Skating Road Trip

I finally have a chance to give you an update on my skating road trip.  It was the most fun!

Skating at the roller boogie in Vegas was really special.  It was an out of this world experience.  The majority of the people in the club were drinking and dancing and not skating, there were only a handful of people that actually skated.  That was cool for me to have the space, but the floor was truly frightening.  It was some sort of plastic flooring that was completely sticky and 

resistant to being rolled over.  Once I got used to that, the floor was littered with debris and even had patches in various places with duct tape.  What a mess!  But it was an adventure and I got used to all that stuff.  I zigzagged around the duct tape and avoided the areas where I had seen stir sticks and safety pins.

There was a professional photographer there so I was able get one funny picture of me. You'll see it below.  Someone said I look like a coked out rollergirl from Scarface.  Awesome!!  

Note to self:  If you want to have your picture taken in Vegas, skate only in underwear.

  

I also went to Sonic while I was there as there is only one in my area and it's far away.  The food was really, really rough but they have great drinks.  Of course I went to see the skaters.  It was kind of disappointing.  The first time I went, the sullen girl that brought me my food was no skater and barely let me take her picture.  It's not worth posting.  The second time was better; the young guy that waited on me was a true skater who even used his skates for transportation. That was pretty cool.  

I skated at Skate World last night; it wasn't too crowded so it was all right.  I am getting more and more confident going fast and chasing the fast skaters.  It is both terrifying and 

exhilarating.  I skated hard and hurt my leg doing a skate routine.  Crap!  It's in a funny place high up on my thigh and sure enough, still hurts today.  I hope it's okay tomorrow when I am skating at the bay with the gang.  I hope you're summer is going fantastic.  It's going by so fast!

Clams on the Half Shell, and Roller Skates, Roller Skates

Hello Blogosphere and happy August! Sara Skates here checking in with some roller skating news. Oh my, I have been getting my skate on! It was a great July!

Wednesday was the rally to save Skate World at the rink. It was a blast! Pretty crazy outside for the rally, hundreds of people in attendance. It was inspiring to see the emotion and hear the heartfelt words of the speakers. I truly hope the tide can be turned. I was worried about going in for the free skate considering the throng that was trying to get in, but it turned out fine. For one thing, only a fraction of the people going in (1100 was the final count) were actually skating. Yes there was a huge grip on the floor, but to me, it was like a super busy Saturday night - intimidating but doable. The funny thing was that I was one of a handful of regulars who skated. The majority sat on the side and said things like "I'm not going to skate in that mess!" There were some amazing skaters there that didn't lace up. Little do they know how much it increases your Skate Skillz if you deal with the kids, learning how to brake fast and cut away. You all will remember the fear and anxiety I had only months ago skating with the kids. Over time, I have gotten used to it and wasn't even stressing with that crowd!

They asked anyone who could to be at the rink the following morning at 7:30 for a news event. that would be me. Only about 20 people went, it was quite early but I sure love starting my day with a skate like that. For one thing, the floor was basically mine so I could skate way out on the outer edge and really use the entire rink floor. My crossovers are the bomb now so it was great to practice over and over. One of the rexers was there and he gave me some valuable tips on my backwards skating. Then the news came and we skated around; you can see me a few different times (I'm wearing a purple top).

This weekend I will be going on skating road trip! Woo hoo! Can't wait. Saturday night I will be in Chino at Skate Express for their Hip Hop skate session late that night. Then Vegas baby! Ever since I heard there is a roller boogie going on in Vegas, I was like 'I need to be there!' Finally we are going. Sunday I will be at Crystal Palace for their adult night skate, and I have been there before - the rink is beautiful. Then after that on to the Rio for the roller boogie! I know it might be cheesy and silly but I'm a rollergirl, I gotta check it out.

That's the haps! Lots of skating in my future, what fun!

Cerritos Style

Wanted to get in a skating greeting before the weekend begins. I have had some other commitments this week so have not skated as much as I would like. How can that be, how can there be anything more important than skating? Yeah that's how it is when you become a mom. BUT the San Diego skating group was making its monthly trek to Skate Depot in Cerritos and after missing Adult Night at Skate World on Tuesday, I was itching to go.

