Perfect summer lined up!

Just one more week of studying my ass off and then my summer holidays start. Yay!

June and July I will be off and therefor have loads of time to skate, promote us and train for an upcoming bout (not sure what I'm allowed to say about that one at this stage, so I'm not saying anything, hush hush). After that bout I'm going to tropical Holland for the first time since three years, woohoo! Sun sun sun! Of course I am taking my gear with me to skate outdoors, but also to skate some Derby. Yeah! I've been in contact with Furr Rocious, of the Amsterdam Derby Dames and it turns out I'm welcome to roll with them on their training. I am SO looking forward to that. I love our girls here in the far North, but it's gonna be so awesome to meet others and play with them! But wait.. it gets better.. ADD are playing their first official bout while I'm in Holland so I get to take my friends and family to a bout to show them what it's all about.

When I come back I have my internships waiting for me. Five weeks at the hospital and five weeks at a neuro rehab centre. I'm even looking forward to that!

Now I just have to clear these exams. If I don't, I'm screwed since the retakes are when I'm in Holland and I need to clear these before I'm allowed to go out to my internships.

Like a naked butt on a soapy waterslide

... but with much more directional control. That's what these slim Stingers are like to me. I say to me, because how you apreciate wheels is very personal. It has to do with your fysique, your skate build and then your personal preferences.

I absolutely love them and I have to get me a set. I tried them out in the skatehall which means slippery, cement floor but as you can see they are moderately hard/soft (88A on a scale that seeems to run from about 74A = super soft to 98A = super hard). The hardness and slimness made them roll fast but the softness gave me enough grip to not slide in the fast curves at all. The wheels I currently have are also 88As, but they are wider and cheaper. The wideness makes them clunky in turns and makes them get stuck in other blockers wheels, the cheapness makes them slip in fast curves. Well, I think the slipping really also has to do with the wideness, because it means that I tilt them to the sides in my cross-overs sooner then the slim wheels, which means I reduce the grip surface.

So.. I don't own a set, but I got to try them anyways? One of our refs bought a set and is still deciding if he likes them. I have been considering them for a while now, but they are a bit expensive, so I hadn't dared ordering them yet. As soon as he posted that he had gotten them I rudely ordered some alone time with the cuties.

Copyright 2011 Joakim Norrgard

 Roll Out Boy, thank you so much for helping me find my love!

Derby kisses,

Dutchess

Derby weekend

The sun was shining, the people interested, the DJ playing and we were rolling... on the main street here in Luleå. We were only 5 or 6 in skates and the street wasn't wide enough to make a real track, so we played some jam simulations (two blockers on each team and only one jammer) on our tiny track wich consisted of tiles, cobble stones and sewage lids.

Me in black trying to pass Badass Babuska in the green helmet

That was yesterday and then today we followed it up by a nice training with the best girls ever. This was one of the few times that I really didn't feel like going to practice, but I'm glad I did anyway. It made me feel so much better!

Derby kisses,
Dutchess