Wednesday, February 29, 2012

My new rollerskates!

September 2009.
With my first pair of skates
Once upon a time... back on Black Friday 2011...I took the bus to NYC for an important purchase: new roller skates!

I got my first pair of derby roller skates in September 2009. Riedell 122 boots, dynapro plates, and Atom Queen B wheels.  This was one of the basic new skater packages recommended by the Hellions.  Moderately priced, decent gear, but not fancy.  Queen Bs are now discontinued, which is a shame because I actually really liked them. I've already had them re-grooved once by the local rink.  But I have since upgraded.  Actually, I am probably one of the only Hellions that does not own a set of Atom Omegas. You might even call it the Official Wheel of the Hellions of Troy?

Hellions of Troy Atom Omegas commercial! (kinda not really but kinda).
Pork Slap (orange wheels) has since upgraded to Omegas.

I'm not usually one for Black Friday shopping, but since I had the day off from work, and I like adventures, especially as related to roller derby, I headed on an early bus to NYC which dropped me off in midtown Manhatten.  I was easily able to navigate myself to the Subway (I'm a big girl now!) and   soon found myself in Brooklyn a few blocks away from Five Stride Skate Shop.

Five Stride is owned and operated by Bonnie Thunders and OMG WTF of NYC's Gotham Girls Roller Derby. The Hellions traveled to NYC/LI at one point last year in March and we made a pit stop at Five Stride. Here's a picture of Kitty getting fitted for her new skates by Bonnie.

The rest of the Hellions, including myself, may or may not have been star struck, but we really really tried hard to play it cool.  Except me and Knockout Kid more or less failed.

Anyway, back to my new skates!!!

The set up:
Riedell 495 boots in red, using the Riedell Color Lab
PowerDyne Revenge Aluminum plates
Atom Juke wheels (93A)
Moonwalker toe stops

Here is one new skate next to one old skate:


I will say - breaking in new skates sucks! I have a blister on the inside of my right foot.  You can't really tell from the picture, but my new boots are slightly higher cut then my old ones, so it's rubbing a part of my foot that's not used to making contact with the boot.

Moonwalker toe stops are also a new-ish product. Everyone's really into Gumball toe stops, but I haven't tried them yet.  I do enjoy the Moonwalkers so far.

This past weekend while skating on a difference surface than our practice space (less grippy), I also had some pain on the outside of my right foot.  But that's all part of breaking in new skates.  Tonight I skated at the Armory with the Capital District Trauma Authority I didn't have much trouble though.

Overall my new skates are comfortable - and they fit perfectly!  When I got my feet measured, it turned out that one foot is slightly different sized than the other. My left is a 3.5 and my right is a 4. I decided to special order two different sizes and I'm glad I did.

So that's it!  These are my skates - there are many like them but this pair is mine.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Scrimmage with Suburbia against Hudson Valley

Reading Rambo on the line for the Hellions
once again! (ok, just temporarily)
On Tuesday night, some Hellions traveled down to Kingston for a scrimmage against the Hudson Valley Horrors. We had about 8 people that were able to make it, so some girls from Suburbia Roller Derby came up to fill in our ranks...including former Hellion, Reading Rambo! Rambo moved downstate about a year ago.

This was the first scrimmage for one of our new girls, "Fugu", who just passed her WFTDA minimum skills test, so she doesn't even have her official roller derby name (Fugu is her meat name). Her background is in hockey and she has been tearing up the track!

The scrimmage was fun, we always enjoy getting together with the Hudson Valley girls. This was the first time I think I've had the pleasure of meeting skaters from Suburbia (although, I might've met a couple Suburbia peeps in 2010 at Eastern Regionals). They were fun!

Two Suburbia girls I met were Fifi Fleshwound and ... ok, so this is silly, but Fifi jokingly told me her name was "BeBe Aggressive".. get it, "Fifi and BeBe!"? ... and I knew at that point I would never be able to commit her actually derby name to memory. Friend!  Tell me your name!  .... Fizzy Lola!  Thank you, Vixen.  Haha, great name! I might still call you BeBe - I like both names! <3
Fifi and "Be Be"(?!)
I am looking forward to seeing these two and the rest of the Suburbia girls again soon - we're playing Suburbia in a couple weeks at their venue in Yonkers.

Here's a couple more pictures from the scrimmage.
Val on the jammer line, behind one of those new fangled rugby scrum starts.