The rink was not quite as crowded as in previous times I have gone, and that was really cool. I had time to warm up around the oval and I am going so much faster these days. I used to be so afraid to crossover at a higher speed, now I can do it and it makes me feel so proud. I can go even faster if I don't do the crossovers. Even now they make me nervous but gradually, I am getting better and better at them. Awesome!

I went in the center of the rink and the turn out from the San Diego group was fantastic! Must have been a good dozen or more people there. It's always nice to see some familiar faces in the crowd. I skated downtown and totally rocked it, it was too cool! My confidence is getting stronger in my skating all the time, and it's just thrilling.

Music was a bit slow but picked up around 10:00 pm. Then the rink started to get crowded and you could see some amazing performances in the center of the rink. I was still skating routines with the group but it started getting too crowded. This guy danced right into me and I would have eaten it hard if he hadn't caught me. That gave me a fright and I stopped doing routines then, just too crowded.

I was also backwards skating - not just on the special, I even skated it during the all skate! I never do that as it makes me too nervous but my backwards skating has improved to the point where I know I need to keep it up so I can improve even more. My backwards skating has no rhythm and nothing will make you see that like being in Cerritos with all the amazing skaters grooving all around you. I watched them carefully and tried to pick up little moves here and there.

Skating BBQ at the beach tomrrow so that should be a lot of fun, although the music probably won't be going for skating until late in the day. I still want to hit up the rink tomorrow night so I'm not going to overdo it at the beach, want to save my enery for the rink skating.

Summertime

Summer has finally arrived in San Diego, and it couldn't be more welcomed. Finally, the blue skies and bright sunshine we have all been waiting for. It's so beautiful - and perfect for skating. I was able to get out last night to Mission Beach for a beautiful sunset skate. It was great to put in the time distance skating (just look out for those errant pebbles) and then spend some time roller dancing by the coaster at Belmont Park. There were plenty of people out enjoying the weather so I had a small audience of onlookers.

It looks like I am going to be skating in the Pacific Beachfest so I better get over feeling nervous when people are watching me skate. It's exciting! It's going to be on October 9, 2010 and I will be skating the numbers with the rest of the skaters. So I'm going to have to work, work, work if I expect to be up to speed in time for the festival. We will be doing routines 2-6 as well as the Fly. Even though I know the routines, it's another thing altogether to do them consecutively, one after another. Exhausting! But I know I can do it.

Tuesday was Adult Night at Skate World. It was a lot of fun, almost all regulars, only a handful of amateurs, so that was pretty cool. The only problem was since the weather has finally improved, it is hotter than a hen in a wool blanket inside the rink. The only saving grace is a giant fan in front of the back door where you can cool off. Of course it is totally clogged with people gasping for air at all times, so you have to muscle your way in there a bit. All I can do is put my hair up, get a drink of water and deal with it. As long as the music is on the money, it makes me forget how thick and hot the air is inside the rink.

One last note that I have been scouring the internet for cool roller skating images ever since the inception of this blog. I think it's about done; there are only so many roller skating images out there, and I only like posting my very favorite ones. At this point I am going to have to start posting some pix of myself. I am really going to try to get some pictures from my beach skating this weekend so hopefully I can post some skating pix of me next time.

Get out there and ride your hide! There's no time to lose.

4th of July Skate

Hello out there! I know I haven't been posting as much in recent days and weeks, but trust me when I say it's because I've been skating! The summer is just going great, all I can say is I Heart Roller Skating! Here's a bit about my recent skating activities:

July 4 Bay Skate

This was a great fun day of skating. The weather didn't turn out unfortunately, so it was gray and ugly the entire day, but we didn't let that stop us. Put in a good three hours of skating time and it was awesome to see the pros that showed up to strut their stuff. Did the numbers with the other skaters and was right on the money, too cool. Started learning the Fly, this is my next routine to conquer. My #6 is shaky too so working on that all the time.

July 1 World on Wheels

What a blast! I had the best time skating here. It's funny because their name is World On Wheels so everything is WOW. Wow Rules! Wow no refunds!

