A winter view of the kicksled paradise in the planned new park in downtown Helsinki.
KEPOSTI |
Number 1 April 2002 |
Kickmail for Ketkupolkka members
In the recently published annual Helsinki city planning overview you can find an architect's vision of kicksledders in the new canal park close to the Finlandia Hall. In fact, the original kicksled photo taken by Anne-Maria Vierikko depicts Einari Vierikko and Reetta Matsi kicking not in Helsinki, but in Kuopio 300 miles away.
A winter view of the kicksled paradise in the planned new park in downtown Helsinki. |
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Slickkedder has inspired some of his pupils to sketch their interpretation of a familiar kick vehicle.
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Katri Mänty 7 years |
Niklas Nordenswan 9 years |
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week 7 Quite nice training and preparations for Finnish Championships 11.20h + 4.30h manual snowploughing
Mon 11.2. 2.10h kicksledding at the lake, enjoyable base training in superb conditions
Tue 35min run in snowfall that covered the nice ice
Wed 1.35h kicksledding, easy fartlek on the icy road behind the lake
Thu My cousin Henrik Lund took some shots with his digital camera for the press release. Measuring & ploughing the track incl 15min running, in the evening 35 min run
Fri Press conference in Hotel Hanhi, 5 papers present. Posing for photos whereafter track preparations + 1.30h kicksledding incl 3 x 1035m on the race oval 2.22, 2.18, 2.17 with 6min kick recovery
Sat ploughing the track open = 1.15h & 2.10h kicksledding incl 10 x 1035m (2.32-2.18) with 2070m kick recovery. The ice became more slick in the end. PM 30min run before the sauna
Sun 4.10h on the ice preparing the track + kick workout incl 10 x 250m. The snow on the ice melt in the sunshine and warm breeze. My godfather Eero Lehtola helped to plough the track with his tractor.
v. 8 Race preparations continued in unstable weather 6.45h
Mon AM 2.20 h kicksledding on good lake ice in somewhat dense fog. 1 h warmup + 2 x 1035m (2.16) + 20min warmup + 5060m around the islands 11.39 + cooldown
Tue Tough plough. I myself drove the tractor kindly borrowed by the retired gym teacher & veteran World War II fighter pilot Heikki Hämäläinen. I ran out of gas twice. Tractor driving proved to be a surprisingly strenous job.
Wed AM The local voluntary fire squad tried to smoothen the ice surface. The hard norhternly wind blew snow on the track that became bit bumpy. I phoned the tech department of Loviisa city and succeeded to borrow a tractor-pulled snow plough & ice grader & water tank combination. PM 50min run
Thu AM Fetched the tractor combination from Loviisa with Eero Lehtola. We got acquainted with the secrets of ice-making and razor-sharp ice grader blades. Eero took a quick course of an ice master, took some notes and drove the tractor to Lapinjärvi. We towed the portable ice fishing saloon of Hotel Hanhi to the finish. The front wheels of the tractor penetrated the ice but after some pondering both could be successfully moved. PM 4.45 I could start testing the glittering smooth ice. 1t kick workout incl 5 x 200m + 1 lap 2.17 + 4 x accelerations (15 kicks)
Fri "Rest" AM Eero spread water on the ice. We got water from the local TB petrol station and from the fire department. PM Alpo arrived in order to assist with making the start lists and race number bags. Pentti Rantala fetched the wind meter from Loviisa and drove Eero back home after returning the tractor. Late in the evening our game knights Markus Holmlund and Kari Puska arrived from Vaasa escorted by a blizzard. They told that the maximum speed on the motorhighway had been 35 mph. The night sleep was quite restless as the snowstorm kept whiffing in the corners.
Sat the phone rang at 7 AM. Sture Nygård called and asked if we needed any snow ploughing assistance. After a quick glass of juice i went out with Alpo to inspect the situation. Assistance was indeed more than welcome. Sture spent quite some time ploughing the ice several times during the race day.
