Dream Chaser On Wheels

If It Ain’t Broke

You’ve probably heard the saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. But what would you do if it’s only a little broke? Do you stay with the status quo or take the risk in your attempt to improve? I was faced with this dilemma the week leading up to Nationals. The first few minutes of stepping into my skates, I always felt like my left frame was pointing to the wrong direction. Visual inspection suggested otherwise but it just didn’t feel right. I was skating well on road and alright on 400m track. However, the stress of racing on the 200m banked track got to me and I decided to adjust my left frame to my marked position because I needed every advantage I could get for the weekend of racing.

Any experienced racer can tell you fussing with your equipment set up is the last thing you ought to do before a big race. I was well-aware of the risk but the frame position was clearly marked so I had confidence it was a minimal change to the tried-and-true. My sprint races at Nationals were nothing to write home about. In fact, my times were well off my personal bests set over two years ago. I dismissed it lightly thinking I simply have not been training for track racing and my cornering skills have taken a turn for the worse.

2010 Montreal 24hr Relay Team Uniform

This year, Charlie Craven from CCD once again designed the team uniform for my Montreal 24hr Relay team. The uniform will be produced by CCN in short-sleeved inline skinsuit and matching armwarmers. Here is a look at the design. 

Full size image available for download here.   Full size image available for download here.

On a more frivolous note, this is a slimming design. Trust me on this. I care VERY MUCH about the slimming visual effects of skinsuits.

If you own a CCN suit from 2009 or can borrow one to try on, that will give you the best idea of sizing. However, for those without access to one, this is the chart provided by CCN. Please note that the measurements are body measurements. There are no size tables for armwarmers so typically order the same size as the skinsuit fitting. The arm warmers are offered in XS, S, M, L, and XL.

	XXXXS	XXXS	XXS	XS	S	M	L	XL	XXL	XXXL	XXXXL
Body Waist (inches)	20	21.5	23.5	25	27.5	29	30.5	32	34	35.5	37
Body Chest (inches)	21	25	27.5	30	33	34.5	36	38	39.5	41	42.5
Body Hips (inches)	21.5	26	29	32	34.5	36	37.5	39	41	42.5	48

The prices will depend on how many suits we end up ordering. My estimate suggests:

Skinsuit: $55 CAD

Armwarmers: $20 CAD

You can prepaid me in cheque, cash, or email money transfer at the time you place your order. This uniform is available for sale to anyone, not just members of the Toronto Inline Skating Club Montreal 24hr Relay team! If you're in the US, don't feel left out. We can work out a way for me to deliver the suit to you, probably at one of the upcoming races. I only ask that non-members kindly refrain from wearing it during the Montreal 24hr Relay to avoid confusion during the race. The race will be held in August so I expect the weather to be hot (umm, sweaty suit anyone?). Personally, I plan to order two skinsuits and a pair of armwarmers because it can still get chilly at night. If you would like more information, don't hesitate to contact me by email (dessertbycandy [AT] hotmail [DOT] com) or talk to me in person at club practices.

Order deadline is June 21, 2010.

Spring Fashion 2010 For Skaters

It's that time of year again for Dream Chaser's pick on practical training apparel for skater girls. As much I would like to gush, the selection this year just isn't all that exciting to me.

My long-standing favourite collection is adidas by Stella McCartney. However, their spring/summer 2010 line up just don't do it for me. The performance tennis dress is a very classic tank dress with an intricate print on the front. What is more interesting is that they've added a cycling line this season with jerseys and padded shorts. The ruching detail on the shoulder is really pretty. The three backpockets are thoughtfully designed as well. The two on each side have elastic opening while the one in the middle has zipper closure. If I'm not as much of a dress-devotee, I would totally get this jersey. I hope to see this line florish in upcoming seasons because cycling apparel are often very practical for skaters too.

Canadian brand Lululemon is another favourite of mine. They are better known for their yoga apparel but their running collection has been steadily growing in the last couple of years. I like their running skirts with built-in shorts in particular. Unfortunately, nothing really catch my eye either from their spring 2010 collection. Hopefully there'll be something more interesting as summer rolls around.

The surprising item for me this season comes from Nike. Compression shorts are my wardrobe standard because I do love to run around in mini skirts and dresses, training or not. For years, choices for this very practical item have been limited to the oh-so-boring black or white. "Choices" mean difference in length for the in-seam. Yawn. Well, not anymore! Last weekend I picked up a couple pairs of Nike Pro - Core Graphic Compression Women's Shorts. They come in cute colours such as turquoise+purple, black+grey, yellow+orange. Do I hear fabulous? Good looks is obviously important but better yet, these shorts are so comfortable with flat seams and moisture-wicking fabric that we've come to expect from training apparel.

Speaking of practical, the temperature in Toronto is still a bit chilly and I often find myself layering on the arm warmers and knee warmers. Most cycling apparel brands have them in their collection but my personal favourite definitely goes to Sugoi. The fleece-lined fabric is cosy and the elastic grips never slip. I don't know about you but my limbs tend to get colder than the core. That means when I layer for training, I want thicker material for arms and legs but not my body. I always keep a pair of SubZero arm warmers and MidZero knee warmers in my skate bag just in case.

