| '2010 Blue Ridge Challenge' |
'Blue Ridge Challenge' by Michael Cheek
Big meets are so much fun. The 2010 Blue Ridge Challenge was held in Hickory, North Carolina. There were around 500 entries and the competition was great. People from up north drove through a blizzard to get to North Carolina, and a lot of people from down south got the opportunity to see snow for the first time. It was one of those meets where everyone seemed to have a good time.
I haven’t skated a meet in Hickory in probably 6 years and was pretty nervous to race there. There are some floors where it seems no matter what you do you just can’t get it right and Hickory has always been that place for me. This year however, I was very happy with the way I skated. I knew I wouldn’t be able to push 100% into the floor, and would have to get myself in good positions during the races. I probably wasn’t one of the top 5 fastest people on the floor, but was able to get 2nd in both the 1,500m and the 5,000m races. Sometimes you do everything you can to be in the right place in a race and just get beat by someone skating faster than you. You just have to tip your hat and try to get them next time. There were a lot of people looking really strong early in the year. A big surprise to me was the way a large group of girls are getting better. It seemed like we lost so many good girls in such a short period of time. It’s good to see so many different girls getting much better.
I was expecting to see lots of new wheels being so early in the season. However probably 95% of people were on Atom whips, and they were definitely the best wheels there. The new green hubs look really good, and I heard nothing but positive feedback about all of the Atom Wheels!
Sincerely, your friend in speed skating,
Michael Cheek
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