As planned, I did my first pump-only hour record attempt on friday. I‘m glad, I finished the hour. Other than I remembered the spot wasn‘t any good. The schoolyard is quiet a bit smaller than I expected and the pavement isn‘t as smooth as it used to be several years ago. There is only room for an almost square loop of about 100 meter. I did a few laps before the start and felt uncomfortable immediately. The straights were too short to get in a flow. And the bad surface didn‘t help with this.
Anyway I started the attempt as it was the only chance to do so during the weekend. The one push start was good. But I was struggling to gain momentum and wasn't able to find a good rhythm. After a few laps I had thoughts about stopping and throwing the board away. But surrender is not an option, if a good old friend is willing to spend some hours to support. So I kept going and going. I changed my stance several times. When Andreas shouted „10 minutes“ I was like: „Man, you can‘t be serious!“ I kept going and couldn't keep up the pace. Still it felt like hours were passing and Andreas didn‘t shout „20“. Actually he didn‘t mentioned 20 minutes at all. Or maybe I didn‘t realize. But when he shouted „Halftime!“, I knew I could make it. My feet were starting to hurt a bit, but not as bad as expected. I even started to feel better after about 45 minutes and was able to speed up a little bit during the last few laps. After 170 laps (17,255m) I reached the line almost exactly after 60 minutes (60 minutes and 8,5 seconds to be precise).
Lessons learned
I think 18 km or more are doable: If:
- you don‘t do an attempt on a spot you haven‘t skated for years.
- there is smooth pavement!!!
- the loop is at least of 200 m lenght with two straights and two turns.
Facts
Date: 15.06.2018
Place: Pestalozzischule Kaiserslautern (GER)
Length of Lap: 101,5 m
Riding time: 60:00:08
Laps: 170
Distance: 17,225 km
Average Speed: 17,214 km/h
Deck: Fullbag Foobô
Front: SurfRodz TKP +11°w/ mint Seismic Blast Waves
Rear: Seismic Stable Spring Truck -5° w/ mango Seismic Blast Waves