The events went very well in respect to the weather and got appraised by the active kicksledders. There were slight problems in counting the laps especially on ladies' 10 km, but one must forgive the novice organisers. The race schedule lagged behind a bit and not all spectators stayed in the storm all the time. Yet, the local Lions club sold more than 400 barbeque sausages which gives an indication that there were more than one or two people around.
In the media the Finnish Championships got good publicity. The national Text-TV made kicksled history by reserving a whole result page exclusively for kicksledding. At least seven different newspapers published an article on the Finnish Championships. The championship titles were nicely distributed to different people. Jan won the 10000m and Hannu won 200m.
I myself could make a surprise in the relay as a member of the second team of Ketkupolkka.
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Ngugi started sharply the Ketkupolkka first team and Mago in the second team was forced to leave some margin in between. |
In the last change the relay took a dramatic turn as Alpo and Hannu in the Ketkupolkka first team collided so that both fell topsy turvy on the track. |
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While Hannu still was gathering his gear from the snow the second team passed safely the jam and Ville accelerated swiftly towards victory. |
Sun SUNSHINEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!! 15min warmup run + 20min kicksledding PM 1h skate XC skiing
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Ville and Karoliina kicking easy on the morning after the Finnish Championships. |
Week 9 Kind of recovery and BALCKI! 8.55h
Mon Rest, felt tired! Massage
Tue 10min run+ 30min snowploughing + 40min kicksledding + 10min run
Wed 35min run + 30min sharp circuit training
Thu 1.35h kicksledding in superb conditions on the Loviisa road 27,5km
Fri 45min easy XC skiing
Sat Alpo was sovereign on Balck (Finnish 100 km Championship in Kuopio). He kicked the second half animally 6 min faster than the first. His finish time was 3.48.40. My last straw was the bonking of Hannu Vierikko (4.09) which gave me perhaps the best result during the season, bronze medal with time 3.56.37. Jan took the silver medal with 3.53.52. Also Hannu fell with his boots on after trying to follow Alpo at his limits for 20 km. Seven guys finished the race. Antti Lehtinen, Markus Holmlund and Jaakko Kalo set all their personal bests.
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Slickkedder holds the record in the Viktor Balck 100 km table of fame. |
Week 10 Recovering and preparing for Multia WC 7.45t
Mon 30min swim + massage
Tue 1.05h skate XC skiing
Wed 40min run
Thu 1.25h kicksledding on roads
Fri 1.30h skate XC skiing
Sat 40min run+ 0.55h tough circuit + stairs
Sun 1.00h skate XC skiing incl 8km race 21.30min, 1.42 behind the winner.
Week 11 Season final at Multia WC
Mon 1.10h kicksled PM massage
Tue 25min run before sauna
Wed 1.15h kicksledding on Church Road 22km, nice feeling!
Thu 1.25h road kicksledding in fine conditions
Fri 40min easy skate XC skiing
Sat Poor personal performances
Sun Poor personal performance. Alpo grabbed the sceptre.
Alpo Kuusisto has conquered the throne of long distances from the sovereign of last season Jan Elmgren. Alpo won this year the Kepo Night XC races, KEPO-HEPO-marathon, Jyväskylä halfmarathon, Victor Balck memorial and Multia WC-marathon.
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The old champion Hannu Vierikko has excelled especially on the short distances. Hannu won the 200 m Finnish and World titles as well as the 2000 m World title breaking the World record. In addition, Hannu won the tight sprint finish of the First Ice Marathon in the beginning of the winter with the season's best time. |
Jan Elmgren got the 10000m Finnish title which was maybe bit surprisingly his only victory in individual races this season. Ville Vickholm dominated once again mostly in the less prominent races. Victories came in Fäboda-sparket in Pietarsaari (Alpo's scalp) and in Siljan Simmet in Sweden. One ought to mention that "relay specialist" Ville took both Finnish and World relay titles in the second team of Kepo.
