Athens to Atlanta A2A Road Skate Absolute First Timer

> And, er, money's tight, yo, so do I need a Roadskater jersey to do so?

Roadskater can certainly speak for himself, but as this has gone unanswered for three days, I'll venture to say: By no means is a Roadskater.net jersey required for anyone under any circumstances. If you would like to have one, then we would like you to have one--and in fact they are very nice jerseys. But no, you don't need one to be part of the team. I'm not the last word on that but I'm pretty well sure of it

Best of luck at A2A! Maybe I'll make it down there myself one of these years.

(To be clear, Jonathon did offer a tentative answer to this question in his reply and said pretty much the same thing. I wanted to be a little more emphatic about it in the absence of an official policy statement.)

 

I did my first A2A event in 1999 on K2 Kinetics (80mm). Ok it was 'only' the 38 miler, but even in the pouring rain my feet felt cushy the whole way. A friend of mine had her best A2A 87 mile distance time on her fitness boots, as opposed to her speed boots. Many people find their feet have turned to hamburger by mile 60 in speed boots because those boots are obviously harder and less padded than most fitness skates. My K2 frame was plenty long enough to handle the downhills without much fishtailing and wobbling. One key to staying steady on the downhills - even if you're going faster than you're comfy with - is to keep your weight back towards your heel wheels. In the beginning it's easy to confuse 'going in to a tuck' with leaning way forwards over your toe wheels. If too much of your body weight is over your toe wheels on a downhill, your skates will start to fishtail in & out a bit, you'll be really unsteady, and may very well fall. It might be a good idea to practice on a parking deck ramp somewhere (with a run out!), getting the feel of having your weight back over your heels on a downhill. Not too much to where you go over backwards, of course. I'd say practice on the flat first, then try a hill. I think that'll really help your confidence on the A2A downhills. If this doesn't make any sense, it's easier to get the feel for shifting your weight back and forth over your skates if you are 'sitting in the air chair' and have a decent knee-bend. When I say keep your weight back over your heels, I don't mean lean backwards, but instead be in somewhat of a squat. I think at the speed clinics they suggest a 90 to 110 degree knee bend. This is good for the purpose of getting balanced, but probably not feasible over 87 miles :-) I had been training on moderate hills before my first A2A and I did brake down a few of the first hills during the event, but honestly after about 5 miles I got over the fear pretty fast, realizing I had a few hours and many miles to go. Might as well capitalize on all that momentum on the downhills, eh? If you love the brake, wear the skates with the brake (your K2s, right?). I have speed skates AND a brake! Not going brakeless any time soon :-) One more thing about pacelines...if you need to touch the person in front of you (happens a lot because you're getting the benefit of the draft and are gaining on them), use the BACK of your hand - usually to the small of their back or just above the tailbone. Don't push on them with your palm. And the big reason for this is our natural instinct to grab something if we start falling. It's a split-second reaction to grab the jersey of the person in front of you if you start to fall. If you have the back of your hand there instead, that doesn't happen.

Like many others, I did my first A2A in rec skates. (K2 Kinetics, 4x80mm.) For hills, remember to start controlling your speed from the top of the hill. Once you're going faster than you're comfortable, it's too late. I'd stay upright for the first part, then tuck as you get closer to the bottom. Most everyone that does A2A is very helpful. I've never had a paceline pass me that didn't ask me to join them. If you tell them you haven't skated in a paceline before, I'm sure most groups would still be accommodating. If you don't have one already, a heart rate monitor is very useful. In the few weeks you have left, learn what heart rate you can skate at and sustain indefinitely. Then, at A2A, try to keep below that threshold. (You probably won't be able to on the hard climbs, but otherwise you should be able to.) Then there's the old advice: drink before you're thirsty, eat before you're hungry. Hopefully you've determined what your stomach can tolerate as far as food & drink go. Finally, respect the distance. That's usually not a problem for first-timers. But the second year I was a bit overconfident and bonked at 60 miles. - SM -

;-) A2A is seriously hilly... You should be comfortable both going up and going down hills. (Have a heel brake and know how to use it.) There's a rule of thumb that says if you can run/skate/bike a certain distance over the course of a week, then you can do it in a day. I think it's relatively accurate. But your results may vary, of course. A2A used to have a crazy rough patch of pavement about 6 miles long that is now nice and smooth. I can't think of any excessively rough pavement in the first 38 miles. (There is still some towards the end of the 87/52 mile route though.) Recreational/fitness skates are fine. Many people skate A2A in them every year. Most people that skate A2A for the first time do it in rec skates. You've got a few weeks left before A2A. I'd recommend trying a longer skate (maybe 20-25 miles) this weekend and see how you do. One thing about longer distances is you'll need to manage your food & fluid intake. You can get by on a 12-mile skate with nothing. But you'll need to be taking in some calories and some fluids (preferably a sports drink like gatorade) if you want to make it 38 miles. Energy bars or gels are the most popular, but you'll see people eating all kinds of things on the course. It is a challenge, but it's tons of fun and you'll meet a lot of great people. Next year, start training in the spring and do the full 87 miles... :-) - SM -

