Re: How do you measure SPEED on skates?

I do it the old-fashioned way, with a stop watch. I skate certain 
sections of trails on a regular basis and know how  far they are thanks 
to the cyclo computer on my bike. I then time myself once a week to 
determine my actual times. Speed is not really a factor as time is 
everything. If you hit peak speeds of 25 mph but can't maintain the 
average, then it is really somewhat useless information.

To use an example, in the old days the 10K was the big thing in skate 
racing locally. I would time myself on a 6 - 7 mile run. If the fastest 
skater was finishing in 20 minutes and I in 25, then I had work to do to 
be competitive. I recently did a timed run that was about 10 miles give 
or take. I made an incredible time of 34 minutes including two major 
road crossings. What was my actual speed? I guessed an average of around 
16 plus with road crossings. Factor them out and I was upwards of 17 - 
18. But since that was the fastest time I had ever completed that run, 
actual speed was irrelevant. The time was what counted.

I think what it really comes down to is you just want to know how fast 
you are really going on that massive downhill. But that has little 
bearing on your training. What really matters is the time for completion 
and the overall average speed. That is how races are won and fitness is 
attained.

BTW FNGuy, you know you are hauling #$% when you pass the bicyclists in 
the zook suits and they get PO'ed and have to chase you down to retain 
their manhood! :-)

Fastsk8r

FNGuy wrote:
> Besides the timed average around a measured course, or a buddy on a bike 
> with an expensive speedo, how do you know how fast is fast?  I haven't seen 
> whiz-bang Doppler gizmos at the skate shops...