Memorial Day Skating Weekend

Hello blogosphere!  After forever, I got my computer back!  So now I can go back to keep everyone apprised of my skating activities.  I've got a bunch to tell you about.

Thursday I skated up in Cerritos at Skate Depot.  I wore my new  skates and they felt great on their awesome floor.  The maple wood floor is truly a pleasure to skate on.  

It was totally packed and the skaters put on a phenomenal show, as usual.  I was too chicken to do any backwards skating, but I did skate a lot in the center.  There were so many people, it was pretty hard to practice routines.  But I saw a lot of cool tricks that I will try to pick up moves from.  Towards the end of the night, my skates started killing my feet.  I'm going to have some work done on them and try to soften the leather more.

Saturday night I skated at Skate World.  It was a huge contrast to having been in Cerritos just a few days earlier.  I was one of only a few adults in the whole place.  But anyway, I wore my old skates as I didn't want to have to leave because my feet hurt.  It felt really different at first but ultimately it was extremely comfortable.  I hadn't worn them at the rink in over a month. I got a bunch of practice in on my routines and tried out a few new tricks I had seen in Cerritos.  

Yesterday was the skating bbq at the bay.  It was super fun!  It was simply gorgeous next to the water.  A perfect San Diego day.  Sunny, breezy.  I skated for a really long time, about five hours altogether but of course I was taking breaks all the time.  It was awesome to see all the amazing skaters that came out to show their moves.  I skated the #4 routine and bunch and was able to learn #3!  Now I know both of them.  I still have to perfect all the moves but I know all the steps.

I have made all sorts of progress on my duck walk.  I can do it now, just need to get used to bending my knees more.  That has taken me nearly two months to master.  Yesterday I was learning how to do a move called the grapevine.  Very challenging and it requires moving my skates in a way that is totally foreign to me.  I got all the fundamentals, now it's just practice, practice, practice.

Skating Tuesday at the rink for Adult Night.  Can't wait to skate the routines with the other skaters.  :)

Summertime

Been having lots of fun skating the past few days. Saturday night I was at the rink and got that duck walk down. Yay me! I couldn't wait to show everyone at the beach on Sunday. I did it better on the smooth rink floor on Saturday, and it was a bit trickier on the cement but I was able to do it well enough that everyone could see I was moving to the next level. Now I am busy learning the continuation, a tricky step that is a combination of the downtown and the duck walk. Really hard! I spent my entire time at the beach learning it (2 hours), and even then I am not at 100%. I'll knock it out tonight at the rink for sure.

In other news, my car got really ill and I had to spend all my Vanilla money on the repair. Blows so much. My dream of Vanilla skates has to be put on hold for now. I am going to the ebay route now, trying to get a deal. My feet are small so I have that going for me. I am watching the listings like a hawk, I know something good will eventually show up.

I'll be at the rink tonight and then going up to Skate Depot in Cerritos on Thursday...but I have to work Friday! Ooh it will be a sleepy day. The plan is to get there early and leave by 11:00 so I can get in bed hopefully by 1:00. I'm young, I can make it on four hours sleep! And a beautiful weekend is on tap, perfect for skating by the ocean.

I'll leave you with De La Soul, Roller Skating Jam Named Saturdays Good song and even better video.

Roller Skates Go Forward and Backward Only

Hey World! I was pleased to see that my good friend in England has logged into my blog, so now I have international visitors! Cool! Thanks to everyone for hitting my site and reading my blog. I heart google analytics, the data is just fascinating.

Anyway. On to skating. Had a fabulous time at Skate World on Tuesday night. All the regulars were out in full force. I was able to monopolize Paul for a full 30 minutes, and he is teaching me how to do the duck walk. He said it will help tremendously with my downtown, so that is my homework. It is hard! He makes it look like a walk in the park. He was very patient showing me how to do it, but I really need to put in the time practicing to be able to do it correctly. So much of skating is a leap of faith, and I have a major fear of falling so I don't always take the leaps. I guess that's why some people wear all the protection, so it doesn't matter if they fall.

I skated the backwards beginning skate, and it was so cool to feel myself improving bit by bit. I still suck, but not as bad ha ha ha.

Skating at the rink this Saturday, and then to Bay Sunday. Then next Thursday there is a road trip to Cerritos for Adult Night! Yay I can't wait to go again, it's going to be awesome!