Mountains and Sweaty Sports Halls

So this weekend was pretty busy, I took the Friday off work and spent most of it in the sun with my girl. Actually walked to the beer garden at 10:30am, I got a Vanilla latté like a baws while she sported a nice cool pint.

I then made the 2 hour drive home to my parents (picked up my iPhone yay!) and the next day I was being all Cumbrian and climbed up a fell- Catbells. 

A few years have passed since I last went on a fell walk with the parents and Max, for one Max was a lot younger and I was a lot tubbier! Okay so I wasn’t massive but I was a hell of a lot more unfit!

Since starting derby I’ve changed my attitude to fitness, no longer do I do derby and get fit from it - I’m now enjoying getting fit for derby. So this new cross-training mentality saw me eager to get to the top this time instead of being dragged up by my Mam (she literally dragged me up Helvellyn about 4 years ago!)

This time she was dragging old Max up there, he’s pretty deaf now and is blind in his one remaining eye but still SO CUTE. So it was nice to spend some quality time with my family and also climb the 1,480 ft to get some exercise too!

On the Sunday morning I headed back to ‘Boro for training, but this wasn’t just any training session nope, I collected a Moose and a Terri and headed to the Train Station to meet Kamikaze Kitten  of the London Roller Girls!!

 To say we were excited would be an understatement; we headed in the sweltering heat to the Rainbow Leisure Centre, put the track down and waited for the rest of MMR to turn up.

It was awesome; we practised lots of agility, teamwork and wall building and got to scrimmage with Kami at the end. Then after 4 hours in the sweaty gym hall we did SUICIDES! Now maybe I’m a bit strange but even though I was knackered and sweaty as I loved that little ending to the session.

All in all a great weekend really, and the next few weeks are hopefully going to be the same! MMR are off to Windsor for a closed bout against The Royal Windsor Roller Girls, this time playing them is going to be particularly fun for me since their roster now includes my cousin Abby (Bad Ab’it) who has already expressed her concerns in hitting me… I’m sure she’ll have no problem on the day!

Then some of us are off to the LRG Harbour Grudges Bootcamp the following weekend, and after the last one I know how good this one is bound to be!

Excited!!

Bladdy Brilliant!

So Monday me and the troops got home from an amazing weekend in the Welsh capital –Cardiff(or CardAFF as we so fondly pronounced it).

Now I’ve been toCardiffbefore; years and years ago whilst visiting some family members who live in Pontypridd, but it was a first for Moose, Terri and Grr who were travelling down with me in Jimmy (my Car) - so they were extra excited. It seemed like it took forever before we started seeing signs forWalesand only a few repetitive road trip mix CDs later we arrived at our apartment.

We were soon greeted by the other car loads of MMR girls, we unloaded our stuff and before long were running around the house like St Trinnians on a school trip. We all got changed and double checked our bags for the millionth time and headed out to Cogan Leisure centre to meet the Tiger Bay Brawlers.

  < Moose & Terri practising hand stands

You could have heard a pin drop in our changing room, all I could hear was the rustling of Velcro and pads when Captain Dot piped up with some words of encouragement. We knew this was going to be our toughest game yet.

When we got into the hall it seemed like forever before the whistle blew, our first line up was on and I had the jammer star on my noggin. I’d like to say the first jam went well for us but after a lot of heavy hitting from TBB and a track cut I heard those 4 ending whistles from my seat in the penalty box.

 Despite the rough start MMR powered on, TBB’s defence was impeccable and teamwork was the best I’ve ever came across- topped off by some impressive blocking by Kid Block and Queen LaQueefa in particular. Eventually MMR managed to start chipping away at our point deficit by end of the first half and we kept fighting on.

 After a half time pep talk (and a change of wheels for me) MMR got back into the game with a positive outlook and I managed to keep myself out of the box! Wheyy!

The physical game continued and jammers from both sides soldiered on while being worn out by the tough competition.

 We got to the last 40 seconds on the period clock and MMR quickly shouted for a time out, we had one last jam and the score was sitting at 98 – 200. We knew to win would be an impossible feat but we were damned if we weren’t going to break a hundred!

