Skate, Don't Hate

Hey Skate Team! How is everyone doing?  Happy Start of Summer!  I am so happy the summer is finally here.  Lots of opportunities to skate outside and enjoy the sunshine.  Went to the rink last night for Adult Night. It was quite dead, looks like that is going to be a trend for the summer.  Who wouldn't want to hang out inside a boiling hot building, skating as fast as possible?  Yeah I guess I didn't mention that the rink is not air conditioned.  I know, it seems like medieval times or something.  In Cerritos, the rink is air conditioned.  Sometimes I need a jacket when I'm warming up, it's downright cold on the floor!  Once you get all hot and sweaty though, how wonderful to feel that icy cold air on your face.  Anyway, I digress.  The rink was dead which means super fast hardcore skating, utter exhaustion by 9:00 pm (rink closes at 10:30).  When there are more people, you have to be more cautious so it causes you to skate slower. Man this dead rink is tearing me up!

I have been feeling a little stagnant lately.  Need to mix it up a bit.  I still love doing all my regular stuff like downtown and all, I just want to go to the next level.  I am back watching my how to videos again.  Lately I have been trying to learn to spin.  The only spin I know how to do is a downtown spin, which doesn't even really count as a spin.  You seem some skaters doing some amazing spins, 10 times around.  I am just trying to do one spin and stop.  Then I will go on from there.  I am working on the heel toe spin at the moment.  I am also trying to skate more on my front wheels.  All these things are challenging so it's much easier to fall back into my regular movements.  Have to keep pushing for constant improvement.

My birthday is coming up in a couple weeks.  Man I just keep getting older.  But with my skating, I honestly feel younger than I have in years.  So happy birthday to me, bitches!!

For my birthday, I am going to Vegas.  Yeah baby!  So excited.  I am going to skate at Crystal Palace on July 3 for their Adult Night, hopefully they will have a 4th of July special skate.  I am looking forward to luxuriating at the hotel, lounging in the pool, getting drunk on cheap drinks, kicking ass on the slots, and not sleeping.  That's the plan!

You Ain't Ready for Cali

Hi friends! How is the beginning of summer treating you? Couldn't be better over here.  I have many skating adventures to report on so let's get down to brass tacks.  Last week was the awesome, incredible and impossible to forget Back to Cali Skate Jam at Skate Depot.  Where do I start to describe an event like this one?  Although I went last year, since then my skating has grown in leaps and bounds so it was a completely different experience.

I had heard that there were supposed to be 300-400 skaters in attendance for each night of the four night event, but STILL! Being out there is so different from reading about it.  This year I went on Thursday and Saturday.  Thursday being the kick off, it was quite crowded.  The music was off the hook.  Once I got out in the crowd and started grooving with them, I felt like a million bucks.  Correction: a million petrified bucks.  No matter how many times I have skated in Cerritos, doing Back to Cali is on another level all to itself.  The floor is just so packed, but everyone is respectful of everyone else's space.  But when a fall happens, it truly is scary because three or four skaters inevitably end up tripping on the fallen ones.  I had a guy bump into me from behind and felt myself begin falling back.  OH MY GOD! There were some terrifying seconds there, and then he grabbed me and I got my balance back.  Phew.

My blood was pumping so hard after that near miss.  I was shaking all over!  And although I perfected getting off the floor last year, it was like being a beginner all over again up there.  I was too scared to get off the floor!  Haven't felt that in a long time.  So no choice but to hang in until they call for a special and the floor clears.  Back to skating with my heart in my throat.  This guy runs into me and it looks so grim - I'm flailing all over the place, falling forward.  I really thought I was going down, but he (rightfully) grabbed me and I managed to not fall.  I grabbed on to his arm and sweater so hard that I partially bent one of my fingernails back.  Ouch!  But not too bad if that's the only injury you take home from Cerritos.

They called for Trios (I described these on my very first trip to Cerritos back in February 2010 awwwww) and this is my cue to get off the floor, but a couple of my buddies talked me into doing it with them.  Wow.  I thought I was terrified before.  For a special event like this, there are dozens of skaters that can skate trios, so it wasn't like the floor was empty or anything.  There has to be 15 groups on the floor, and some had as many as seven skaters.  We mostly did this thing where we linked our arms together, and I was in the middle getting pulled back and forth like crazy.  We also tried holding hands and going in circles, which involves a lot of a backwards/forwards skating.  Much scarier.  Plus I felt like one of them was going to break my wrist.  So we went back to the other way.  I was so frightened but I felt like I grew as a skater in those moments.  I'm proud of myself for conquering trios. 

