Category: Racing

Roanoak- By Michael Cheek

Tuesday, 21 February 2012 20:31 Written by Scott Arlidge 0 Comments

“Cheex” is in some tasty form right now. A Grand Champions win at NSC #2, and now running circles (quite literally) around everyone in Roanoak. Here is a short word from him:

“To be honest I when I left the house to go to Roanoke meet I was pretty drained.  After a month on the road, I was home for 3 days from traveling, and didn’t feel great about going to Roanoke.  But after about 5 minutes of watching the novice divisions that all changed.  The races were some of the most exciting I’ve seen at an invitational in years.  With around 400 skaters, it seemed like everyone brought their “A” game.  Just feeling the excitement everyone else had snapped me out of my funk really fast.  Prize money was given for every division and the “NIRA like Oval Track” was used for open races, most people left Roanoke excited to come back next year.  Just like every other year, Roanoke lived up to the nickname “Winter Nationals” and really is a can’t miss competition.
 
I was pretty excited to win the World Class Men’s division and the World Class Men’s Open, against a very strong field.  Roanoke also marked the debut of the new Matter Lethal 2, and the wheel performed amazingly.  On a floor I usually struggle to find grip on, I had no trouble for the entire competition.  Most people who tried the new Matter wheels agreed it was the best indoor wheel they’ve ever skated on.    Look for the new Matter Lethal 2 wheels next month in Georgia at the “Spring Fling” and Seattle’s “Battle In Seattle”.
 
 

New Lethal II wheels at Roanoke indoor races

Wednesday, 15 February 2012 14:53 Written by JvS 0 Comments

The upcoming weekend the brandnew Matter Lethal II wheels will be available for sale for the first time. Powerslide pro skater Michael Cheek himself will be there to show his power on these, and he will be glad to let you in on the secrets of Lethal II. Look for the Powerslide booth in Roanoke!

A tribute to Mateo Montoya- by USA skater Michael Cheek

Tuesday, 07 February 2012 00:22 Written by Scott Arlidge 1 Comment

You may have heard the news of the recent passing of a young skater from Colombia, Mateo Montoya. Michael spent some time down in Cali, Colombia recently and wanted to pay tribute to his young friend:

“It’s rare to find a talented kid, rare to find a humble kid, and it’s rare to find a kid who is willing to work hard.  Mateo Montoya was as talented, hard working and humble.  

I’ve honestly been stuck here for the last few days, and wasn’t happy with anything I’ve written.  Because I just didn’t feel like anything I could say was really good enough.  So, I’ll just tell you some things I know.  Mateo was 16 years old, and died after training.  Typing that hurt, and I’ve reworded it probably 20 times.  I wasn’t a close friend of Mateo, he didn’t speak English and I don’t speak Spanish.  But I spent 3 weeks training and racing in Colombia with him and his team.  While all of the kids were amazing and trained hard, Mateo stood out.  He wasn’t the biggest or strongest guy out there, but I don’t think he was physically capable of quitting.  The last race I saw him skate was an elimination against a really strong Jr Men field. He attacked, and ended up winning with a huge gap.  After the race I looked at a friend and said, “We’re going to see him win races at worlds one day.”  It’s so unfair that he’ll never get that chance, because with out question, one day he would have.  

However, Mateo wasn’t just good at skating, he was one of the most respectful kids I’ve ever met.   He went out of his way to say bye to everyone after practice.  I was there for 3 weeks and there wasn’t a single training session that he didn’t come to me afterward, shake my hand and say bye.  He tried his best to help me understand drills, even though we didn’t speak the same language.  Even with the language barrier, it was easy to see how nice and polite he was.  

Life isn’t fair, and Mateo deserved to be here for longer.  He was a champion on and off the track.  I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to have met him,  have trained with him, and to have watched him race.  He worked hard and died doing what he loved, but that doesn’t make it any easier to grasp.  He’s racing in a better place now, and whomever is racing with him is lucky, and also really tired of chasing after him.” by Michael Cheek

EU Cup Hungary 2012

Friday, 03 February 2012 12:41 Written by J.Pfitzner 0 Comments

 

Our hungarian friends have asked us to help them to promote their EU cup race 2012. They are very engaged and those who have been in Hungary last year will remember the warm hospitality and great organization of the event.

Here some short facts:

website:                  www.hungaroskate.hu
Contact:                  info.tornadoskate@gmail.com
Contact Person:  Garzó Erika, +36/703822079
Accomodation:    hotel.tornadoskate@gmail.com
                                    they will help you if needed!
registration:          entry.tornadoskate@gmail.com
                                   fill in the excel sheet (see website)

Deadline for inscription is April 1st 2012.

 

Check the above mentioned website for more detailled information.

Keep on Rolling

NSC #1 by Mr Michael Cheek

Monday, 30 January 2012 02:47 Written by Scott Arlidge 2 Comments

Michael gives us a look inside this season’s opening event

 

“Season 3 of the NSC kicked off with a bang.  As always with indoor racing, the races were exciting from beginning to end.  Like last year Will Bowen, walked away with the sprint title, the combination of the 300m and the 500m(he won both).  However, unlike last year the races were much closer.  The vets, Stephen Carter and Jeremy Anderson were hot on his heels, and this seasons sprint events are shaping up to be the most competitive ever.  In the endurance events(1600m and 1000m) Jarrett Paul, Jake Powers, and Michael Cheek(hey that’s me), were battling for the top spot.  Cheek won the 1000m and Powers won the 1600m which is the tie breaker, giving him the overall endurance win.  Next came the always exciting flying 100m.  Like the season 2 finale, 35 year old(or maybe 36, either way he’s pretty old) Jeremy Anderson once again showed he’s still got it.  Posting at time of 8.51 on a floor that hasn’t been coated in several months, had all of the skaters in shock.  It was Jeremy’s second flying 100m title in a row, and he looks for a 3peat on February 9th.  All that was left was the Grand Champion main event.  In indoor races there’s usually some sort of chaos that happens, it’s just like that sometimes.  You would think when you put the top 3 NSC sprinters and endurance guys in a race, they would be agile and there wouldn’t be much of a chance of a major pile up happening.  If you thought that before this GC race, you would be wrong.  The 800m race started fast and everything was going smoothly until 300m to go.  That’s when Jarrett Paul(ironic for this story, his nick name is silky smooth) steps out and does a very unsilky smooth move, slips entering the corner.  He leveled Will Bowen and left poor Michael Cheek(yes I’m biased) with no where to go but over top of the pile.  It’s all kinda blurry after that for me, but by doing research I’ve found that Jake Powers looked super fast and won the final sprint, followed by Jeremy Anderson and Stephen Carter.  Overall it was an amazingly exciting event, and look forward to Season 3, event 2 on February 9th in Federal Way, Washington or live on www.pronsc.com“

« Older Entries

Social Networks

PowerslideTV

Tags

Login