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Jan Elmgren woke up snow ploughing in the fog in the morning after winning the Finnish championship on 10000 m. |
Anssi Lehtinen from the Kuortaneen Kunto athletics club made history by winning the bronze medal on the WC marathon. He broke thus the triple victory hegemony of Kepo that had been continuing since 1994. Tomas Porthin won the silver medal on 2000m and set the season's best 10000 m time at Weissensee. Furthermore, Tomas was quite overwhelming in the only indoor Kickbike event in Bothnia Hall. Antti Lehtinen took home medals from both 200m races. Esa Mononen won the relay World title in Kepo second team after 15 years of racing. Väinö Nurvo has reigned the masters' class (45 years old).
Ladies did once again participate only in championships, although not in Balck.
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At the ladies' 2000 m WC Auli Suomalainen kept a pace that was enough for her less experienced kick sisters. |
The ladies' WC relay was so crowded that one could witness crashes reminding of the old days, although one does no more change the sled from one kicker to the next one. |
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Auli made her Multia weekend perfect by finishing the marathon in sovereign solitude. |
What went wrong ? Despite some pondering I have not found an answer. Last summer I was in the shape of my life on the Solvalla marathon. Perhaps the truth can be found in the analysis provided by my kick colleagues: "Too much kicking! Too little diverse training for recovery! Too big total workload considering all the other fuss (in charge of organising the Finnish Championships)!" Anyway, beginning from week 45 until this date 24th March I have been kicksledding 128.5 h and Kickbiking 15.40 h. Estimating conservatively according to slow XC pace 17 kph the 129 h converts to 2193km. In addition there are of course the scarce running and circuit workouts and some skiing. The amount of winter kicksledding is my personal record. Otherwise my training totals have been lower than last season.
The other top kicksledders have at least achieved better results with less kicking. The amount of good ice workouts and races has been too small in order to reach top results. My own estimate is that the proportion of swine-tough kick workouts should have been greater, but the total amount of kicking smaller. Winter kicksledding apparently deviates from summer scootering in its toughness, hard conditions and muscle strain. Thus the total kick workload ought to be smaller.
After the Multia Games I've spent 4 days in total recovery and now I'm gradually finding the spring spirits. The international summer calendar encourages to try ! Perhaps the quantitively "good" winter training brings some harvest in the summer.
4 weeks of training parallel to Slickkedder's Diary, beginning from 23th February. This training is not provided as an example of optimal preparations. You can do like this without damaging your kick shape too much.
Sat Finnish Championships total 25min race pace + 20min warmup
Sun rest
# week started with a flu so total only 45minMon multisport race: running, biking and xc skiing at tough tempo 2.30 h
Tue rest
Wed wall climbing 0.30
Thu easy running 0.30
Fri rest
Sat Balck 100km kicksled race 3.50 with neither warmup nor cooldown
Sun rest
# training 7.20h most of which at race paceMon promenade 0.40
Tue easy Kickbiking 0.30
Wed again easy Kickbiking 0.30
Thu rest
Fri adventure-spirited xc skiing 3.00h, fine hard snow surface
Sat rest
Sun running in snow 2.30 h
# now training 7.10 h but almost all easyMon rest
Tue skiing and downhill on xc skis 2.30 h
Wed relaxed running 0.50 h + 0.20 h interval running in a parking garage
Thu xc skiing in Noux national park 6.00 h
Fri rest
Sat Multia WC 0.05 h sprint races + 0.15 h warmup
Sun Multia WC 1.40 h marathon
# Thursday's 6 hour skiing (effective time) was not good for the Saturday's performances, but absolutely fun.Mon rest
Tue quite easy running&kicksledding combined workout 2.00
Wed running 0.30 h slowly, 0.30 h fast
Thu kicker's circuit 0.30 h + running 0.40 h
Fri kick sprinting 0.30 h
# enthusiasm awaiting for summer is bringing about the first rational training week.Hard and easy workouts follow each another, as well as kicking and other disciplines.
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Alpo's kick hints suit everyone who are interested in their kick shape. |
by Alpo
You need swift, strong and springy legs while kicking.
Hereby a short set of hop exercises for circuit training. Do a good warmup before these.
