[Island Chris]

O/T means "off topic" and we used to tell more about ourselves here. I was worried that I would not be able to make it 21 straight years of skating on ponds or lakes, because it was too warm. It has gotten cold, and two days ago I went to a large pond and skated 8 times around or over 9 miles (15 km). Then, yesterday, I went to the largest lake in southern Rhode Island, maybe 6 miles along the coast around, and skated about 19 miles (31 km). Really beautiful black glossy ice, little wind, and a nice scene; 4 ice windsurfers later when a light breeze came up, ice fishermen, etc. This is probably the farthest I have skated since end of February 1986, when I skated 200 km along the course of the Elfstedentocht, Friesland, the Netherlands. The next day over 16,000 Dutch skated it: 300 as a race and the rest as a tour. But, my last 2 laps of the pond was with a 64-year old and his son: they did 20.5 miles. I'll save 20 miles for next week.

Chris