I have Goliathus Speed. I eat off it, wash it with washing powder and abuse it in all sorts of ways. It even has cat fur all over.
Best mouse and pad combo I've ever had, however, was a cheap Logitech issue (EX 110 wireless desktop, wasn't cheap back then but the mouse's price was influenced by wireless being pricey at that time) on a small, scratchy round pad that I bought in a museum in Greece (the round shape to resemble the disk with linear writing that was depicted on it). The mouse received a layer or two of tiny teflon sliders. The only problem was the pad being a bit too small and the sliders colliding with edges. Otherwise it glided like on ice. But that was in 1024*768, when 800 dpi was plenty.
By the way, Gunny's leather pad absolutely rocks and I mean it. Must be the cavalryman's blood.
However, some really good pads belong to the cheapest pads ever, as in pads that don't even get a print on them to cut the costs. Like $1.5 pads. Almost as good as my Goliathus, although not there (too much friction, slower gliding, theoretically better for some kind of games or gamers, though).
Some other great mousepad I've had has been the kind some guy from the Internet would print custom pictures on. It cost half of what my Goliathus did and might have been better. But it was for a gift. I didn't order another. I may be ordering some for Christmas for my customers (to put my company contact data on it, basically, as in passive advertising) and I may keep one or two for me then. You may want to try too. As a bonus, you can print your gaming alias or something on it.
IMHO the ultimate gliding comfort is the product of the pad, the mouse sliders (and possibly the size of the sliding area) and the weight settings of the mouse (the removable weights).