2003 Athens to Atlanta Road Skate

Athens to Atlanta Road Skate
Atlanta, GA September 28 , 2003
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Skaters at the epic 22nd Annual Athens to Atlanta Roadskate may have encountered a few bumps in the road, but they handled them gamely and came away with some great stories and the satisfaction of having completed America's toughest roadskate in one piece. With a stiff headwind, only 8 skaters succeeding in smashing the magical 5 hour time barrier for 87 miles.

Like invading Mongol tribes vaulting over the Great Wall of China, so too did skaters have to climb over an unexpected barricade at mile 26 after negotiating a 200 yard section of packed dirt. They then proceeded to battle headwinds that sometimes forced them to skate, not roll, down hills!

Skate man Dan Burger showed up at the start line draped in kudzu vines and soon after the start transformed himself into TWINCAM's Eddy Matzger, who started charging the hills and drawing a response each time from last year's #2 Mauro Guenci. After catching and refusing to pull ("You skate! You are the champion"), Matzger would shut down the break and allow the Empire Speed led pack to catch.

Tumble wash, hang out to dry, and repeat. By mile 50 Eddy's repeated accelerations on hilly sections had taken their toll on the legs of the competition and he was able to shake Guenci and take control of the center lane on Pleasant Hill road, a busy six lane highway leading into Silver Hill country.

Once out of sight, Eddy's lead grew steadily as he gassed it with all he had into the wind. By Silver Hill the lead was already 5 minutes and nearly 8 full minutes by race's end. Ecuador's Juan Naula (Empire Speed), Colombia's Luis Carlos Mejia (Empire Speed), and Steven Krawulski (Verducci) rounded out the top spots in a sprint to the finish.

Meanwhile, Berkeley's Kimberley Perkins (Team Safe) had a banner day at the races, surging across the line uncontested for her second consecutive A to A victory. D.C.'s own Kendra Hudson (WOWskate) fought gamely after crashing in the first mile and hung on for second, while Marina del Rey's Jenni Armstrong (Speed Skate) nabbed third.

Ashburn's Carrie Matherne and Ruston's Bruce Cleland (Team in Training) were part of the last group of strong finishers. They covered the course in 10 hours and 4 minutes.

The real Skate Man Dan says to sign up early and start training for next year's event, otherwise he's going to have to come out again personally and give you another whupping! You can participate in real or virtual racing at the Dan Burger Points Series by going to www.cora.org for the full skinny.

See full results.

Athens!	Atlanta!	Yeh!
Piedmont Park	Classic Center	Good riddance
Sprint!	Fan of Dan	Thumbs up
Together	This way!	Five!
Chums	Two thumbs up!	Jay!
Buds	Koji-san!	Awww . . .

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