Thursday was so incredible that I decided to go back up for Saturday as well.  Also crazy packed, with people pouring in by the minute.  I felt empowered from my successful Thursday night, and hit the wood hard.  Feels so good to roll with folks like that, true skaters getting their roll on.  Man I would love to go every week!  There were many different times where a skater would put their arm around me to let me know they were passing me, or take my  hand to pass in front of me.  So natural.  I wasn't able to escape unscathed, however.  I ended up falling on my ass a few hours in.  Really don't know what happened, these falls tend to happen so quickly.  I found myself on the ground, that much I knew.  In the fast lane.  I got up in a crouch position in about two seconds and a friend helped me away.  But man my butt is still sore 10 days later. [Side note: my subject line is taken from one of the comments the DJ would often make as we were skating around "Ya'll can't handle Cali" "You ain't ready for Cali" it was hilarious!)

Simply cannot wait until my next Cerritos trip.  Unfortunately I don't have one on the books right now as my birthday is coming up next month.  I'll be heading to Vegas to skate at Crystal Palace, woo  hoo!  Looking forward to that.  Should be able to hit a rink or two on the way over as well.  Yeah baby, skating road trip!!!

Odds and Ends

Hi Skate Fam, today is Tuesday and it’s simply my favorite day of the week! Adult night tonight, I just can’t wait! This week is even better because I am going to Skate Depot on Thursday WHAT WHAT yeah that’s right. I can’t believe it’s been a month already. I keep having flashbacks to when I was there last. Such a blast until…it wasn’t. Falls really sucks for me because they haunt me for awhile afterwards. I get all gun-shy and afraid to take risks. It’s been four weeks though and I’ve skated many times in between.


I still have my injury. One of my derby friends told me she waits two weeks for every injury she gets, and then she goes to the doctor. It’s been four weeks for me. I feel like I should probably wait it out, then I’ll pull my arm in some weird way that is so painful. Still waiting it out. I never really thought I could get so hurt at skating, I guess I am learning my lesson.

I’ve been doing all this couple skating, which is awesome, but the step gets boring after awhile. One of the most fun things about going to Cerritos is checking out other couples and the steps they take. I have been learning one new step called the shuffle. Fun but hard. One leg always weaker than the other. I have also been trying to do better about skating on my toes. It’s the sort of thing you are supposed to learn when you first start skating, but I did not listen to my teachers. So now here I am two years later, not having much skills with skating on my toes. Funny how that stuff comes back around.

I have been advised to take smaller steps when I’m skating and doing cross overs. Ha, easier said than done! It really is scary to bring your skates closer together. Plus I have learned habits with the way I take my steps. I don’t even really know how to pick up my speed unless I am in my usual stance. Everyone says I have to unlearn my bad habits. Um okay, working on that.

With my backwards skating, I have my all consuming fear of turning around. It’s so ridiculous but I must get over it. When I hear the music getting towards the end of the song, I’m already dreading the turn around that’s coming. At the rink on Saturday, I worked on turning around over and over. I felt like I made a little headway. The fast backward skaters, you should see how effortlessly they turn around at top speed. I want to get their.

On a completely unrelated note, how awesome are my pictures for today’s blog?  Check out Olivia!  Funny that they redacted her name from the cover.  The internet is amazing in that it continues to yield good images, some two years later. Keep calm and skate on, skaters.

The Harder They Come...

Hello skate fans! I hope this greeting finds you well. I have been a very remiss blogger. Sometimes life gets in the way, but of course there is always time for skating.


I went up to Cerritos a little over a week ago. I did not eagerly go to my computer afterwards for one main reason – I fell again. Part of me says “why do I keep falling all of the sudden? I thought I was doing better in my skating!” Ultimately my falls have been related to the falls of other people, so I don’t think it’s a reflection on my skating skills at all. Also, I now skate at a much higher speed, so when the fall occurs, I have a lot more inertia to send me flying and falling much harder.

