195s: First Impressions

There’s just something about getting new things that replace the old and worn out things, especially when those things are things we use on a near daily basis. Last night I popped the cherry on my new 195s, and by the end of practice I didn’t want to take them off.

When I was younger the purchasing of new basketball shoes or a new softball glove or a new tennis racket was synonymous with the beginning of that year’s sport season. Like back-to-school shopping for clothes and shoes, back-to-sport shopping is just what we did. However, although I spent four years playing varsity tennis, I never got quite as into tennis rackets as I have roller skates. Chalk it up to being older and wiser or maybe just caring more about derby than I ever did tennis. Getting new skates isn’t something I’m able to afford on an annual basis, so when I do I’m appreciative. Believe me when I tell you that getting new skates RULES.

Several months ago when I was in PT for my severely sprained ankle, I had many conversations about my feet and their position in shoes and skates. I explained the cramping on the top of my feet to my therapist, and she in turn asked me about my skate boots. Turns out, she thought, the “high top” or high rise of my skate boot paired with the ankle strap limits my full range of motion. Muscles compensate, and I get foot cramps. It was then that I began contemplating the 195s.

Having shared my contemplations with my teammate and co-owner of Black Eyed Susan Skate Shop, Mibbs, she contacted me when the 195 floor models went on sale (the ones people try on when getting fitted). They had my size, and you know what comes next – I had to buy them. After months of discussion about plates and how they impact balance and support weight, I decided not to fuck with a good thing and bought another pair of Power Dyne DynaPros to have mounted on the 195s. I know many people don’t like the DynaPros, but opinions are like assholes, ya know? They work for me and that’s what matters.

In case you’re not familiar with 195s, they are low-cut boots (like a shoe) without a heel. They’re leather inside and out, and the inside of the tongue is lined with sheepskin (it’s furry).

Low Cut
I’ve heard a lot of strong opinions about the cut of these boots. The naysayers reject them because they claim the low-top provides no ankle support. In my opinion, high-top boots don’t actually provide ankle support either. I’ve seen plenty of girls roll their ankles in high-top boots. I’ve rolled my ankles in high-top boots. The low-cut of the boot is, however, something to get used to.

Stride: On my first few laps around the rink I was hyper aware of my inside ankle, and I noticed my stride was awkward, to say the least – I wasn’t making a full stride with my inside leg. However, once I was aware of this, I easily corrected it and continued skating with full strides for the rest of the practice.

Cutting: I think the low cut of the boot does enable a greater range of motion, because cutting seemed quicker and easier on these skates. **It bears mention that I was NOT skating on the Heartless wheels – I put on my old Witchdoctors, because I wanted to eliminate too many different variables until I feel like I’m getting the hang of the new boot.**

Stopping: Stopping’s a bit weird. The first few times I plow stopped quickly, I thought my feet were going to come right out of my laced-up skates – a very weird feeling. I never noticed how much I rely on my skate boot to help me do all different types of stops until last night. I apparently would use the friction of the high-top to help me slow down. Muscle control becomes a lot more important now.

Running: Duck walking to a sprint felt no different on these boots than it did in my old boots. If anything, it was easier.

Dropped Heel
One thing I hadn’t considered much prior to buying the 195s (and one thing I underestimated even after I considered it) is their lack of a heel. Going from heeled skates, even ones that are a mere 1/8 inch, to skates with no heel is, indeed, a bit tricky. Dropping your heel any amount shifts your center of gravity and how you hold yourself on skates, so for the 1st hour last night I felt as if it was the first time I had put on roller skates in years – a quite unsettling feeling for someone who hasn’t felt off-balance for 4+ years. By the end of the night, however, I had gotten used to the heel drop, and I must say that I think I’m really going to like skating like this. I feel as if my center of gravity is lowered and some pressure has been released in my lower back. What I’m going to have to pay close attention to is adequately stretching my calves prior to putting on the skates. Otherwise, I can see my legs being tight and shaky until I’m warmed up.

Skate Materials
After several years of being unable to pull clean socks from my drawer that don’t have remnants of the latex bullshit from the underside of the tongue on the 125s, I’m looking forward to the sheepskin lining that the tongue on the 195s have. I’ve only skated in them once, but the tongues never slipped. The sheepskin seems to do an excellent job gripping, so the tongue stays in place.

The boots themselves are made from double-lined leather, with nice soft leather on the interior of the boot, a stiff and effective arch support appropriately placed in between the leather, and a foot bed with the best insole I’ve seen yet on any skate boot. The 195s are more narrow than other styles, which is great for me, because I have a very narrow heel that shifts back and forth in most shoes I own and in every pair of skates I’ve owned up until now.

