Besos river.
Next to the normal training on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday the following special activities were organized
13 february a joined training of PC Nicky´s, Roller Speed and Tarraco in Sabadel.
27 maart participation of a team of 6 masters of the APB roller speed in the 24 hours of Calafat
15 April a 50km endurance race to Casteldefels organized by Mateu.
22 April participation in the marathon of Valencia by some members of Roller Speed and PC Nicky`s
2 December another endurance tour of 100km around Barcelona organized by Mateu
Skating along the river Besos was not always without risk
Training along the river Besos was not always without risk because of the playing children, the dogs, the cyclists and unexpectedly horses as well. One day we skated with four on the small extension of the cycle path when we saw in a distance two people on horses coming to us. We thought that we could pass them, so we continued but when we were close to them one of the horse got nervous and blocked the way for us. We could not stop anymore. We had the choice to pass underneath the horse, hit on it or jump in the green next to the path. We all decided for the latter and in this way survived without too many injuries this accident. But this was the end of our love relationship with the Besos river.
We started to look for other places to skate: So we went to the skating rink of St Boi, the Canal Olympico in Castedefels and detected the quiet roads close to the Airport of Barcelona. This became later our favorite training track on Saturdays as alternative for the Besos river.
Should we start a speed skating club or not?
The members of roller speed could not participate in the Masters Championships of Catalunya because they were not members of the Skating Federation. The PC Nicky´s participated including me, being members. Several members of Roller Speed came to look at the championships and liked to compete as well. This led to the discussion if we should join another club or start one ourselves.
We decided that it was better to start a club in Barcelona. So the necessary documents were made by Mateu and 31 December 20012 the club was recognized by the local government and the Catalan skating Federation
The members of roller speed could not participate in the Masters Championships of Catalunya because they were not members of the Skating Federation. The PC Nicky´s participated including me, being members. Several members of Roller Speed came to look at the championships and liked to compete as well. This led to the discussion if we should join another club or start one ourselves.
We decided that it was better to start a club in Barcelona. So the necessary documents were made by Mateu and 31 December 20012 the club was recognized by the local government and the Catalan skating Federation