Still, it was a bummer of a fall. My first mistake was I cut to the left to avoid some slower skaters. To the right is always, always, ALWAYS the safest. I cut left and these two old guys (yes they were very old, at least 60 if not 70) fell directly in front of me. I saw it coming and cut even further left to avoid them. It totally looked like I was in the clear, and then one of the old guys flung his arm out in my path as he completed his fall. All of this happens in the span of a second. I tried to step over but I was going much too fast. I rolled over his arm, which I’m sure felt great, and it took me down. I went flying, face first. Came down first on my right elbow – yes the same elbow injured only one week earlier – followed by smacking both knees, and then I flopped down on my belly. Yes I cleaned the rink floor for a few feet. I immediately curled up in a ball to avoid the people behind me but they skated expertly around me. Then one of my friends came and helped me up. My body was aching.

That really took a lot of joy out of my night. Injuries always suck. I didn’t even clean my skates on their fancy skate cleaning machine, or buy new nuts like I was supposed to. I didn’t even do any backwards skating. Sigh. But still, before that happened, I was having such an amazing time. Nero didn’t go, which rocked my world. I felt so disappointed, I had to give myself a pep talk and remind myself I came to skate – period. Not with anyone, not any certain way, not with any certain music. The point is to skate. After that, I was good. I was jamming along with the crowd and staying in the far right lane. My new wheels were complete love on that floor.

My best defense against all this falling is: 1. Fall better, and 2. Learn how to jump. I skated with one of my teachers on Tuesday and he was all over my “bad” form. He wants me to bend my knees practically to the ground (I’m a short girl as it is) and pull one skate clear around to the other side of the other skate. The way he does. Ugh time for more at home practice. Skate on, dear friends.

Keep Calm and Skate On

OMG I can't believe it has been nearly a month since my last post!  I am the worst blogger ever.  Well then, this post might be long.  :)  So how have you been?  I hope you've been skating as much as me.  I have had plenty of family and adult nights in the past month, but I will focus on just the good stuff.  CERRITOS!  Went to Cerritos last month on the 31st, and it was out of this world!  How could this rink get better every single time I go there?  I swear I wish I could go every week.  The people, the music, it was just the best time.

What made it even more fun is my new skating partner.  We shall call him Nero to protect the innocent.  I have been couple skating with Nero for a couple of months here in San Diego, but I know he goes to Cerritos nearly every week.  So I was thrilled to meet him up there.  By the time I got up there, he was totally warmed up and ready to skate FAST, like super fast!  It was scary as hell.  It's one thing to skate fast down here but up there, it's another story.  Plus he's such a good skater, he likes to steer us into danger "just to make it more exciting". Great.  But I skated incredibly hard to keep up with him, so much harder than I skate in San Diego.  My legs were sore for three days!  But it was so worth it on every single level.

A friend of mine asked me to help him with couple skating as he sees me skating with Nero all the time.  So we gave it go up there but he can't do it very well, and I'm not that versed either.  So what happened?  He kicked my skate and we both went down in a big, giant, falling-down-in-Cerritos pile.  Argh it sucked!  Such a mixture of embarrassment, pain, fear, humiliation and did I say embarrassment?  I swear that's the worst part.  I went down badly, right on my tailbone and with my head going back into the floor.  Ouch!  But the floor guards up there are the bomb, they were on top of me in seconds.  They really rock. 

Skating in San Diego is a letdown after being in Cerritos.  You have to adjust back to the average music and kids.  But skating with Nero is always awesome, there is so much he can teach me.  I'm so happy he's decided to take me under his wing.  I worry that I'm holding him back, that he can't skate as fast as he'd like because he's skating with me.  But he told me not to worry about that.

In other news, I have been corresponding with the man that sold me my Snyder's.  Apparently he reads my blog, so a big shout out to Jim and Renee, hey you crazy kids!  They are both artistic skaters.  Anyway, so Jim told me he's going to send me some different wheels so I can skate faster.  I am so excited!  I can't wait to get them and then bake some zucchini bread for the lucky soul that is going to swap out my bearings.

Took my little beast to the rink yesterday to get his roll on.  I succeeded in having him wear skates for two hours, which I thought was pretty amazing.  He enjoyed the limbo and the dice game and giving mommy high 5's when she skated by.  Other than that, I think his favorite part was the arcade hahaha.  But at least he kept his skates on.  By the end of the session, he was able to walk around the rink floor without falling.  Not rolling but at least not falling.

Other than that, Cerritos on the 28th.  Oh yeah.

If You're Lucky Enough to be Irish, You're Lucky Enough

St. Patrick's Day greetings to all my readers, all 17 of you! Haha It's St. Patrick's Day and I've got to find some leprechaun roller skating images on google.  Hopefully that's what you are looking at right now.

