I’m watching the Olympics in awe of their athleticism and, in the case of the speedskaters, their physique. Never having speedskated, I imagine this is analogous to track cycling – high power, short event. Anyone ever do this event and notice similarities or cross-training benefits?
Evidence of freakishness:
Eric Heiden, Clara Hughes to name only two…lots of crossover through the years.
When I was speed skating we would normally ride 200 miles in addition to the 5 or 6 practices a week. I was nowhere near world class though.
jaretj
This post makes me sad.
I skated (age group pack skating) in the mid to late 1960’s as a young kid before moving away from Milwaukee. I remember Eric Heiden who was one age group younger than mine. Cycling was an off-season training event but as a young kid, you did not specialized as older ones did.
Eric Heiden took up speed skating as an off season workout and to keep the edge for bike racing. Turns out he was a better speed skater than biker. I run sometimes at the Petit ice center and sometimes would watch skaters who were headed to the olympics.
Dude has small calves 
As for the correlation between speed skating and cycling … there are some that make the cross over very well, as has already been mentioned. If you want some time off the bike, cross training with speed skating or inline skating is a good way to go. Similar muscles used, just in a bit different manner.
I want to say there are some cross country skiers who are also XC mountain bikers as well - but their names are totally escaping me.
IMO it’s one of the most impressive feats when you see athletes cross over two sports and compete at the highest level. Nuts.
Never thought about roller blading as cross training - that could be fun
Alex Harvey for starters. Raced XC Mtb for Canada as a Jr and is a contender in Sochi. His dad raced road and xc ski at 5 olympics for Canada and was the first North American to win an XC ski world cup.
Speedskating or inlineskating could be excellent cross-training, provided one has the skills or the proper mechanics, as they are very technical sports and you are willing to suffer! Just some cruising around won’t do much, I think.
But if you have these skills, it is even more demanding than cycling ( weightbearing!) using the same musclegroups and more (i.e core, etc.)
Like former posters already mentioned: lots of examples of successful athletes, who combined both sports.
During the off-season I like to mix up my training with a weekly visit to the skating oval. And these sessions make my legs burn!
During summer I also like to do some inlineskating, especially when I’ m traveling and can’t have my bike.
Jonathan Kuck, Olympic speed skater races on my team. Does pretty well at both
In the early 70’s in the northeast we skated during the winter at least 3x a week. We had training sessions at a number of the rinks in NY and NJ… a lot of skaters and skater/bike riders…plus indoor race series in NYC once a week…trainer choices were limited back then mostly just rollers so skating was an alternative.
It has become more specific … the guys here ride a fair but but do spend way more time on the ice than in the past. I remember when they made a big deal about breaking a world record at a local meet in the summer time a few years back.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_record_progression_3000_m_speed_skating_men
Connie Carpenter and Connie Paraskevin. Bonnie Blair attempted to get into track cycling at a high level, but was not as successful as the other two.
Clara Hughes of Canada has won multiple Olympic medals in both Cycling and Speed Skating.
This post makes me sad.
.
It’s not the cross-training that makes me sad. It’s the lack of knowledge of the the history of US cycling. Read up on Heiden and Team 7-Eleven.
It’s not the cross-training that makes me sad. It’s the lack of knowledge of the the history of US cycling. Read up on Heiden and Team 7-Eleven.
Ah…I see. I’ve been sucked into the Euro cycling lore, but it’s true, I haven’t spent much time on US cycling. Any good reading to suggest (other than google’s hits)?
Jim O’s book on Team 7-Eleven is a good read if you want to go into more depth than a standard Google search.
I’m watching the Olympics in awe of their athleticism and, in the case of the speedskaters, their physique.
But a question comes up which is unavoidable in this modern age: how many of the athletes that you are watching and are in awe of are free of any … uh … ‘assistance’? Sadly, the reality is, not so many. And this guy is, not by any stretch, my hero, but about this topic, well, he knows his sh*t.