Holy cannoli, where do I start??? Plow stops just became 20% easier, I swear they roll much faster, are way more responsive to my weight shifts, and make quick footwork even more fun and easeful with their slightly extra grippiness. To top all that off I had absolutely no idea how vibratory the wheels that came with my skates are. I can't believe I skated on them for 6 weeks with no knowledge of how much more enjoyable my ride could be. I was already having a blast but this is beyond the beyond. These wheels provide a crazy smooth ride. And very similar to Peter Parker, I was slightly afraid of them. For about 5 minutes, then I didn't want to stop skating ever. Seriously, I was so disappointed practice was over.
Crazy crazy amounts of fun.
This week we reviewed a ton in preparation for the WFTDA test.One part of the warm up that was super cool and I just have to babble about involved us skating in a huge circle and then closing the circle in as tight as we could. It was like an amusement park ride, a roller derby version of the ice capades. It was the first time I actually got a little dizzy, but so much fun that I didn't want to stop. I couldn't help thinking how this must be very similar to what the boy experiences when he spins himself like a dervish in the kitchen and is laughing but a tiny bit freaked out and needs to sit down for a moment and regain his balance. Just that awesome whooshing sound of everyone's wheels, the walls of the rink less and less in focus, but the people you are skating with strangely more in focus.
Another exercise we did was to skate 40 laps in 10 minutes as a pack. This was an amazing experience, and the highpoint of my week. The transition we went through from start to finish was extraordinary. We started out as individuals but as we found our pace transformed into this amoeba-like organism, filling in the spaces as we moved, and working as a unit. Did I mention my complete fascination and love of skating in a pack? It is all about maintaining awareness of yourself and your packmates, keeping in contact both visually and physically. Ideally you constantly touch each other, and keep about an arm's distance away. The skaters on the inside will skate a fraction slower, and if you are on the outside edges you really have to do some work crossing over and slightly increasing speed around the corners so you can close the holes up. I love the moments when you are so in sync that you can sense the skater next to you, behind you or in front of you adjusting their pace and you react accordingly. It's like I imagine a pack of mustangs, a school of fish or flock of birds communicates, on some nonverbal level, sensing each other as they move.
We are getting closer and closer to the test. It is one week from tomorrow, and I am feeling very overwhelmed by all the rules and referee hand signals I need to learn. Cross your fingers for me guys, and send good thoughts on November 15th from about 7:15 to 10.
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