All exercises are done at place, except in up-down direction in which you should move as much as possible. You may catch your breath for a moment between the exercises.
Repeat exercises 1-5 at least 3 times.
Multia WC is a really fine event every year, so fine that I took the plane from Germany the second time in a row in order to participate. One difference between Finland and Germany is that in Finland there are distinct summer and winter seasons whereas in Germany there is Kickbike weather more or less all the year around. In the summer the conditions are much nicer, though. This winter it was yet possible several times to start kicksledding almost from home door. In summer the kick roads and weather are so good here in Southern Germany that special motivation is not required, it is simply such a pleasure to go out on long nice workouts. In wintertime it's more difficult. Without company it's dismal to kick in the cold darkness. I need a carrot in order to keep the winter from becoming a lazy season. My carrot has been the Multia Games. It's fun to do a tough interval workout once a week when Multia 2000 m and the sauna afterwards is in one's mind.
Multia brings together many things that I miss here. Those things are KICKSLEDDING in good ice track, nice races with nice athmosphere, tough opponents, Finnish nature, good sauna and socializing. The races themself went quite as expected. On 200 m I was fourth and on 200 m that has been my best distance for years I became second. On 2000 m I was bit too cautious in the curves because I had fallen in the relay. I had grinded my runners, though, much better after my fall and the ice had become softer, too. Due to my excessive caution Hande could kick away too easily. However, I guess that with an optimal performance my rank would have been the same, only the time slightly better. Vierikko is usually the few decisive centimeters ahead when approaching the finish line.
Men's 2000 m didn't attract any surplus participants this year. |
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Alpo took the lead on 2000 m only during the acceleration but on the marathon he could keep that position until the end. |
After the first lap the peloton was still a dense queue. |
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Tomas and Hannu made the pack to spread apart. |
Tomas couldn't keep the required pace all the way although he broke the earlier world record. |
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Hannu remained invincible on 2000 m distance and made a new world record. |
I expected more from the marathon than sixth place nine minutes behind the winner. The ice kicksled sprints are, however, such a hard chunk for muscles that have been accustomed only to remarkably softer Kickbike training with elastic running shoes, that already on the early stages of Sunday's marathon particularly my hamstrings were completely kaputt. Recovery took many days. The marathon was a positive race in the sense that several new guys entered the start line and kicked also well. The level is getting broader. Hopefully I can come to Multia Games also next year, and thanks to the organisers.
Tomas
More photos from Multia in the gallery brought to you by Antti Lehtinen.
Nice traditional village kicksled races are unfortunately arranged not too often these days. Most unfortunate is that one of the best has already twice happened to be on the same day as the 100 km Finnish Championship race in Kuopio. Thus the most prominent kicksledders have set their runners to the broad ice track. Four Kepo old-timers Tokke, Sami, Ngugi and Keporter did anyway travel to the old sawmill of Vihavuosi, where the active local village society has already for a couple of years arranged kicksled events as the highlight of its annual winter happening.
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The main race was the traditional 10 km cross-country on small snowy roads that partly were soft and sandy at places but mostly slick and hard-packed. Ngugi kicked and glided most swiftly to the finish line renewing his last year's victory. |
The village relay was the most popular race. Many local dwellers and villa owners were astonished how tough a sport kicksledding actually is. The one-mile course made one puff and pant like never before. Kepo village team snatched the first place in the race where the athmosphere was most important.
Kepo club treasurer Sami took the lead in the laymen's class but in the last uphill the pack could pass him crushing the hopes of Kepo victory in all classes. |
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Most people speak of a traditional kicksled when they mean the standard ESLA sled with a wooden chair, the construction of which is based on the first kicksled with iron runners built by Oskari Terhi in year 1900. In the Finnish Championships one could sight a scene from still a few years farther back in history, from the golden ages of kicksledding in the late 19th century.
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The wooden beauty owned by Rutumi manor house is already more than 100 years old. |
Might this photo be taken in the 19th century ? |
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You can find the most current kick race schedule at Kickbike calendar .