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 TWINCAM/Salomon racer Eddy Matzger whipped up pounding offensives that packed the punch of a lake-effect storm surge on a sand spit with a 7th place finish at the 7th Annual Northshore Inline Marathon on Sept. 14, 2002. Matzger proved his mettle by bridging up to the winning breakaway in the deepest and most fearsome international field ever assembled on American roadways. The event drew record numbers, topping 4,400 entrants and inundating roads and highways with huge wave sets of World Cup, Pro, Masters, Veterans, Advanced, and Recreational skaters. With World Cup points and $30,000 at stake, the marathon hosted nearly all the world's marquee skaters, including international squads from Salomon, Rollerblade, Verducci, Hyper, and K2. Matzger gutted competitors' legs early with big-wheeled surges that broke the resolve of the pack. When a group of 6 representing all the major teams at the start moved out to a seemingly insurmountable lead, Canadian Peter Doucet and American Eddy Matzger joined forces and launched up the road in hot pursuit. Against all odds, the two blasted through vicious 13 mph headwinds. Most automatically assumed the two were hanging themselves out to dry in a doomed suicide mission. Just as Matzger and Doucet would draw close to the breakaway, the 6 men up the road would feel the chasers' heat and ramp it up to widen their lead. A helicopter soared overhead and beamed live blow by blow race coverage to radio listeners and spectators at the finish line. Radio commentator Lauri Muir described the exciting battle up front, the see-saw fortunes of the 2-man chase group, and the disorganized peloton behind. Matzger went on solo down the I-35 and caught the leaders at the offramp leading to the Duluth Expo and Convention Center. For all his hard work, though, his sprint was less sharp than the others and contented himself rolling in at 7th overall, three seconds behind the winner. TWINCAM's Dan Burger was conspicuously absent after season-ending spill at the Downhill World Championships in Italy, but Kimberley Moore filled his uniform with fierce resolve and ended up mounting the podium in typical TWINCAM style, occupying the 3rd step among masters, scant seconds the winner. Rollerblade's Fabien Rabeau emerged first among men in 1:08:34, followed by Shane Dobbin and Max Presti (Salomon International). Matzger climbed the podium on skates as 2nd in the Pro Men's Class. Grabbing the women's win in 1:23:00 was Verducci's Jessica Smith followed by Theresa Cliff and Alessandra Susmeli. The Eddy Matzger Workshop booth was one of the busiest at the Expo. Skaters lined up to reserve workshop dates for 2003, order T-shirts from the Raymond Verdaguer collection, and fondle Eddy's newest modified Salomon/Xenan skates powered by Explore 84mm wheels. Eddy was a whirlwind of activity over the weekend, delivering 3 mini-workshop at the registration Expo on Friday, helping with the Salomon kid's sprints, escorting a huge group on a Salomon free skate on Friday night, racing the race, and skating back out on the course to encourage triumphant skaters as they coursed down the Northshore on their way to the finish. |