I skated over to the jam line with Terri and Moose, with 2 players in the box we were already at a disadvantage but somehow we managed to get lead. Next thing I know I seeTigerBay’s jammer Kid Block fast approaching. The next few seconds was pretty much a blur but as the jam was called off and I skidded over to our bench remember thinking I was so proud of my team.

 The final score was MMR 102 – 204 Tiger Bay Brawlers.

   < You can get Ducks at Tescos!! 

Tiger Bay are not only an impressive team on track but also absolutely lovely, we got to go for a drink after the bout to talk derby and also managed to wrangle LaQueefa and Sian of the Dead into coming to show us the Cardiff nightlife. Awesome night!

The next day we nursed a hangover with the best cure GOURMET BURGER! And before long we were back on the road headed North with sad faces as we left another derby filled weekend behind.

It was bladdy brilliant! Roll on the re-match!!!  

AW Speedskating – a quick write up

Last Sunday MMR had the privilege of having champion Speed Skater Adrian Wordsworth (BRSF & FISS Registered Speed Skating Coach) come along to train us. This is something I was particularly excited about since I’ve wanted to learn the basics of Speed Skating for a while to improve my speed while jamming.

Before hand I felt like my stride could be improved and KNEW I wasn’t getting low enough and my balance also needed work on my laps.

Our training venue for our post-mins practice has the slippiest floor you’ll ever come across, our girls and guys slide all over the place in Venoms and Poison wheels! So it’s particularly annoying to jam there and loose ALL your speed by slipping out on the corners. WatchingAdrianskate a perfect route around the apex on that floor was amazing, this was the confirmation to me that it really is about technique not your tools.

Okay so maybe it’s about your tools a little bit… Bearings! He sat us down and got us to time how long it takes for one wheel to stop spinning. Seeing this as a competition I could see Moose and Terri were selecting their ‘best ones’ and I was gearing up for a nice big spin. But alas it wasn’t about the spin, regardless of the effort I pushed into my wheel the bearing was still going to roll for as long as it wanted. I think I managed around 35 seconds before they stopped which wasn’t bad, some naughty skaters only managed 10-15 (filthy!). Adrian explained the importance of taking care of your bearings and it actually spurred me on to clean them… now that must be a miracle!

We went on to do some drills, breaking things down and focusing on thinking about the route you take around the track. Adrian warned us we’d probably hear his voice in our heads when we’re skating to remind us to “Get Low!” and he was right!

He tailored the session to fit derby and explained why we were doing things and what benefits we would see from this if we continued to run the drills. Which is perfect in my mind since it makes me work harder- imagining the end result.

It was an equally hard but awesome session and I feel like now I’ve got the basic skills to build up more speed from the way I jam (with less effort – let’s face it that’s the best equation!).

I’d definitely recommend for Roller Derby teams to look into Speed Skating coaching. So if you’re interested check out AW Speedskating www.awspeedskating.com 

And remember – “Get Low!”. 

“I want to do this everyday!”

London Day 2

 Waking up bright and early on a Saturday is not one of my favourite things to do; this crappy aspect of life is only acceptable to me if the reason is Roller Derby.

I packed my kit bag for the 3^rd and final time, checking and checking again I had everything- I was trying to be as quiet as I could be. It obviously didn’t work as I woke Moose up, she wasn’t too happy. But then again, Moose isn’t a morning person.

 We got ready, pulling ourselves away from Jeremy Kyle USA on TV and waiting for the rest of the troops downstairs. The lactose intolerant Moose decided to order a bacon and cheese sandwich while we waited, she ignored my warnings- I tried to remind her of the consequences of her last cheese consumption but what can I say? The girl loves her cheese.

 We loaded into the taxi and got dropped off at Earls Court Exhibition Centre, the home of The London Roller girls. Best venue ever. This is the point where we realised our taxi was a con-man, adding an extra lump sum onto the fee- the same journey costing us £10 less the night before!

