Robin and Karin skate A2A

Karin and I pose in lovely Athens GA the day before the race. What, me nervous? Athens is a great college town, and we "carbo-loaded" with spagghetti and liquid refreshments. Skaters from around the world were trickling into this small town, creating a real party atmosphere!

The morning of the race--strapping on gear and skates. It was actually dark outside, but the town of Athens had hundreds of skaters in the streets at this wee hour...That's Robin in the green top and Karin in the orange...

Find Karin and Robin in this crowd of 812 skaters lined up at the start of the Race. Only about 600 actually finished...but everyone seemed to have a great time...

In the photo above you can see the Elite skaters section. You will notice that Karin and I are conspicuously absent from this group! These folks go all out for this race, completing the course in about 4 1/2 hours! That's averaging 20 miles an hour over the entire course. On the infamous Silver Hill, a scary long downhill section, the state trooper with a radar gun clocked the fastest group at 49 mph! Karin and I, 'fraidy cats on the steep downhill sections, were clocked going MUCH SLOWER!

Here's Karin and some friends at the 7:30 AM start of the race. Don't we all look happy! Music was blasting, but nerves were very jittery...

Karin and I chugged away through rural GA. Sayy...is that Dueling Banjos I hear as theme music?

Here we are at checkpoint 1, still looking happy! Of course, this is only 17 miles into the race. It was HOT and STEAMY--the roads were damp and slippery from the sprinkles all morning...

My college roommate, Mimi, met us at each checkpoint. Here she is re-applying sunscreen as Karin and I try to ingest as many calories as possible. That state trooper in the background is checking out the scene...The police support on most sections of the road was really helpful--stopping traffic at major intersections to allow us to go zooming through without stopping. Most of them shouted encouragement to the skaters along the way. One copper at a terrible uphill intersection near the end shouted to each struggling skater..."No one drops out on MY corner! You can do it!"

Off we go again. This section of the road was terrible...nicknamed "Shake 'N Bake" or "the Gatorback", it is the roughest bumpy section that actually makes your feet numb and prickly and turns your leg muscles to jello. Karin was interviewed on this section by the Outdoor Life Network--anyone catch the show?

By mile 58 I was "bonking"! Mimi helped out by pouring a gallon of cold water over my head, which felt like it was 200 degrees under that helmet in the Georgia sun!

Here I am with my wet head, sitting in the shade at mile 58. Frankly, the idea of doing 28 more miles at this point is killing me.

The course was so hilly, I actually wore out a brake! Here Karin helps replace the brake pad for me. Of course, the really great skaters don't use ANY brakes on the screaming descents! Yikes!

Here we are crossing the finish line in Peidmont Park in Atlanta--9 hours after we began that morning! Believe it or not, we were already percolating our training plans for the 1999 race...

Karin and I corralled our friend, Eddy Matzger, for this photo. Mind you, Eddy is an elite skater and had finished the race more than 4 hours earlier, but he didn't balk at putting an arm around us grimy, sweaty girls at the finish...

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