Hey Cat Brother and Danielle. I'll add quick ones. I usually like to go on and on. Busy now with Tour to Tanglewood. Come up and skate this weekend! It's for a good cause, but a bit pricey late, at $240 (because you have to pony up the fundraising at registration if you don't reg early). I used K2 Flight 76s that were hopped up to 80mm my first A2A. It rained. Others were blistered and bleeding when we came in soggy and happy head to feet. First A2A I think K2s or similar are perfect as long as they're not new to you. It's hilly and you need to be able to stop at intersections, but the countryside hills have nice runouts. Still you want to catch some air to slow down, don't get anywhere near too scary fast. You can go back later and go down the hills faster. The first time, just be safe and finish if you can! If you're in a paceline and start to freak, raise your left hand and say somthing like "I'M OUT" and come out of the paceline BEFORE you brake or some folk in the packback will be snarly with you for making them get dropped. A good thing to do is get to the back of the pack on the big downs so you can drift off when you need to, but get some of the benefit before that. In Charleston you might try skating that big bridge, if they let you. It'd be practice slowing coming off of that puppy too. So I say K2s with a brake first year at least, and many of us would be better off this way for longer, maybe forever. At some point you become better with the speed skates than the rec skates, and the rec skates might even rub your shins or whatever, but for now, use skates you know, K2s are great, and a new brake pad (or carry a new one with you with whatever tool you'd need). We find that oatmeal with dried cranberries about an hour before starting works pretty well. Drink electrolytes early on before you need them. Keep drinking them as long as you can. It's too late once you need them. Don't use any new food items in general. Test everything beforehand on your regular skate trips. First time we did Tanglewood (90 mils in 2 days) we had only done 32 miles in one day I think. Do half the total ahead of time or maybe a bit more and the adrenaline of the day will take you there. Wear a heart rate monitor if you have one and practice ahead of time with that. Learn what heart rate you average over an hour or longer, and try to stay at or below that average heart rate as you go, getting above it briefly, but getting below it enough to make the average OK. Don't redline (skate so hard you can't say a sentence without breathing in the middle, and I mean something longer than "Jesus wept.") for more than a minute or two max, especially early, if you're new to all this. You can have your pain early and suffer the rest of the day, or enjoy the day and suffer in a sprint to the finish. You pick. You can leave stuff at a rest stop and they'll bring it back to ATL, so you can even drop a big Camelbak at the last stop if you think you don't need the weight...but bring your keys and money and ID along. Ask questions when you meet skaters who've done A2A when you go to the Friday skate if you go, and on the bus to Athens if you take that Friday night. Get out to see what's going on Saturday and ask questions, make some potential friends. In the event, stick with at least one other person whenever you can without exhausting yourself. You may have to trade down to a slower person, but you both may pass that faster one before the finish, hanging out by a ditch somewhere. Being in the wind HALF as much is TWICE as good and conversation can really pass the time nicely. Search this site for a speed map of A2A and look at the speeds you can expect on the section you plan to skate. I hope to clean all this up later, ha! STUDY THIS MAP...CLICK IN CLOSER...COLOR SHOWS SPEEDS...THIS IS THE BEST THING I HAVE TO SHOW YOU WHAT TO EXPECT...use the dropdown to see other map styles... http://roadskater.net/photos/athens-to-atlanta-roadskate-a2a-2008-87-mil... STUDY THE SATELLITE MAP IN 3D..."play" the route if you know how to in Google Earth... http://roadskater.net/photos/athens-to-atlanta-roadskate-a2a-2008-87-mil... COMMENTS ON 2008 87-miler... http://roadskater.net/athens-atlanta-ga-roadskate-2008-87-mile-a2a-road-... THE FRIDAY NT SKATE http://roadskater.net/athens-atlanta-ga-roadskate-2008-friday-night-skat... CHECK THIS SEARCH and the "Similar Entries" section of the sidebar... http://roadskater.net/search/node/%22athens+to+atlanta%22 OK I need to sleeeeeeep!

I did A2A, 87 miles, for the first time last year. (I did the 10k in 2007.) My advice? 1. Practice hills. You can always rest and catch your breath. But you can't get your legs back when they've turned to rubber after too many hills. Better to do 10 mile practice skates with many hills than 50+ mile skates that are flat. 2. Know what your body needs in terms of electrolytes, water, and food. This would be one exception to the practice advice above--you might need one long skate to try out what electrolytes you need. I was lucky and had a good group to skate with, but our group dwindled to just two of us at the finish. It goes without saying that you need skates that you'll be comfortable in the whole way. -Tom

You'll see all manner of liquid carrying. The minimalist approach is to simply grab a water bottle from each rest stop. Some will carry the bottle in their hand, or put it in a jersey pocket. I have a water bottle holder that I wear like a fanny-pack. I always have two water bottles - one in the water bottle holder and another in a jersey pocket. This is in case I miss a handoff at a rest stop, or in case I run out. Like you said, 15 miles is pushing it for 12 oz of water. You can find a bottle holder like this at any sporting goods store. (I like the selection at REI...) They also have double bottle holders too. Camelbaks are very popular, they're just a little difficult to fill while you're rolling down the road. If you don't mind stopping to refill it, go for it. But keep in mind that the other skaters in your pack might not stop. I'd say that 1-liter (32oz) should be plenty big enough for just about anyone. Anything over 48oz is overkill, and just extra weight you'll be lugging up the hills. Of course, the tradeoff is you won't have to stop to refill it as much. Be sure to take in some electrolytes when you drink. You can either mix a sport drink (like gatorade) on the go or just add some electrolyte mix. I use a concentrated electrolyte mix from http://www.eletewater.com/ and just squirt it into the water bottles when I grab them. Others might carry gatorade mix and use it when they refill their camelbaks. - SM -