I do hope that summer will bring more exciting choices for the fashion-conscious skaters. Until then, train hard and look good! 

Then And Now

I brought my old skates to practice last night, a pair of 4x90 Bont ZX-5 stock boots. While we were sitting around, I decided to put them on just for kicks. The last time I wore these was way back in December 2007. Since I got my customs Simmons, I never looked back. The fit between stock boots versus customs was huge, obviously. There were gaps everywhere. Only the length and width reflect the physicality of my feet!

I skated on the track for a few laps. I was surprised how unstable I was in those skates. Even though my laces were tightened, there was so little support that I felt as if I was skating around with my laces undone. Perhaps it was the lack of canting or perhaps my frames alignment was wrong but I could barely stay on top of my wheels. I needed to put a lot of pressure on the outside of my feet just so that I did not pronate. How did I even manage to skate in them before?! I guess I was just too inexperienced back then to know better.

MW said I looked good and for a minute I really thought he was teasing me. He explained that he always insists canting my boots is a crutch and I should learn to skate without canting. I am still a little skeptical. I know that there is significant canting built in to my current pair of boots and I absolutely love them for road skating. I would prefer less (or even none) on my left boot for track. When I got my feet molded by Dave, he asked specifically what kind of skating I'll be doing for the majority of the time so that's why my boots were built for road skating. However, given the amount of time we spend training on track as well, I'm dreaming of having a pair of skates for road and a pair of skates for track. Something to think about as I save up for my next pair of boots.

A Visit To Checker Sports Club

I was going to bring my skates to Hong Kong but after looking at my itinerary more seriously, I realized my schedule was a bit tight so dragging my heavy skate bag around for an hour or two of skating seemed a bit silly. I did, however, visit the inline speed skating club in Hong Kong, Checker Sports Club. I met with one of their executives, JY, on a Thursday afternoon and chatted about the skating scene in Hong Kong, upcoming competitions in South East Asia, training facilities, and unique challenges we face for growing the sport in different sides of the globe.

Their club has an indoor rink and operates a pro shop inside an industrial high-rise. I was envious when I learned that the majority of their members are kids, with skaters as young as 2 1/2 years old. With some 400 active members and a very low dropout rate, this club is certainly growing the sport of inline speed skating. Due to the lack of dedicated outdoor training locations in Hong Kong, they also organize regularly scheduled week long training camps in Mainland China. Their club also encourages members to travel to out of town competitions including the UK Nationals. Too bad I missed their marquee event of the season, Chinese National Day Cup (scroll down for lots of pictures) by a week.

While at their pro shop, I saw the pink/white version of the Bont Alpha for the first time. With matching colour on the frame and wheels, it is so girly! I also checked out the sizing for the CCN skinsuits and was a bit amused to find that my not-so-petite built by Asian standard means I would need a size L...along that same line, my "clown feet" of size 36.5 means I need to special order the sizes because they only stock up to size 35. Heh.

I dropped by one of their club practices at Victoria Park outdoor skating rink the next day but it got rained out. I tried again the next week and fortunately weather was good. I watched one of their coaches, YCK, worked patiently with the kids through many technique drills, many of which are useful ones for getting on that outside edge. The club does not have exclusive use of the rink however. There were some close calls with the artistic skaters twirling in the middle, some adult rec skaters, while the speed skaters tried to run practice on a small 70m track.

There are rumours that the club will try to host an outdoor marathon next season with the course closed to traffic. I hope the event is a go with more details surfacing soon. Wouldn't it be exciting to travel to Hong Kong for a race?

Contact Lens & Cheap Shades

As a life-long prescription glasses wearer, skating with sunglasses was something that I wished I can do. Sure, prescription sunglasses exist. However, I'm also the owner of an almost non-existent asian nose bridge. This pretty much eliminates 90% of the frame selections out there in the market. Oh yeah, not to mention very very expensive too!

I tried contact lens before but the rigid gas permeables were uncomfortable at best. One wrong blink and the tear would flow. It also worries me that the lens would pop out while I skate. However, I do realize that proper UV protection for my eyes is necessary. In my recent eye examination, I asked my optometrist why I notice discolouration in the whites of my eye and she informed me that those are like freckles, caused by UV exposure. The worst thing is, they are not going away. With the long hours I spend in the sun for training, it is very important that I take proper precaution.

Fortunately, my newest pair of contact lens (soft disposable lens, at last!) is working well. I've been testing them out in the last week, gradually wear them for more hours every day. They are great in most cases but I think there is a slight fit issue with the left one. It fell out of my eye during my training session on Sunday. That was totally unexpected for soft lens. Once that is sorted out, I think I can finally get into the habit of wearing sunglasses when I skate. Now, if I can only find a pair of shades that look good with my helmet (and sit on my nose)...

