BIKES, BLADES & BLUEBERRIES ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON

Thanks, once again, to Kathy Hunt for another report and photos about fun pre-season training events going on in the Kitchener-Waterloo area.

Hello fellow speed skaters. It looks like summer is coming to a close and we are all getting keen to get on ice again. The most recent www/mmm impromptu training venture took place in Guelph on Sunday, August 17. It started downtown...then on to Guelph Lake on our bikes...then back into town for an inline skate on a paved oval...then blueberries and ice cream!!!

Yes, it was fun, and yes we could be called wild, weird and wacky, as suggested. The bike ride was refreshing, and at the track we practiced our Ellis Edge “press-scoop-pinch” – for those that didn’t attend the Ottawa Master’s camp we will tell you all about that on ice, but trust me – it works!

We added a few new contributions to the “Low Walks around the World” collection - a photo series featuring the world as seen by speed skaters, an extension of “Low Walks in Ottawa” which launched at the Master’s camp.

Thanks to Rosie and Pattie for finding the oval (who else would find a paved 400 meter oval in the middle of Guelph?), to John for helping with the photography, to Rosie and Mike for picking the blueberries and to John and Mike for bringing the ice cream and blueberries! What a way to end a workout!
John, Rosie, Mike and Patti at the starting point at Silver Creek Park
We wind our wind through the trails of Guelph which follow the Speed River
And cross over the river several times
At Guelph Lake we make an addition to the “Low Walk” photo series
Yes, we do get some odd looks from people. We laughed when Patti told a staring onlooker “you don’t even want to ask”.

John, Patti and Rosie
John, Patti and Rosie
Rosie, Patti and John as we bike back into Guelph
Rosie, Patti and Pauline at the amazing paved oval, which was apparently paved by mistake! Bonus for us!
Oh yes, more low walks – not so easy on inlines
Its low-walking Rosie, Kathy, Patti. Now, if we could just look like this while we are actually skating!
Rosie, Patti, Kathy - not bad!
What can be better than a picnic after a great day of biking and skating?
The answer is - nothing can be better! Kathy, Rosie, John, Mike, Pauline, Patti
Ahh! Blueberries by Mike and Rosie, ice cream by Mike and John
A picnic basket and a cute little dog as well? Only at a WWW get together!

See you soon on ice!

Kathy L Hunt