THUNDER BAY - It was the middle of summer, but skiers taking corners at full speed on two small pairs of wheels sure felt like they were on snow and ice.
“The conditions today were pretty tricky,” said Graham Ritchie, a member of the Thunder Bay National Team Development Centre. “These wheels don’t have very much traction so there was a lot of water on the road so it is hard on your legs and it requires a lot of upper body work.”
Ritchie was one of 30 athletes competing in the 2nd Annual Canada Day Rollerski Invitational. The race, which took place in downtown Port Arthur Sunday afternoon, saw top Nordic skiers from Thunder Bay and across Canada and Minnesota competing in elite endurance races and team relays.
Chris Serratore of the Thunder Bay NTDC said the number of competitors this year was down from the 40 that came out last year, which could be because there was no training camp taking place at the same time.
“This year we don’t have that same group here so it’s a lot of folks from a little closer to home and a few people up from the states,” he said.
The weather that left many Canada Day revelers frustrated didn’t seem to bother the competitors too much. Ritchie, who placed second among the men in the 12 lap endurance race with a time of 2:15:17, said roller skiing in the rain isn’t all that different from Nordic skiing in the snow.
“It’s actually quite similar,” he said. “It’s just a little bit different to get used to, but strategy wise, tactics are the same and you just ski as you would on snow.”
Annika Richardson, who was the top finisher for the women with a time of 3:29:97, is originally from Vancouver, so the wet streets almost felt like another training run.
“I am from Vancouver and it is a pretty rainy city and I’m used to skiing in wet conditions with lots of pine needles, so I just went in with that mentality and I thought I skied pretty well,” she said.
“I was coming off a bit of a rough season last year,” she continued. “But it feels good to be able to push myself as hard as I wanted to.”
Despite the rain, Richardson and Ritchie said they were pleased with the turnout this year.
“Even a few spectators weren’t bothered by the rain,” Ritchie said.
Serratore said the race provides a good training environment for some of the top Nordic athletes and he is hoping to see even more races opening up around the region.
“That is what we are trying to do is get a bit more racing for them happening in the summer on roller skies,” he said. “That’s really the goal. If we can get one or two more of these going on at different places, not only in Thunder Bay, would be ideal.”
Richardson agrees that racing on roller skis provides good training for the winter months, but all the athletes take racing down the streets on wheels just as seriously as racing down the trails on skis.
“Definitely as seriously because it’s a chance to see where your weaknesses lie and then really focus on them during the next couple months of training,” she said.
