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Sunday, October 16, 2005

Rollerblading Triple Marathon Distance

This Wednesday I believe I have set the record for the longest route ever skated on rollerblades in Israel during the course of a day. Taking advantage of the closed roads on "Yom-Kippur", I skated from Haifa to Tel-Aviv, and then From Tel-Aviv to Rehovot.
The whole route took under 7 hours (including two 40 minute rest-stops), and the course totaled at over 120 kilometers almost triple marathon distance.

The journey started out as a joint venture lead by a skater that goes by the name of "Fast Eyal" Six rollerbladers, myself included, planned to skate from Haifa to Tel-Aviv, approximately 90 Km's.

We set out at the evening of Yom-Kippur, just as the roads were closing down. A strong tail wind helped us keep up a good speed, and before last light was out, we were nearly half way to Tel-Aviv, and making our first rest stop.
After fueling up on various energy bars, gels, and water we set out to complete the course.

We arrived in Tel-Aviv four hours after we set out from Haifa.
Setting out on the course, I wasn't sure I would be able to complete all 90 kilometers of it. I arrived in TA feeling in better shape than after courses half that long.
After meeting some rollerblading friends in TA, bragging about the achievement, and having a bit of a rest, each of us skated home. I had originally planned to crash at a friends place in TA, but after considering my options, I decided to try and skate the remaining 40 kilometers home to Rehovot alone.

A bit over an hour later, I arrived at home thus completing my record breaking course. Unfortunately, as the course was not planned, and since none of us were even sure if we could complete the initial 90 km's the whole event was undocumented.

On a side note one would expect me to attempt such a course on proper speed-skates. I tackled this route with my Salomon Crossmax S-Lab, a "Freeskate" style rollerblade with a short frame and a 80mm-76mm "Hi-Lo" wheel setup. Measuring my wheels before setting out I discovered my largest wheel was just over 70mm's in diameter.
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