Thinking about rules for a LDP Hour Record Attempt

Even a simple race format like a long distance pumping Hour Record attempt needs some rules. Here some material that may help defining a set of rules:

Update: I recived great feedback at the Distance Skateboarding Worldwide Group over at facebook. This leads to some changes.

1.) Track or Loop of any length. max. 400m length. Length of the lap shall be measured at inner side.

If there is a s-curve on the loop, the course must be defined, marked and measured properly in this curve.

2.) Skateboard shall be like in slalom skateboarding (ISSA Rules 2.1 – 2.3).

“2.1 Required Equipment
Skateboard Deck: The deck must be structurally sound and not pose a safety hazard. It may be any shape, size, or construction.
Wheels: Exactly four (4) wheels. No other restrictions.
Trucks: Must be lean-steer activated. Competitors are required to ride in a standing (upright) position.
Protective Equipment
Helmet
Shoes
Optional protective equipment: Knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, etc.

2.2 Allowed Equipment (including, but not limited to)
Grip tape, foot stops or other devices to limit the lateral movement of the feet on the deck. They must not wrap over, trap or affix the rider’s foot to the deck in any way.
Concave, kicktail, camber, and other shape modifications to the flat deck.

2.3 Prohibited Equipment
Propulsion devices or mechanisms.
Brakes, clutches or other devices providing torque to the wheels.
Bindings, toe straps or other devices that attach the shoes to the deck.
Aerodynamic fairings, parachutes, sails or other such devices. Handles, seats, supports or other equipment that provides an interface from the racer to the board other than the sole of the shoe. Equipment that is consumed, discarded or jettisoned during the race.
Steering mechanisms activated by means other than lean-to-steer.”

3. Only one rider on the track.

4. Pump only. (Expect at the start) No contact to the ground allowed during the ride neither with the body nor with any object (i.e. landpaddle).

5. One push start from a standstill.

Start from a standstill. Like in NDSA.COM Cyberslalom rules. But where shall the timing start?

“5.1. 25-CONE COURSE (ENGLISH UNITS […]
• 3-foot square starter box (Racer’s pushing foot must be in this box)
• Start line at front of start box
• 15ft from start box to 1st cone”

6. The attempt shall terminate when the rider crosses the start/finish line after the first complete lap past 60 minutes. The timekeeper shall measure the actual riding time (stop at tenths of a second). The distance covered in the hour shall be calculated as the average speed of the covered distance (numbers of laps x length of lap) during the actual riding time. The distance covered shall be rounded down to the nearest metre. The Hour Record may not be beaten by less than one metre.

Covered distance shall be measured like in the UCI Track Cycling Regulations (without the pistol shots):

“3.5.029
The timekeeper shall, by ringing a bell, indicate the last lap (or the lap during which the hour expires) when the time remaining to ride is less than the average time realised over one lap of the track.
3.5.030 The attempt shall terminate when the rider crosses the pursuit line from which he started. The end shall be indicated by a double pistol shot.

3.5.031 The distance covered in the hour shall be calculated as follows:

D = (L Pi x TC) + Di C Di
C = L Pi x TRC / TTC

Where: D = distance covered in the hour
L Pi = length of track
TC = number of complete laps before the last lap
Di C = additional distance
TTC = time of the last complete lap
TRC = time remaining to ride at the beginning of the last lap

3.5.032 The distance covered shall be rounded down to the nearest metre. The Hour Record may not be beaten by less than one metre.

3.5.033 If, between the expiry of the hour and the end of the last lap, an incident occurs to prevent completion of the lap, the additional distance shall be calculated on the basis of the time of the lap before last.”

7. The skater shall ensure there is enough beer, ale or cider for everyone at the after race party. BBQ is recommended but not mandatory.

Testing gear – Starting point

Experimenting with Gear is almost as much fun as actually riding the boards. Pumping is much about gear. Dialing in the right set up is all important. A pumping board needs a turny front truck, an almost dead rear truck and fast, grippy wheels. For my purpose, pumping max. speed on a short track for an hour, I prefer topmount decks. And I don’t use a deck specially designed for LDP. Those are usually flexy. But I don’t want flex in the deck. I’m convinced that flex makes me slow.

I chose a Rayne Vandal V2 as my “parking-lot pumping”-deck, as it’s stiff has lots of concave and no rocker nor drop. It’s 37x10’’ with 24,5-27’’ wheelbase. Recently I changed to the longest wheelbase. The board is assembled with a Bennett 5.0 (+11°) in front and a narrow Seismic G2 with yellow springs in the rear. The Seismic is 45°, not one of the 30° that are designed as rear trucks. Therefore it needs lots of dewedging (-20°). That makes my Vandal a very high ride. I did some improvements to the Bennett: installed a selfmade plug in the hanger, put some love in polishing the pivot and put I one of the expensive Riptide pivot cups. I ride them with blue Sunrise bushings (75a).