St. Patrick's Day and roller skating don't really mix, although there is a rink in L.A. where alcohol is served at the adjoining bowling center.  I really couldn't imagine skating drunk, that just sounds terrifying.  It's so easy to make a mistake when you're sober, who knows what you might do if you're drunk.  But I digress.

You know I've been getting my roll on.  Adult Night this past Tuesday was so fantastic.  For one thing, there was only a handful of amateurs, so that's always good.  The DJ played lots of my requests, which is awesome.  And there were no major accidents the whole night, thank goodness.  (There was a bad one a few weeks ago that ended in the paramedics taking the girl out. Scary.)  I am feeling so awesome in my new skates, I just can't believe I left them on the shelf for six months!  Was ready to sell them!  There's a time and place for everything.

My backwards skating has improved dramatically in the last few weeks.  My buddy, DJ Dave, has been really helping me with my backwards crossovers and has driven the point home about shifting my weight from foot to foot.  This is the basis of roller skating and the key to success on your wheels.  I still kinda suck at turning around but I am working on it all the time.  I am also learning backwards couple skating, which is so totally exciting.  Of course also very easy to get knocked down but so far, so good. 

We really rocked on our downtown routines on Tuesday night.  I saw the amateurs looking on, mesmerized.  One of them came up to me and asked if we were professionals.  That made my night.  When everyone is on the beat and we are perfectly synchronized, we probably do look like professionals.

In other news, I am skating at the rink this weekend, which I am so excited about.  It's been at least a month since I was able to fit in skating on the weekend at the rink.  I'm especially glad because they are saying rain this weekend so probably no beach skating.  Then Cerritos later this month, so excited!  Can't wait to get my roll on Skate Depot style.

Skate or Die

Good morning skate family! I am writing today in very high spirits, I have been having lots of wonderful skating adventures and having the best time.

Skating on Tuesday was so fantastic.  Although I have only been wearing my Douglass Snyder skates for three weeks, I feel like I have already acclimated to wearing them.  My skates were still hurting me, so one of my friends suggested that I cut up some make up sponges and put them on my toes.  Wow, worked like a charm!  Tuesday was my first time not having pain with my skates, and it was so awesome.  I was skating fast, I was doing my roller dancing, and just basically feeling like a million bucks in my bad ass skates.

Last weekend I skated up at Moonlight Rollerway in Glendale, CA.  What a funny and interesting rink.  Very small with a super low ceiling, probably about the same size as Skate World.   The rink is maintained in a 1950's style (including no locks on the bathroom doors) so that movies can be filmed there.  It was a family night, but these kids behaved so differently from the kids in San Diego. Skating was extremely uniform, certainly no texting while skating (so rampant here).  There was a sign at the entrance that said "no fast or reckless skating", and this rule is clearly followed.  I'm not used to skating so slow; I never got a warning but I definitely got some stern looks.  But it was so easy to backwards skate amongst those kids because they didn't dart around at all.  There was a bucket in the middle of the floor with cones around it from a leak in the ceiling. It was pretty funny, every  now and then the DJ would come on the mic and say "avoid the bucket".

So Moonlight was okay but I didn't think it was all that like people have said.  To be fair, Audlt Night would probably be way better.  The following day was supposed to be the Race on the Base but it got rained out, it was pretty crappy.  The rain was very intense.  To make up for it, I located an afternoon session at another rink so the trip wouldn't be wasted.

Went to the Fountain Valley Skating Center on Saturday for their afternoon session 11:00-1:30.  This rink is HUGE compared to Skate World, and I just loved it.  The lovely wood floor is unfortunately painted over, but I loved it just the same.  It's so nice to skate on such a big floor and be able to really practice some steps before you get to the turn.  This rink appeared to have fairly strict rules as well; I went in the middle to practice my crazy legs and was immediately told that skating in the center is not allowed.  There were three little kids having lessons so my skating there would "interfere" with the lessons.  Whatever.  Skating was fun, the music was top 40 but definitely more upbeat, so I can work with that.  When I saw the lessons had ended, I made a plea to the DJ to allow me to skate in the center, and she begrudgingly said yes hahaha.  I quite enjoyed ths rink and would love to hit it up for Adult Night, but it's on Thursday and neither of these rinks hold a candle to Skate Depot in Cerritos. 

I'm so excited to turn the corner with my Snyder skates.  I had four different people pay me compliments on Tuesday night, and I really feel it is because of the skates.  Even though they are so heavy, I have adapted to them quickly and what can I say, I'm just in love.