Equipment Review: Wheels

I got my first pair of real derby skates in February 2009. They were a pair of Riedell R3's, the Tuner package. They included upgraded Radar Tuner wheels in any hardness you wanted. I chose the red ones, which are the second softest Tuners. At the time, I chose them as much for the color as I did for the grip, but since BCR skated on a concrete floor, it helped a lot to have wheels that were grippier than whatever was on those crappy Academy Cobras.

They have served me well. I have used them for well over a year at this point; nearly two, as a matter of fact. I've watched other people wear through their wheels in two months, and still, my Tuners kept on truckin'.

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. I was almost reluctant to get rid of the old Tuners, but as long as they've lasted, they're finally starting to lose their grip. On a floor like BCR's, that's a definite negative. Since I came back, I've struggled with maintaining speed and control on our track, which let me know one important thing: the Tuners had to go.

Right now, they're sitting in the middle of my office floor, divested of their bearings. My husband ordered me a pair of Atom Poisons for Christmas, and I tested them out at open skate last night. Before I went, I cleaned and oiled my bearings pretty meticulously so that I could try to get the best possible performance out of my new wheels.

I'm one of the taller rollergirls on our team, and also probably one of the beefier girls on our team, at least as far as leg muscles are concerned. I needed a wheel that I could really dig in with, one that wouldn't slip around the turns no matter how hard I pushed. For me to get as much power out of my stride as I can get, I needed a wheel I could depend on. My derby wife Vixen had gotten some Poisons not too long ago, and loved them. I was hoping for the same luck, but, given that she skates on a wood floor most of the time, I wasn't too hopeful for a repeat performance.

They were better than I expected. Much better. the wheels are soft to the touch; in that respect, they're really a lot like the way my Tuners felt when I first got them. They're supposed to be hybrid wheels, though, meaning that they grip well on slick floors, and give you plenty of maneuverability on sticky floors. That part I've yet to test.

On our slick concrete, I was able to fly like I never had before. I gave them a test run by going proverbial balls out for a few laps, and was shocked at how well they gripped. I was able to crouch down low in the corners, and instead of the wheels slipping, they held, and I could push hard to get the maximum stride.

I also tested them out for a 25 laps in 5 minutes. I easily made the time- that's nothing exactly new, as I do usually make the time. However, this time, it felt different. I wasn't flying when I tested out my speed, just kind of taking it at a pace in between medium and sprinting. The wheels held well, no matter how low I crouched or how hard I pushed. When I finished, the only thing that was hurting was the blister on the bottom of my foot. My legs weren't cramping, and I wasn't gasping for air. No doubt, a lot of this is because I've been working my ass off to improve my endurance since I started with BCR in October.

But a big part of it was that my equipment wasn't working against me. When I can push powerfully, I don't have to exhaust myself with tons of tiny strokes. Instead, I can fully extend all the way through my strides and get the maximum length out of the push before I have to take another one. That was a wonderful feeling.

I also tried some slicing last night, and the wheels grip so well that I was able to slice sharper and faster than I ever have before. I can't imagine what they will do on a grippier track. Stops are perfect: tomahawk, t-stop and plow stop were easy as pie. The wheels have great friction with the track, and they do just what I wanted them to do. Bellissimo!

As I said, I haven't tried these on a different track yet, but so far, I'm extremely satisfied. I hope to upgrade my bearings to Bones next, and see what that does for me. As my wise teammate Ziggy said last night, the skates don't make the rollergirl. But if your equipment is terrible, you won't skate to your potential, because it's mechanically impossible.

Atom Wheels, Test 1: 10/10

Skate Your Booty (Off)

I crapped out last night on off-skates practice. Admittedly, it was partially laziness; I got home from a late day at work and was frankly exhausted. I know that I would have felt better if I'd suited up and gone to exercise, but I let my laziness speak for me.

However, it was partially also the muscle pain from Monday. I usually get REALLY bad DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), which I know that you're just supposed to work through as normal. My fear, though, was that if I went and brutalized my leg muscles again like I did on Monday, I'd be too sore to skate at practice tonight. It seems, so far, to be a fairly justified decision, since my legs feel a LOT better today.

It's a difficult balance for me, though - I've never been one of those people who just work out to work out. In the past, it's been an accomplishment for me to skate twice a week. It's a bit difficult to go from that into an aggressive, seven days a week training plan for the off-season, and I don't quite know how to motivate myself to keep it up. I have a feeling, though, that practice tonight (which I'm already hemming and hawing about) will be motivation enough to remember why I'm doing this.

****

I knew tonight was going to be brutal... I just had a feeling. Cho certainly didn't disappoint. Endurance and body work for two straight hours.

I don't feel like updating about every minute thing- there's still a shower to take, and a bit of a snack to be had before bed, before I have to drag my sore ass out of bed in the morning.

Improvements I noticed: Last week, we did something called "the gauntlet." It was as follows: 40 laps in 10 minutes; 25 in 5; 10 in 3 with a rockstar at the end of each lap; 5 in 1. The first time through, last week, I made all the times save the 25. During the 25, I sat out. My back had cramped up so bad from pushing the 40 that I couldn't handle 25 more. I made my times on the other two, presumably because I'd had the time to rest out.

This week, I decided I wasn't going to sit out no matter what, so I didn't. My times obviously weren't as good. Cho cut our goal down for the 40 laps to 8:00. I made 38 in that time. I was able to do 21 of the 25 in 5 minutes. I just barely made my 10 with 2:48, and barely skirted my 5 at :58. However, I consider it a huge improvement, since I actually made it through all of them without giving up on my body.

Things I'd like to be better: we did a drill called thighmaster intended to work up quad and core strength. It involves squats, which have always been pretty painful for me. I'd love to say I didn't cheat on them and not go as low as I could have, but I did. I've got to learn to go ahead and go through the pain because without the pain I can't do better. I'm particularly disappointed in how I skated during that drill. I'm also disappointed with how I behaved during our hitting drill. I still have a HUGE problem with lacking the aggression and initiative to just hit people. Again, it's a holdover from Belles 'n' Bombshells, where we were taught it was better to save your hits instead of use them, which, as I believe I've noted before, resulted mostly in passive skating, and worrying too much about whether it was the right time to hit someone and missing the opportunity entirely. I'm still letting this mindset rule the day. I know I'm a hard hitter, but I don't take the initiative to show that. And I hate that.

Things I'm puzzled about: the inside the leg pain I've been talking about lately. I think I'm beginning to narrow it down to either the way my shoes/skate boots fit when I'm exercising, or the pressure of my ankle brace. It tends to be worse on the right leg, which is where I wear my brace, but I do have the pain in both legs, which leads me to think I might need different foot support in my shoes. I'm going to also try lacing the shoes a little less tightly tomorrow to see if that makes a difference, as I was getting some pretty gnarly nerve pinches along the top of my foot tonight as well that eased up a bit when I unlaced the bottom set of laces in my boot.

Still some things to improve on, but this is a long off-season. Next week, we don't have any practice starting Sunday because of Thanksgiving, so I know it will be a test of willpower. But with my husband there to remind me why I'm training so hard, I don't think that'll be much of a problem.