On the Subject of Skate & Create

Only to return ASAP.

At the last game, my awesome teammates handed me a gift certificate for new skates.  I just got a message from the Derby Star Pro Shop that they are ready. I got the Riedell 265 boot and Sure Grip Magnesium Avenger plates. I like Atom Stinger wheels (88A) – I haven’t skated on anything harder yet. And I’m using Rollerbones Bearings this time, instead of my usual Bones Reds.  I’ve destroyed two sets of those in a year.

I bought my first pair of skates from Marzipain for $50 on May 31, 2011. They were great to get started with – although a size too big, which made running toe-starts impossible. I wore them from June until December of 2011.

I then picked up a pair of Rock “Speed Freaks” on ebay for around $100.  I figured if my buddy Just Tim could do the amazing things he did in them, they should be more than good enough for me. They are a good rookie starter skate, designed for casual skating and/or maybe 8 months of derby skating. Mine made it though 14 months of hard skating. I suspect they are the culprit involved in my twisted ankle – they resemble blown out sneakers.

And here are my new ones – I picked them up after work. I can’t wait to go skate.

It’s been a crazy few weeks.

I finished teaching my MICA classes last week. I taught a 7 week seminar on WordPress, a weekend long seminar on HTML/CSS and a weekend long seminar on HTML5/JavaScript (which required quite a lot of preparation).   I enjoyed them all, and had great people in the classes.

I learned this week that our rink is changing management. We had to cancel our Season’s Beatings game and a scrimmage with our friends the Freedom Belles, which is unfortunate (and could have been avoided). I’m extremely optimistic about the new management and the future of the rink. We all have our fingers crossed. It’s been such a huge year for this league, with so many changes, that I’m grateful we’ve stuck together and kept it going. The stresses of these past few weeks have highlighted just how important derby is to me right now, and how important these folks are in my life.

Our last game (11/18/2102) was the annual “Pirates vs. Pilgrims” game, which was my very first scrimmage a year ago.  Here are some pics for posterity. Better late than never. The really good ones are from Gary Bell, Jr (Sir Pix-a-lot) with Dreams in Focus photography.

I was a zombie in this game and we were completely destroyed. I think the best thing that happened was when I looked at Just Tim in exasperation and he said “It doesn’t matter that we are losing. It just matters that we lose well. Keep a cool head.” Right on.

in IMAX.

Chesapeake Roller Derby had our first full game at Sportsman’s Hall on Sunday. It’s such a pleasure to play on a wood floor. I was a prep, and Greaser Punks beat us by 2 points: 55/53. Our friends from NOVA roller derby and the Freedom Belles filled out the benches. It was a great, clean, close game. Next game is October 21st.

Charlie Don’t Skate and Bloody.

And as a most wonderful bonus, Jabber and Lord Brawltimore gave me a pair of vintage Riedell skates. That fit! They are so handsome. And I’m also wearing some Reeboks from FitBloggin, which are lighter than a pencil.

Early Saturday morning, after the opening at School33, I met some of my teammates at the top of Reisterstown Road for the Reisterstown Fall Parade. Sadly, I was so busy skating that I only got a few pictures (and the second one below isn’t mine). There’s something really cool about rollerskating on streets that one drives on all the time. People seemed really excited that there is local roller derby, and it made me realize how much more marketing work we have to do.

We had our first bout against another league last weekend – we (the Mutiny, CRD’s “A” team) played Penn Jersey Roller Derby on a hot Saturday evening. It was a very close, exciting game.   We won 45-40 and it was great to play as a united team. Again, I learned a great deal. This has been a fantastic month for roller derby!