Meet Wolverhampton's very own marathon speed-skater
You may have seen him speeding through West Park in his helmet, latex biking gear and extra big rollerskaters' wheels.
Meet Derrick Ritchie, Wolverhampton's very own world-class marathon speed-skater who will be representing the UK in China in September.
Reaching speeds of almost 40mph, Mr Ritchie, 53, practises at West Park as well as Birmingham, London and even Belgium.
He said: "Back in the day Wolverhampton used to have a rollathon, and I used to skate for Wolverhampton. But now I train mainly in Birmingham, and skate for them as well.
"I train at West Park, Birmingham and sometimes in London as well. I also travel to Belgium to train.
West Park is good for testing but you've got to be careful because there are people walking their dogs while you're whizzing round."
This year's world championships will be the first time Mr Ritchie has competed at that level, but he has skated in the European championships, which will this year be in Berlin the week before the world competition.
He will be entering the marathon category, in which he expects to cover the full 26.2 miles in around an hour.
Mr Ritchie said: "You have to be able to skate a full marathon. I've represented the UK at European level before. This will be my first time in the world championships. I finished 19th in the Europeans at Berlin a couple of years back. That's my best finish so far.
"The race in Berlin is the biggest in the world – there will be about 8,000 competitors. I've no idea how many there will be in the worlds. But I'm going to double up and do both.
"In the marathon you average about 26mph. But there are times you'll be sprinting where you can reach close to 40mph."
Rocketing along at breakneck speed doesn't come without its dangers, as Mr Ritchie once found out to his cost.
He said: "When I was racing in Switzerland once it was a really hot day, and the rubber on the tram lines had melted. My wheels got stuck to it but my body kept moving forwards. It was a nasty one, I took all the skin off my back, my shoulders, my knees."
Between now and his September races, training time will be at a premium for Mr Ritchie, who holds down a full-time job as a lorry driver, volunteers at Beatsabar CIC, a group tutoring children and adults with learning difficulties, and runs local record label West Park Records.
He said: "I've got two artists signed at the moment and I've been doing it about a year. At the moment I train before and after work and then I'll do the music later on. I'm good at time management."
l To see a video of Derrick in action visit expressandstar.com
