Le Mans on eight wheels

It was an inauspicious start to last year’s Le Mans 24 hour roller relay. One seventh of the team had missed the train and there had been one injury before the race had even started; our team shirts were homemade with sharpies on the Eurostar and the rain was practically biblical.

Nonetheless, we soldiered on and managed to steal away first prize in the student category. One golden cup, a bottle of champagne and enough time for the muscle spasms to subside later, we decided to go again, except this time bigger and better!

This year, ten members of IC Skate Soc are undertaking one of the world’s most challenging skate races.

This is where Adrian Wordsworth comes in. Adrian has been skating since he was a toddler and has gone on to win 21 British speed skating titles. He has been a fixture on the UK skating scene for decades.

Our captain and Chair last year, Jenny Lenz, met Adrian last year at Le Mans and Adrian has generously offered to train our team this year. His company, Troup Bywaters + Anders, will also sponsor us for some real shirts this year! Thanks to this generosity we plan to steal back the Cup of Glory from our rivals at other Universities worldwide.

"We plan to steal the Cup of Glory from our rivals"

This Wednesday was our first training session. Though bitterly cold, the sun was shining and we headed down to Serpentine road in Hyde Park. Setting out a small circuit, we began with the basics and learned the stance preferred by speed skaters… getting really, really low! After two minutes skating in this position, our thighs were on fire and our lower backs were starting to complain.

The paceline (a technique where a long line of skaters all skate in perfect unison, so that wind resistance is reduced for everyone except the poor leader) was equally difficult, with everyone bumping into each other and falling behind in turns. How on Earth were we going to take on this mammoth race?!

And yet, within half an hour we were getting it, and skating with perfect form around our circuit. We learned about planning lines around corners, about passing batons without decelerating (scary!) and much more. Within 2 hours we were all hooked, and excited for the next training session!

By the time Le Mans rolls around in June, we’re hoping to be a well-oiled skating machine – in no small part thanks to Adrian’s expert training. If you’re interested in learning to skate, or in joining the speed skating team, IC SkateSoc meet every Wednesday at 13:00 in Beit Quad, and can provide skates and pads.

Speed Skate training is the first week of every month at the same time as usual skate sessions. We can be found on Facebook at groups/ICskatesoc. Adrian’s page, with photos, tips and tricks, can be found on facebook at AWSpeedSkating.