The June 4, 5, and 6, 1999 Eddy Matzger access to speed workshop in Ann Arbor turned out to be the best money I have spent so far on my skating. What a killer deal. Friday night after the chalk talk at Paul's condo, we lined up with a plastic bag in hand and filled them with killer stuff. First it was the Powerbars followed by a very nice workshop t-shirt, then Wigwam socks, Transpack sunglasses, Twincam abec 5 bearings, a set of 80mm 83durameter Explore wheels, loads of stickers, and finally a Speedskating Times and a pamphlet written by Eddy. It was like Christmas in June. Combine this with 20 hours of instruction from one of the top skaters in the world, and you have a deal that can't be beat.
Saturday morning started with stretching exercises with Eddy showing us how it is supposed to be done. Next we put on our skates to begin learning the fundamentals of stroke geometry. Eddy did an awesome job of breaking down the skating stroke into its different elements, diagramming them in chalk on the pavement, demonstrating how they are performed, and then having each of us try to follow his lead while he shot video and gave us pointers and encouragement at the same time. His enthusiasm and knowledge of skating kept us all hanging on almost every word he had to say. We spent the whole day Saturday practicing the fundamentals and learning drills to use for improving our skating technique. The day ended with a couple hours in Pauls condo's pool and hot tub followed by 2 hours of pizza, beer, and watching the video that Eddy took, while Eddy pointed out things for each of us to think about and work on to improve our skating skills. By then it was 10 PM and we were all ready for a good nights sleep before the final 8 hours on Sunday.
I have to say that I was not nearly as flexible stretching Sunday as I was Saturday, but once I got the skates on the soreness in my legs seemed to disappear. Sunday we spent time on some of the more advanced skating techniques like the double push and working on how to get the most power out of crossovers. Eddy spent time telling stories about how he got into skating and what his early days in the sport were like. He also told us about his first racing experiences and being humbled by the Dutch skaters in Holland and how he learned to be a great skater from what they taught him. The day ended with 3 races. A team time trial, individual time trials, and a group race. The grand finale to the weekend was Eddy doing one of his plyometric workouts. Just another jaw dropping demonstration of Eddy's athletic abilities. The weekend ended with Eddy giving each one of us a final critic from notes he had taken all weekend. After that Cooper pulled out a bottle of champagne we passed around as we reflected on the great skating experience we had had the pleasure of being a part of.
No one wanted the weekend to end and slowly the group departed for home with loads of new skating knowledge to disseminate.