They have a few different adult nights and this one was not well attended but I like that. You actually have a bit of space to move around. One of the coolest things is that the center circle of the rink is enclosed so no worries about people knocking you down when you are dancing. Very cool! There are two entrances/exits and even room to sit down on benches. It's hard to describe but it is super terrific. I showed them how we roll San Diego style. It was a trip to check out the different routines they do up there. The music was pretty good - there was a painful slow set that seemed endless but other than that, the music was up tempo.

July 6 Adult Night at Skate World

Fun adult night, although not very well attended. I guess people were still tired from Sunday. I got some work in on the Fly and skated the routines with the other skaters. I am really trying to focus on 1) Looking up (0r anywhere that isn't the floor) and 2) Finessing my moves. Even though I know the moves, I need to make them smoother and add even more bounce than I already have.

Always room for improvement. Busy weekend coming up - won't be able to skate at the beach, which is disappointing but I'll be at the rink Saturday night. See you later, skater.

Skating Girl

It's Tuesday so you know I'm in a great mood - Adult Night tonight at Skate World, my favorite! I have been having the best time skating since we last talked. Skating was great at the Bay this past Sunday, although the weather was sucky. That didn't stop me!

I have been really wanting to learn all the downtown routines 1-6. The first one I learned was #4, and that took me a really long time. Then I learned #3, much harder with the dreaded "four turns". I taught myself #2 in my garage watching my instructional DVD, then fine tuned it at the rink with live instruction. Got that one down basically. And now, after Sunday, I learned #5, which was pretty simple. The real challenge is #6, oh my goodness! That is a very advanced routine but I love a challenge. Nonetheless, I was able to pick it up for the most part. I have been watching my DVD to brush up since Sunday. Paul told me he wants to skate 2-6 (haven't learned #1 yet) tonight! I sure hope I can keep up. It is going to be so cool.

Do you remember when I was barely able to do any downtown routines, when I couldn't even do crossovers? Amazing how far I have come! I just want to keep building on what I have learned and learn even more! After I learn routine #1, there is also one called the Fly that I have learned some of but it is very complicated with a lot of arm movements so that will be my next thing.

In other news, I have a birthday this week! Happy Birthday to me. Where's my cake at? I am heading up to World on Wheels on Thursday in Los Angeles for the occasion. They have a session from 6 pm - 1 am so it will nice to check out a rink I have never been to. You never know, I could still end up hitting Cerritos on the way back!

This weekend is the big skating BBQ at the Bay, and I am really looking forward to it. It would be awesome to run through the downtown routines with a big group! Hope I can keep up. I hope everyone has a fun and safe 4th of July weekend.

Skating Update

Hi Skating World! I have been so busy skating that I haven't found a chance to sit down and send out an update. So here I am. I have been having the best time skating! This summer is turning out to be so awesome. I am learning new stuff in leaps and bounds, it's so exciting!

I've been at the rink every Tuesday night. It's so fun to skate the downtown routines with the whole group and try to stay on the beat (try being the operative word). I am working on the routines all the time and trying to be able do them smoother. A lot of people have asked me to teach them the routines and it's very flattering. The only trouble is you really have to put in the practice time or you'll never remember all the steps. I am still one of only a few adults at the rink on the weekends. That is a key time to get practice in as the center of the rink is quite deserted so you have the space.

My birthday is coming up in July and I am going to be making a trip to World on Wheels in L.A. to check out the scene. They have a few different adult nights up there; I'll be going up on a Thursday and I heard that Sunday night is the best adult night. I sure hope the music doesn't suck.

As I get more and more used to dance skating, I see how very important the music is. When the DJ is playing crap music, I don't feel like doing anything. But when a good string of songs is on, I can keep going, even though my muscles are burning, even though I am out of breath, the music pushes me on. One day when I have my own roller rink, the music will be bumpin at all times!!

In other news, I heard some very sad news that it looks like Skate World will be closing its doors in the next few years. The entire center where the rink is located will be renovated with a new shopping complex. It's a true pity that the actions taken by the City were not publicized in any way by the rink so that more people were aware this is happening. Unfortunately, the major actions were taken in 2008 and the wheels are completely in motion for this project. I'll do another post where I can go into more detail about what is going on. The best thing to do is to enjoy the rink while we have it and worry about having no skating in San Diego when the day comes.

On that note, can't wait to groove all night tomorrow for Adult Night at Skate World!