My Garmin Is Not Too Smart

In recent months, I've grown to rely on my GPS/HR monitor for training purposes. The ability to have it run programs which coach SZ assigned is enough reason to bring it to every training session. I was scheduled for some intervals today. When I ran the program, all the Garmin did was count down the first on-piece and went beep-beep-beep....-beep-WORKOUT FINISHED! I tried it several times without success. I finished my workout based on some rough estimates and was a little annoyed that my trusty Garmin failed me.

JaS and I shot some video of our skating after practice for some much needed video analysis. Let me just say one thing: unless you have perfect technique, it is an incredibly bad idea to pick apart your own skating days before a race!! Suffice to say, after watching my own video frame-by-frame, I am not so cocky about my skating ability anymore. Haahaa, this is definitly the last thing I need before a race this weekend.

So after I got home, I figured out what was wrong with my Garmin. As it turned out, I never erased any workout history since purchase. It finally reached the point of saturation and that was why it went berserk. I'm relieved to know that it is not broken and now everything is back to working order.

On other news, I would like to coin a term and hope that it will catch on. Here goes:

Crashy

adjective

1. Prone to crashing

Usage: John is a bit crashy recently...best to stay away from him in the pack!

2. Conducive to crashes

Usage: That 150m of the trail is crashy with so much debris all over the place.

3. High frequency of crashes

Usage: It's been a crashy race with people falling left right and center.

Clear!

I'm just back from the doctor's office and as you can tell from my smile in the picture, I'm feeling very relieved. The x-ray confirmed that nothing got broken and I received a nice lesson on scaphoid fracture, the injury-de-rigeur at my club this season. I will be ready for the pre-season clinic hosted by coach AA this Saturday!

Now that a huge weight has been lifted off my chest, I do have some more trivial things to think about. For example, I've been skating sockless for a couple of months and I do worry about my boots getting stinky. I know that once it starts to smell bad, there's no going back. The key thing here is to dry the inside of the boots after skating. The Mayor suggested to me that I can stuff the inside of the boot with a package of desiccant (often found in packaged food like crispy snacks) and I think that's a fantastic idea. Only problem is, those packages are quite tiny. However, I am nothing if not resourceful! Of all the crispy snacks that I can think of, seaweed is most sensitive to moisture so they always come with a big bag of desiccant. Soooo, if I want an even bigger bag of desiccant, I should go for a family-size package of seaweed! This is what I bought today:

See how a regular size bag of desiccant dwarf in its presence? Ha, my boots will be nice and dry at all times!

Evolution Of A Skater

My hand is hurting less by the day and I'm feeling quite convinced that nothing was broken (phew!). There is a big patch of bruises though which explains why it hurts funny because I'm really not used to having a bruised palm. My left knee on the other hand is a different story. I am still feeling a fair amount of pain whenever I put any weight on it. This means I really haven't been moving around much in the last couple of days. I would very much like to go to practice tomorrow morning especially since practices are cancelled for next Monday and Wednesday. However, I really can't say at this point in time.

Aside from lounging around at my house and working on stuff from the office, I have something special planned for this Easter long weekend. Over the years, I tried many different form of skating. Everything from quads to jumping on figure skates to rec skating on the trail to racing on speedskates, I've tried them all. This is nothing special of course. Most of my skating friends probably share similar background. One thing that I notice is there is a certain persona that comes with each pair of skates. In a case of "a picture is worth a thousand words", I took an afternoon to put this mental picture to reality.

From left to right: custom Simmons 4x100 (2007), K2 Velocity 4x80 (2002), Rollerblade SpiritBlade 4x72 (1996), Risport figure skates (2003), Yasaki quad skates (1986)

Pretty nifty eh?

There was lots of running between camera and posing but I really like the final result (yes, this is indeed a self-portrait...). It really represents the different sides of me as a skater. Can you spot out the retro Rollerblade SpiritBlade? It holds a special spot in my heart as the skates that gave me my first real road rash (on my doomed left knee no less). Awww, isn't that sweet!

Eureka!

Well, I'm not THAT enthusiastic but you get the idea. After a handful of bad practices troubled by shin issues, I finally found out the reason why. The frame on my left skate moved all the way to the inside!!! No wonder the muscles on my outer shin tightened up and my left ankle collapsed outside in the corners. I know exactly how and when my frame moved too now that I think about it.

Let's rewind to three weeks ago when I skated outdoor at the gravel-covered Hamilton Beaches Trail. It was sooo bumpy that I think my frame shifted. I didn't skate the week after that because I was recovering from knee/ankle injury. Since then, I had been plagued by shin problem at every single practice. I feel a little sheepish that I did not notice my frame shifted for such a long time but hey, better now than later.

As expected, my shin and ankle gave up pretty quickly a few laps into practice. However, I really had zero expectation going into Scooter's today so mentally I wasn't too bothered by it anymore. All I wanted to do was skate as much as I could before I inevitably lost all edge control in the corners. Coach AA continued the discussion on track pattern manipulation and the application for each case. It was immensely helpful to see how they relate to skating offensively, defensively, and neutral. All in all, a very informative session. I only wish I could participate more in the drills. Looks like I have some skate maintenance to do before next practice.