The Voice from the Pacific Northwest Newsletter

The European Racing Vacation....continued

For many skaters in North America, races are few and far between, and each competition means a long flight, a hotel stay, possibly a rental car as well. A well-organized European trip might get you more racing over the course of two or three weeks than you could manage during an entire North American season, without costing much more than a few domestic race weekends. As an added bonus, you'll be on holiday in Europe!

Inline has enjoyed tremendous growth in Europe over the past five years. Even a small local race will attract several hundred speedskaters, with equally large numbers of recreational skaters. The major races feature starting fields in the thousands. No matter what your ability, you'll have a large pack to draft with. Races are normally marathons or half-marathons with a few 10 km or double-marathon (84 km) events thrown into the mix.

A few years ago I lived and raced in Berlin for two seasons. The German calendar is now very full, with races every weekend in different parts of the country. Last year I returned for the summer and managed to race on four consecutive weeks, twice in Berlin, once just over an hour's drive away. This summer I'm hoping to go back again, where in theory I could race eight times between early August and late September, without ever having to drive more than a few hours from the city.

The highlights - and bookends - of the German season are the Hamburg and Berlin marathons. Hamburg, in late April, is famous for hectic starts, the long descent into the Fish Market tunnel, a gradual climb to the finish and a generally fantastic atmosphere. Berlin, 24 September this year, has moved to a Saturday afternoon start and the race organization hopes for 10,000 starters. Berlin is a flat, fast course with long straights, smooth pavement and wide turns - expect large packs finishing in just over an hour.

Race organizers are universally friendly and helpful, and there's always someone with enough English to help a foreign skater (though this can be less true in the former East Germany). You won't be alone, either - in the north, there's always a contingent of Danes and Poles in the major races. You can almost always pre-register on the race website or by e-mail. (If you have a ChampionChip, bring it with you.)

Inline racing is booming in Switzerland. Races are staged very professionally every weekend. Participation is high and the events are extremely spectator friendly. In some cases the city centres are closed down with spectators lining the barricades or watching the skaters fly by while sitting in a side walk cafe, sipping wine or beer.

Holland has it's own distinct "skeeler" scene, where the winter ice-marathon stars don wheels for criteriums and road races throughout the country. The Dutch calendar is densely packed with races, and there will be no trouble finding good English-speakers. (But check ahead of time to see if there are special rules for foreign skaters.) Italy and France produce some of the world's fastest skaters, so there's clearly no shortage of races in either country.

In between races, you can contact local clubs to find the best training areas. Many cities have oval skating tracks or dedicated loops in municipal parks. And regular weeknight rolls ("Blade Nights" in Germany) fill city centers with thousands of recreational skaters in the summer.

Two or three weeks in Europe is not always cheap, but if you fly on low-cost charters, use a rail pass or rent a small economy car, stay in youth hostels or with friends, cook your own meals and avoid tourist restaurants, travelling and living can be surprisingly inexpensive.

Links:

Holland
www.skatebond.nl

Germany
www.speedskater.de
www.speedskating.de
www.german-blade-challenge.de
www.berlin-marathon.com (some English-language information)
www.hamburg-marathon.com (some English-language information)

Switzerland

Happy Skating.