Lehman Smothers and Puffy Bangs on the jammer line as Hudson Valley figures our their
plan of attack.  Which probably involved Rxy Ramalotte laying on the pain.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

First derby road trip of 2012

Last weekend I embarked on my first roller derby road trip of 2012.  We had a bout against the Green Mountain Derby Dames on Sunday (as part of the Derby Social), but Eloda, Luci. D. Dream, and my sister Carol started our New England adventure a day early.

Our first stop was to see Anne Persand (awesome friend and premier roller derby referee!) in Massachusetts.  Anne was working on a project to make Valentine's Day cards for charity, so we brought some crafts and made a bunch of cards.

After that we headed to White Water Junction, VT and spent the night. It was an obvious choice that we had to get breakfast at the Farmer's Diner because we saw a review on Yelp that they had maple milkshakes. When in Vermont.
Carol, me, and Luci at the Farmers Diner.

yum yum yum! Maple milkshake in the background.

antiques
After breakfast we went to an antique shop and found some amusing items. Next stop was Hanover, NH for some more New England-ing and lunch. From there it was a quick ride over to Enfield, NH, the location of the Great Derby Social 2012!

Disharmony, Knockout, and myself were alumnis of the event from last year.  But this year there was something new: two sanctioned bouts, and we were asked to play! Against our friends the Green Mountain Derby Dames!  Eeeeeeee. 
Busting out slick moves on the rink floor
before the bout. We didn't win the bout, but did
we win the pre-bout?
Photo by Alana O'Hair
This was our first bout of 2012, as well as for Green Mountain. I had a little bit of jitters, but once the bout started I felt fine.  Green Mountain took the lead in the first jam, but we actually got a substantial lead in the first part of the period. It was exciting!

Green Mountain kept fighting, and eventually evened out the score. Both sides had a little penalty trouble. In the second period, the score was neck and neck and there were a bunch of lead changes. In the end, Green Mountain won the bout with a score of 141 - 138.  So close!  Hey, we'll take it.  It was a fun and exciting game.  A great start to 2012 for both teams.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Hellions Night Out - 2012 Season Fundraiser this Friday

This Friday the Hellions are holding a fundraiser to kick off our 2012 season. We'll be having a silent auction with awesome prizes including gift certificates to some rad places in the capital region.  I saw the list .. a few tattoo places, jewelry, tickets to our 2012 bouts, and even a couple gift certificates from our sponsor, Wicked Skatewear!

We'll also have some baked goods for sale. Team Baker Ursula Udders just developed a Hellions flavored cupcake! Lets just say it's pink and green... and super tasty!

We're also having a little photobooth station.  I made some props tonight:



If you are curious about roller derby, this will be a great opportunity to meet the team and ask questions.  Maybe even think about attending an upcoming recruitment night?

Or, maybe you're a long time Hellions fan and wanna see your favorites ladies after a couple months without a bout.

Perhaps most excitingly: On Friday night we'll be announcing our preliminary 2012 season! You'll get the scoop there first!

Details!
Hellions Night Out
Hellions of Troy 2012 Season Fundraiser
Friday, February 3, 2012 @ 8pm
Bogies -- 297 Ontario Street Albany, NY 12208
Come out and party with us! no cover for 21+ but donations appreciated.  $5 donation for 18+.

Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/events/261709507223324/

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Short Temper comes out of blogger hibernation

Tuesday was a beautiful, sunny day, and just what I needed to start clearing out my winter blues. It also helps that the Hellions had a bout on Sunday, which sparked my derby brain.

It's been a long winter. A long off season -- although not really.  Our last bout of 2011 was November 5 against the Hudson Valley Horrors...which I neglected to write a recap on.  So here's a quick one:

I was the captain of the team.
We won.
I was chosen MVP.  Yeah!  First time ever!  Here's a couple pictures:
Short Temper, Sweet Madness, and Con-tagious.  This photo makes me so happy and proud.

Hellions of Troy love Hudson Valley Horrors
Santa Speedo Sprint
So, right... the off season. No bouts for the rest of November, December, and most of January. We continued practicing, I attended Championships and the Roller Derby World Cup. The holidays came and went. Some of the Hellions ran the Santa Speedo Sprint in December.

Which more or less brings us up to today. We're gearing up for our 2012 season, which will be announced this Friday. So look for that -- and more from me in general!