An ice skater comes to live in Barcelona
In 2008 we moved from the Netherland to Barcelona to live there permanently. I had already informed myself about the possibilities to skate on ice around Barcelona. Another fanatic skater from the Netherlands had told me that a new 400m ice skating track was built in a town Jaca close to the Pyrenees. So there we went the first year to see how it looked like. Jaca was further away than I thought and the new skating track turned out to be just another ice hockey hall. I went skating there but that was not what I was looking for. Fortunately the town was nice so it was a nice trip. Based on further information it was clear that there was nowhere a larger track for ice skating in Spain than such ice hockey halls. So I had to look for another possibility to skate
Inline skating in and around Barcelona
Now I started to orientate me on inline skating in and around Barcelona. First I looked on the internet for information. There I detected no speed skating club in Barcelona but two in Prat de Llobregat, a town close to the airport of Barcelona. So I went there at a training hour to see how it was. The track looked nice but small for an ice skater. People were training under supervision of a trainer. It looked very nice as you can see in the video; you hear the sounds of the wheels. It looked attractive to join them. |
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The only problem that kept me from doing that, being 62, was that the oldest skater was 25 years old. In the end I decided not to join them for this reason and to look for another possibility.
Training with the PC Nickys in Terrassa
Looking at the internet I detected two papers of Laure Sintes; one about the mathematical analysis of the inline skating movement (the double push) and one about the effect of the size of the wheels on the speed. I thought that he must be a fanatic skater, so I contacted him. He was very nice and invited me for the training of his club, PC Nickys, in Terrassa on Wednesday evening. I went there and I got to know Laure and Nestor, both around 40 years old, and two Rogers; one being 15 and the other 20 years old. They were very open to me, this strange ice skater of 62 years who hardly spoke any Spanish nor Catalan. The training took place on a bicycle circuit with small climbs and descends and many curves. This was very different from my normal skating. Mostly we started with gymnastics to warm up then several technical rounds, some faster rounds and some other exercises and some more rounds. The training was mainly directed to prepare for races. I had never done such trainings but it was interesting. The first test came with the participation in the marathon of Tarragona.
Looking at the internet I detected two papers of Laure Sintes; one about the mathematical analysis of the inline skating movement (the double push) and one about the effect of the size of the wheels on the speed. I thought that he must be a fanatic skater, so I contacted him. He was very nice and invited me for the training of his club, PC Nickys, in Terrassa on Wednesday evening. I went there and I got to know Laure and Nestor, both around 40 years old, and two Rogers; one being 15 and the other 20 years old. They were very open to me, this strange ice skater of 62 years who hardly spoke any Spanish nor Catalan. The training took place on a bicycle circuit with small climbs and descends and many curves. This was very different from my normal skating. Mostly we started with gymnastics to warm up then several technical rounds, some faster rounds and some other exercises and some more rounds. The training was mainly directed to prepare for races. I had never done such trainings but it was interesting. The first test came with the participation in the marathon of Tarragona.
My first marathon on inline skates
In this marathon all members of our club were participating. I have had experience with skating against the wind in the Netherlands. This can be very hard but normally the skaters share the burden by exchanging the position at the front of the group. This does not help in races where you have to skate uphill. In this marathon we had to skate 9 rounds of nearly 5 km each. That meant that we had to skate 9 times approximately 2 km up a hill. For an ice skaters this was not an easy task. The last time I was really wondering whether I would make it. Fortunately I could finish this marathon in time. It was interesting to experience that just 42km on inline skates could be so hard to do. But it was nice and so I continued training with Laure.
In this marathon all members of our club were participating. I have had experience with skating against the wind in the Netherlands. This can be very hard but normally the skaters share the burden by exchanging the position at the front of the group. This does not help in races where you have to skate uphill. In this marathon we had to skate 9 rounds of nearly 5 km each. That meant that we had to skate 9 times approximately 2 km up a hill. For an ice skaters this was not an easy task. The last time I was really wondering whether I would make it. Fortunately I could finish this marathon in time. It was interesting to experience that just 42km on inline skates could be so hard to do. But it was nice and so I continued training with Laure.
Championship of Cataluña on inline skates
The next event where I was expected to participate, being a member of a speed skating club, was the championship of Cataluña for masters (people above 30). Laure had to put a lot of effort in to realize that I could participate because the age of the masters in the administration of the Catalan Skating federation was of 30 - 40 and of 40 to 50 but not from 50-60 let alone 60-70. They had first to adjust the registration before I could participate. I was placed in the group above 50. We skated 10 km on a circuit in Villadecance and I must admit that I had problems to keep up with the younger masters but nevertheless became champion of Cataluña above 50. This was not so surprising because I was the only one above 50 and because no others participated I correctly was honored as the best of Cataluña.
The next event where I was expected to participate, being a member of a speed skating club, was the championship of Cataluña for masters (people above 30). Laure had to put a lot of effort in to realize that I could participate because the age of the masters in the administration of the Catalan Skating federation was of 30 - 40 and of 40 to 50 but not from 50-60 let alone 60-70. They had first to adjust the registration before I could participate. I was placed in the group above 50. We skated 10 km on a circuit in Villadecance and I must admit that I had problems to keep up with the younger masters but nevertheless became champion of Cataluña above 50. This was not so surprising because I was the only one above 50 and because no others participated I correctly was honored as the best of Cataluña.
No club and track in Barcelona
I was still surprised that a big town like Barcelona did not have a speed skating club nor a track where you could do skate as a sport weekly during a couple of hours. I had to go 20 or 40 km outside Barcelona for this activity and then there were no people of my age participating. This was even stranger to me because I saw so many skaters in the town. This will be a topic for another story.
I was still surprised that a big town like Barcelona did not have a speed skating club nor a track where you could do skate as a sport weekly during a couple of hours. I had to go 20 or 40 km outside Barcelona for this activity and then there were no people of my age participating. This was even stranger to me because I saw so many skaters in the town. This will be a topic for another story.