Recently I got hold of a Fullbag Fȏboo for cheap. It’s 38 x 9,75’’ with 31’’ wheelbase. The Fȏboo is setup with a Surf Rodz TKP 139mm (+11°) in front and a modified Randal 35° (-8,5) in rear. I bought the Surf Rodz at Bolle & Scheese as LDP optimized. It’s got a Surf Key, RipTide APS bushings (85a) and a RipTide pivot-cup installed. The Randal was modified by myself. I narrowed the Hanger, which was 125mm originally, widened the hangerhole and put a selfmade plug in it. At the moment bushings are a RipTide APS Chubby 80a (boardside) and a Sunrise Gummies Barrel 80a (roadside). It’s got a RipTide Pivot cup installed as well. Set up like this, the Fȏboo is pretty low for a topmount pumping board. Because of its shape wheelbites aren’t much of a problem. That’s good because I want to use it for longer rides in the surroundings of Cologne where I need to push sometimes. With it’s mellow concave it’s more comfortable than the Vandal as well. But I don’t think the Fȏboo is the right deck for fast pumping. Still I want to test out, whether the longer wheelbase does make a significant difference.

In performance there isn’t much of a difference between the two boards. The Vandal has been slightly faster in my first little test (five laps on the nearby parking-lot). But the 2 seconds difference isn’t really significant as the riding time has been a little less than 4 minutes.

At the moment both boards are equipped with bubblegum Seismic Avilas in the rear and lime ABEC11 BigZigs in the front. But I’ve got yellow BigZigs, bubblegum Seismic HotSpots and mango Seismic Blast Waves as well. So wheels will be tested soon.

What is LDP?

Pumping is a riding style were momentum is generated by a combination of weighting/unweighting and turning the board. In recent years lot of kids were pumping waveboards on or streets. The technique has its roots in surfing.

As it mimics surfing, pumping has been adopted to skateboarding decades ago. It is essential for skateboard slalom. But pumping is also used, to skate for distance. With the longboard revival a couple of years ago pumping became popular again. The technique has been perfected. So were the decks, trucks and wheels, that are used now. Now it is possible to go for very long distances by pumping a longboard. Long distance pumping (LDP) was established as an expression for this way of transportation. Nowadays LDP is also used as an acronym for long distance pushing. The construction of longboards built of platforms and brackets allows both pumping and pushing. This is one of the reasons, why distance skateboarding flourishes in a nice. Common formats of competition are 24 h ultra skates, 6 h races and marathons. During the long races, the riders alternate between pushing and pumping to avoid unbalanced stress to certain muscles.

It's difficult to explain how pumping works, is difficult to explain. It's better to take a look at it, i.e. in this video by Vlad Popov:

www.vladpopov.com from Longboy on Vimeo.

 If you still want to read about it, you should check the article “How to … Pump? Propelling yourself with turns” by Dan Gesmer. On pavedwave.org you find much info on pumping and distance skateboarding, especially in the forum (sadly there is not much goinig on anymore). Another website on all aspects of distance skateboarding is “Skate further”. On Facebook you can find several groups on the issue, i.e. “Distance Skateboarding Worldwide” and Long Distance Pumping (Skateboarding) LDP.

LDP Hour Attempt

To ride a longboard in circles for an hour doesn’t seem to make much sense. And it seems hard to avoid pushing during that time and generate drive only by pumping. Very hard! But that exactly what I want to achieve during this year: a LDP hour attempt.

You might have heard about the hour record in cycling. It's a “record for the longest distance cycled in one hour on a bicycle from a stationary start. Cyclists attempt this record alone on the track without other competitors present”. (Wikipedia) It is considered one of the toughest tests in endurance sport. Since I was a kid I’m fascinated by the achievements of cyclists in that event and by its great tradition. But I’ m Skateboarder with very limited talent in cycling. Therefore I was thinking about a way to transfer the hour record to skateboarding. In this case, just to push around for an hour in my opinion isn’t difficult enough. That’s why a want to do a pump only attempt.

This is a pretty challenging project for it. I don’t have much time to practice and 30 minutes is the longest time I’ve been pumping non-stop jet. I need to find a smooth, dry track and a day without too much wind. Plus some help with timing and counting laps. And Fans that support me. My record shouldn’t be pathetic. That’s why I have to experiment with gear to find a suitable set up for this purpose.

 I will update my progress and hope to give a report on my first hour attempt before the end of summer. If you like you can follow me on Instagram.