Life change and so does skates!

So I am not kidding - I thought it would be horrible to break in new skates - and it wasn't I love tehm. Thanks to Bonnie and OMG at Five Stride (please add me to your cart) I have a pair of faboulous Brooklyn (the Murrillo 340)skates... I am still getting adjusted to not being on a nylon plate no more (yes I know, I am a creature of habit and should have changed ages ago) and the alumn does respond so much quicker... even if it's sort of a drag to really get the plowstopps the way I want... but I already nailed some hockey stops... and my feet are more jumpy than before... So I guess it's all for the best!

Change is good! I wanan kiss change! Often! And I have an urge, I have a small plan...

Leaving Barcelona

Time flies when you are having fun - now back home - straight into a training committee meeting.

It's been a great time with family, food and slow Internet... And a tiny bit shopping... I think I even spotted a derby girl in the city yesterday, she had a HRD bag... We all stared at each other...

At one point I found a bear! Or can I say I became one?  I really enjoyed Barcelona - but at the same time I'm really excited I'm back in Stockholm... I love the lovley Stockholm... I just have to wait a little longer to skate around in a bikini!

From Berlin with love...

We also call her MONKEY at times

Rotation also made us smell the flowers - there were signs with the Latin AND German names

Rotation took us for many walks - and everywhere I found something to play with

We had to hide in a play-house because it rained so hard, and then we walked to the car in our underwear

We went to Hanna Hellfires Baby Shower and I petted a dog

I did the Bunny with Bunny aka Beatrix Slaughter, my old team mate from Gotham

So I am currently suffering from writers block... so I guess I'll just go with the old saying, a picture say more than a thousand words, and just imagine how much those seven pictures with captions are saying... they just told you all EVERYTHING about my Berlin trip.... well, we also as I said earlier scrimmaged with the Berlin Bombshells (thanks for having us), I got SUPERSICK for 24hours and almost thought I was gonna die, we watched the worst movie ever... I promised not to tell ANYONE we watched it... we walked by Master Blasters skateshop that is under construction, and it looked hella nice, we spent lots of time with Rotation and as much time as we could with Shevil, since she had to work... and then we took the darn bus home...

Blistering....

Scrimmage on this.... and I did... and then Loony drained it by sewing it... yeah... seriously... I said sawing in it... Those blisters happens when your skates are too wide... and if not taken care of - they turn into bloodblisters... yeppers! Fitting skates are really important!

Wheel-O-Mania: what I skate on

I have many girls asking me about wheels, right now I'm on Atom wheels and have been since May 2010, a combination of G-Rods as pushers and Lowboys. I really like this combo, and it works well for me on lots of different surfaces, but I have a feeling that lots of girls wouldn't find it sticky enough, especially not on those slick sports-hall floors lots of Scandinavian girls skate on.
I think my preferred combo for those would probably be Stingers as pushers with G-Rods and if the floor was really slick I'd probably go all in on Stingers - all eight... and yes, I am on the narrower wheels. I used to be on Heartless, but they were to narrow for me when jamming, I lost too much speed, and what they made up in agility wasn't worth it. The slim Atom wheels are a little wider than Heartless and it made a huge improvement in my jamming! It was actually OMG from Five Stride who talked me into going a tiny bit wider, and I totally blew her off about it, but she is a person I really trust when it comes to gear! And it showed out to be true, it really did improve my jamming...
Another wheel I have heard lots of good things about are the Atom Poisons, and I think that those and also the Radar Ghosts are good cheaper alternatives for girls that want a cheaper sticky wheel, those wheels are so called hybrid, and can be skated on both indoor and outdoor. The Ghosts are the narrow version of the Radar Shadows and Poisons come both in narrow and wide!
I am actually quite a fan of the Radar Flat Out for minor outdoor skating and  for slick indoor floors, they also come in a narrower version, the Flat Out's also make for a very good pusher wheel.

Wheel preferences can be quite induvidual, and I know girls that like their wheels to be superduper sticky and girls that like their wheels to slide, because they feel that it gives them more control. I preferred more sticky wheels when I was less skilled, and I don't mind a little more of a slide to my wheels now. Also the success or failure of a wheel depends on your skating-style, your weight and skill, just because your best friend likes a wheel does not mean you will be as crazy about it!

The best way to figure out if you like a wheel is to borrow it from a friend and see if it works for you, and in worst case buy it, and then re-sell it.... and most wheels take a couple of hours to get broken in and also used to, before you can really decide if it's a good fit for you! But I must say that both the girls at Five Stride Skateshop and Fast Girl Skates know what they talk about, and they interact with amazing derby-girls on a daily basis... and therefore are a great resource!

What do you skate on? And do you like it? And why??

Dear Santa

 (I always put the jammer cap on crocked, photo by Joe Rollerfan)

I only want ONE thing for Christmas, and that is a gym-pass... Maybe this or maybe this or maybe something different, it be more fun to work out with Loony.... I want to have a gym-pass so I can go to the gym a couple of days in the week, so I always feel like I have the opportunity to go to the gym, just the common gym... working out, maybe on the treadmill and maybe with free weights... I would even really like to be able to once in a while be able to take one of those gym classes... not aerobics, but boxercise or something silly like that, or maybe yoga... if all those things could be delivered for me in a little pass for Christmas... then DEAR SANTA I'd love you even more!

I just got a new pair of skates, I have all the roller-derby gear I need, we all know I can always have a cool t-shirt more or less, toe-stops are always hot and Five Stride just got the Gumballs in stock, and those toe-stops are Bonnie Thunder approved... Oh, when I come to think about it... of course I do want new wheels, I want the Stinger Slims, wheels are always on my list over hot things to own, love and roll on.... Maybe I actually start to think that I might want some new trucks to... but I do like the nylon... I do... but OMG have been on me for a looong time I should upgrade to some light aluminum trucks... but I can be stubborn when I want, and my trucks are so nice and orange and I don't know if I am ready for the big leap, I leap so well on nylon...

Yeah, dear Santa, I know.. .it started out as ONE thing, but a girl gotta have dreams, and wishes...