I was proactive in breaking in the boots at the heel – a location known for causing nasty blisters. At the advice of Mibbs, I rubbed a tiny amount of Vaseline into the inside of the heel and then rubbed the leather back and forth with a butter knife until the leather was no longer stiff but instead pliable. Last night I found several other spots in the boot I need to do this – the arch of my right foot and the pinky toe area of my right foot.

Socks
I typically wear both blister socks and the calf-high athletic socks from American Apparel. That combo worked well to fend off blisters in my 125s, but proves to be way too much bulk for the new skates. After a few laps I ripped off my ankle brace and the American Apparel socks, leaving the blister socks on, and changed into my super low, super thin athletic socks I wear for running, which seemed to work well.

Overall
In conclusion (hello?! Am I in the 4th grade here?), I think I’m really going to like these boots. It’s going to take me a while to see exactly how I want them laced (where they should be tight, loose, etc), but that’s the case for any pair of skates. Once I’m used to these babies, I’m going to throw the Heartless Creepers on them, and then so help me dog, I’m going to be cutting across the track like a bat out of hell!

Addiction, Muscle Atrophy & Fat Bulges (on top of the fat bulges I was already OK with)

The other day I was just asking myself why I have been feeling content running only once a week, when just several months ago I was driven to run every day. And then after my 1st scrimmage practice back it hit me: I was driven to run out of sheer shame for how slow I naturally am on skates. Fuck.

Okay, okay, that’s not really the truth. I know I feel better when I exercise regularly and it’s THAT feeling that drives me to run every day, but shit, right now I’m just beginning to transition back into an active lifestyle, and I have to tell you: it’s hard. I’ve gained 15 pounds since September, my muscle mass has been replaced by an extra layer of laziness (aka, my fat rolls have fat rolls), and when scrimmaging the other day I felt as if I was skating through mud. I couldn’t physically make my body move laterally the way I expected it to – the way I’m used to my body following my brain. I was like, “OK, I need to be there”, and by the time I was mid-movement, the small window of opportunity for my being there to do something was already over. And, I was sucking wind.

I suppose the good news is that I know it can get better. I look back over my participation in sports as a kid and I really think that I never broke through either level where you get a second wind, because I just never pushed hard enough. For one, I would bitch and complain until my coach let me stop whatever was tiring me, so I never got that single athletic session second wind. At least in part because of that, I was never able to get the type of second wind you get over time either – the one where you actually kick your own athleticism up a notch. Then came derby and I broke my own barriers. And now I’ve let myself fall to shit. At least a little bit.

The problem right now is that I’m stuck in this transition from one drug to another. “Drug?” you say. Yes, drug. I firmly believe I have addiction issues – pussy ones – but issues nonetheless. When I injured myself and stopped skating and then got depressed about my dog and my not skating, I substituted food for exercise. Both cause a similar chemical reaction with serotonin in my brain. Both give me an immediate reward. Both drive me to keep using them to get that serotonin surge. And because my dog is ill and I feel guilty for leaving my house, it has been WAY easier to choose food than exercise for the last 4 months. The bad news is that excess food consumption that drives my serotonin habit also supplies fat rolls to my fat rolls, while excess exercise that drives my serotonin habit makes food a lot less attractive to me, because I already have my fix. Problem is, I’ve made a habit now of getting my fix from food, and it’s really hard to pull myself away from that. Regardless, I know it can be done. It just sucks royal donkey dick. Make that two royal donkey dicks.

Getting back to practice is a motivator for me to exercise more, and I’m doing both (going to practice and exercising more), but it feels like a long, slow journey, when I really want it to happen like I want everything else to happen: now. Well, fuck me, the world doesn’t work that way? Sorry, sometimes I forget iPads aren’t available to stop all my hemorrhaging wants in life. I need some zen in a big bad way, people. Some motherfucking zen.

At this point, I need to just shut my mouth and take some old advice I’ve given many times on here: just do it. Less talk, more action. I can do it. I will do it. Stay tuned.

In other news, the city of Baltimore has officially named tomorrow Charm City Roller Girls Day! This is in no small part due to an avid derby fan (and CCRG superfan) who just so happens to work for the mayor. Thanks to him, we’ll be receiving an official citation from the city at tomorrow night’s bout. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had a “day” named after me before. It makes me want to break all sorts of rules and then stick my tongue out at the rule enforcers and taunt “But it’s Charm City Roller Girls Day, so I can do whatever I want!!!”. Although I envision myself jumping off the hood of a car with cans of spray paint in my hands and a road of mass destruction behind me as I say that, I’ll probably wake up and have a pretty normal day tomorrow. Something like this does put things in perspective though. Don’t sweat the small shit (which I do all too much). Enjoy the victories.

Happy Charm City Roller Girls Day!!!

Does Wheel Hardness Matter for Big Girls?

