Hide your babies, its Quadtastrophe!

Incase you somehow managed to sleep through the many announcements (my apologies to narcoleptics and those recently recovering from a coma) QUADTASTROPHE 2010 starts tomorrow afternoon! Portland Men's Roller Derby is hosting a variety of events about town this weekend and you're invited!

See the Schedule of Events for locations and start times of the different events. Who knows, maybe you'll get to see the rare Speedicus Bumpicus on a vert ramp or get to experience the unstoppable force that is Carpe Demon's block. Odds are you can skate at least as well as I can, but no one will hold that against you.

Everyone is welcome and we hope to see you there!

New Bearings = WIN

So a while back I bought some new bearings. After talking with Boyd @ Oaks I went with the Qube 8-ball, which, like their name suggests, have 8 balls rather than the traditional 7 per bearing. They (Qube) claim the extra sphere and a deeper groove/channel results in a bearing with good roll and excellent resistance to blowing out from side loading (cornering forces for the most part). I was interested in them because they were a reasonable price point, and I trust the people @ Oaks. Also, I knew that the bearings which came with the skates hadn't been cleaned/serviced since I purchased them back in March, so they would likely need to be replaced or at minimum serviced soon if I wanted to avoid any annoying sounds or failures.

The 8-balls certainly seemed to roll-on better than the previous set (ABEC-7s, I believe sure-grip brand but not certain). Felt like I had a little better glide and/or coast when I was paying attention. Since this was only my second set of bearings, I don't have a strong scale to measure them against, but will put them through their paces, servicing them monthly now that I have oil to do so, and hope to chart how they hold up to my 220+ lb abuse. Only time will tell. For now I am happy with them and hope to feel some improvement at practice this weekend.

Loving the new boots

So finally got to put in some wheel time on the new boots. After the left of my XL-55's decided it wanted nothing to do with it's sole, Beki had them warrantied, but Sure-Grip apparently no longer made my size so free upgrade to XL-75's! In addition to a more cushy collar area they included a beefy tongue and a velcro strap to hold the ankle in place, something I put to use at open skate today.

Since Weds is my usual open skate day I was excited to try the new setup out, so excited that I left the apartment without my precious crash pads. Turns out I am rather used to wearing them when I skate and I felt vulnerable without them. I had the trucks considerably looser than my previous setup, hoping to improve my cuts from side to side. After a couple laps I decided that there was such a thing as too loose and gave them each a bit of a turn to snug them up some more. The first 30 minutes I just tooled around, taking a few gentle crossovers and cuts, just getting a feel for the new boots and wondering when my feet would stop complaining about how long it had been since I was on wheels... Fast forward another 30 minutes and things were good to go. The looser trucks definitely let me make seemingly effortless cuts, but at the cost of requiring a bit more concentration in the crossovers. Once the feet were feeling good about the new boots, which I think are more comfortable than the old pair (no more angry rubbed-red line around my ankle from the cuff), I started going after some of the drills and testing the waters.

All those mind-numbing horse-stances while listening to youtube music videos are paying off. I was able to get, and stay, lower than usual, something which definitely helps with side-side maneuverability. I felt more stable in an aggressively low stance with my back more upright and thighs near parallel to the floor. Later in the day I tried my luck with toe-stop sprinting starts. I can get about 3-5 strong steps before I need to start skating, but at that point I am moving at a pretty good clip, so I am happy with how those went. Also, I was happy to see that the new boots with the strap seem to hold my ankle down more effectively, no more feeling of my heel lifting out of the rear of the boot. Ghetto-tomahawks and backwards skating also felt better, eventually I hope to be able to do toe-stop sprints to immediate tomahawk stops. Very happy with the progress considering the time spent off skates (almost 2 weeks, boo-hoo... I know) and looking forward to a weekend of watching bouts and going to practice. To put a cherry on top I am going to go to the 1-5pm Friday open skate as well. Oh happy day!