I occasionally receive questions from y’all via email or comment, and I usually respond the same way, however I felt I could expand on this question and post it here! I am certainly not a skate “expert”, but I have been rolling for 5 years now, and if you know me, you know I’m always more than happy to give you my opinion about pretty much anything. So, if y’all got any more questions, keep ‘em coming and I’ll address them to the best of my ability every now and then!

Q: Wanted to ask you...one of the girls on my team said something about some type of wheel that is better to use if you're heavier. Something about how the material is harder. Do you know what she was talking about? Since I can't play right now, I'm gonna get my derby fix by ordering gear I can't use. (Sinead O'Clobber)

A: Wheel hardness is a personal preference and only one of several variables that work together to enhance how you perform on a pair of skates (the skate surface share equal weight with wheels, IMO, and plates and bearings play supporting roles too).

Let’s start with a little overview of wheels in general:

• Most indoor derby wheels are a standard circumference (62mm)
• Wheels are rated and listed by firmness, and this is usually denoted by a number followed by the letter “a” (e.g., 90a) – the higher the number, the firmer the wheel
• A general range of firmness for derby wheels is 86a to 98.5a, softer to firmer
• In general, firmer wheels are faster wheels (this is why jammers often wear firmer wheels)
• The firmer a wheel, the less “grip” it has on the skating surface
• Wider wheels provide better grip and more stability (e.g., Hyper), while narrower wheels (e.g., Heartless) allow a skater to be more agile

While wheels are an important component to this equation, you can’t decide on a wheel without first considering your skate surface. Doing so would be like packing a suitcase of clothing without knowing if you’re headed to the North Pole or the Caribbean. The type of wheels you use depend on the surface on which you’ll be skating, which also has its own grip-factor. Polished concrete is generally the slickest surface, and sport court generally provides the most grip, while wood lies somewhere in between depending on its condition.

Wearing an 86a wheel on sport court (especially tile) would make you go the slowest (and keep the most contact with the floor), while wearing a 98.5a on polished concrete would allow you to go the fastest (if you could keep a grip on the floor and not wipe out at sharp turns). What many skaters do is adjust for the floor by changing their wheels. For instance, if a person used to skating on wood with a 90a may want to switch to an 88a if skating on polished concrete or 92a if skating on tiled sport court.

When I first started skating, we all wore really grippy skates because our muscles weren’t conditioned to keep us firmly planted to the floor, and we’d easily lose control around the turns. As time went on, I feel like the jammers started experimenting with the firmer wheels first, the full-time blockers second, and the bigger girls third. This is completely contrary to what your teammate said, which is why I was so intrigued by this question. In my experience, I think I stayed with a more grippy wheel longer than most people, because I wanted the stability. I now know I like a wheel with more grip because it allows me to dig into the floor better to make a really hard hit. And please realize these trends I mention of jammers versus blockers and small girls versus big girls are very broad generalizations. I know plenty of tiny, svelte jammers (Flo Shizzle) who refuse to skate on anything other than Witch Doctors (a soft wheel). It all comes down to personal preference!

Another thing skaters do is mix and match wheels of different firmness. I’ve never been a big fan of this, but many, many skaters swear by the combo, so try it and see what you think. While this is a popular thing to do, I often see people doing it wrong. The idea here is to wear the wheels with the most grip on the left-hand side of each skate (if you have them on and are looking down at your feet). Why there? Because those wheels make the most contact with the floor for the longest period of time while you’re skating. Think about it. Prior to crossing over with your right leg, which wheels on your right foot touch the floor last? The ones on your instep – the ones to the left. When your left leg is passing behind you to form the second motion of a cross over, which wheels on that skate are the last to leave the ground? The ones on the outside of your left foot – the ones to the left. By putting the grippier wheels here, you’ll make the most contact with the floor, thus elongating your stride and causing you to use less energy to skate at the same speed.

Like anything else, picking a type and firmness of wheel is a personal preference. If you have the chance, try out your friends’ wheels. By trying out as many different types of wheels as possible, you’ll get to know what you like by how it feels. Bottom line: there is no hard and fast rule for wheel firmness as it correlates to body weight. As you gain more experience as a skater, you’ll get to know what you like more. Be patient and listen to your body instead of the trends, because the only thing that’s going to make you a better skater is you, and you’re going to have to be comfortable in your skates in order to do so. No harm in trying a trend, but pay attention to how YOU feel.

I’m actually really excited, because I just purchased a pair of Heartless Creepers yesterday, and tonight will be my first time skating on them. After having skated for 5 years, I feel confident enough to try a skinny wheel that’s slightly more firm than I’m used to wearing. I’ll keep you posted on how I like them. Best of luck in finding a wheel combo that’s good for you!