  Feeling a little hard done by we went inside, soon remembering why we were there. We were itching to get our skates on looking at that shiny concrete floor.

 Looking around we could see a few familiar faces; Grievous Bodily Charm and Shaolynn Scarlett were kitting up standing out in their Suffra-jets uniforms, we saw a few other Team England Skaters pop in to take part and skaters from Big Bucks High Rollers, Tiger Bay Brawlers, Dorset Rollergirls, Southern Discomfort, London Rockin Rollers, Dolly Rockit Rollergirls, to name a few… not forgetting our Northern chums Newcastle Roller Girls.

Suffra-jets face glitter LIGHTNING BOLTS! SPARKY SPARK! MMR we need these please!

We were soon herded together, everyone listening intently at what we were about to do. We started with a Dynamic Warm up, which you can find on Kamikaze Kitten’s blog HERE

Then got into some drills. The boot camp was all about the strategies you should be using during powerjam situations, countering counter tactics and countering some more. I loved it. We did some situational scrimmage and got to play against and with some amazing skaters and after each jam we’d get a breakdown from one of the Suffra-jets to tell us how it went and how we could improve next time. LRG’s training just shows you how and why they’re at the forefront of European derby, it’s safe to say I’ll be going to another bootcamp this year!

 It all went too fast and ended too soon, and Moose’s earlier gorge-on-cheese all became a bit much for her following a big hit…

But we still had the bout to look forward to! A Double Header - CCR vs Harbour Grudges and Ultraviolent Femmes vs the Steam Rollers. We grabbed a quick burger and some cans from the off-licence (yep we’re classy like that) and went back into the venue.

 Securing some suicide seats by turn 2 we went to scout out the merch. Having found some Team USA t-shirts and having a tiny derby climax we went back to the trackside and started our routine cheer for “NATALIE BOX-ALLLLL”- Our ex-Milk Roller/founder and all round lovely person; Germaine Leer…. All kitted up in Central City uniform.

We were tickled by the Harbour Grudges skate out, the Love Boat theme tune and skating formations were particularity impressive. On track Central City ‘Centtrinnians’ played a valiant game and kept fighting through the Harbour Grudges impenetrable defence. But the Harbour Grudges took the triumph in the end. We were really proud of Nat, she played amazingly!

Between the two bouts saw an opportunity for Moose to strut her stuff on track in the egg and spoon race. Her athleticism clearly shone through here (despite high levels of intoxication), complete with jammer- toe start, this ensured that she took the gold!

The Ultraviolent Femmes vs Steam Rollers bout was amazing, some impressive jamming- big hits and tight packwork.  THIS is the level I want to compete! Watching LRG and being there in the crowd is like seeing Roller Derby for the first time, being at the bootcamp and experiencing their training – it gave me that boost, like being a newb again. Having my skates right behind me and not being able to get kitted up and compete was painful… so we got drunk instead.   

A few more ciders later it was time to leave, we briefly hit the afterparty (sadly not hitting it as hard as we’d have liked to) and the famous Chicken Cottage before heading back to Victoria coach station.

                                                                   Moose asleep at the afterparty ^

With temperatures of the Artic Circle and ceiling lights like Tron we made our way back to Middlesbrough in a somewhat uncomfortable manner on the National Express.

 Sad to leave the bright lights of London behind us, hopefully we brought a spark back with us that will keep us going until next time!

Megabus… not so Mega

London Day 1 – Friday

Okay so I can’t really complain since I paid £27.50 for a 500 mile journey, and honestly I really wasn’t expecting the height of luxury from my cheap-as approach to travel. That said, the megabus really takes it out of you!

Cramming 5 people (Moose, Terri, Hayley and myself) PLUS derby stuff into Moose’s fella’s Inbetweeners-esque Fiat Chicito was pretty comical at 7:30 on Friday morning, dropping us off at the bus station we were ready to head to London.

After waiting 20minutes we were worried we’d fell at the first hurdle and missed the coach but we were told it was running late.

Eventually we clambered on one by one and failing to get the backseats got lumped with the ones by the toilet…great. Our journey comprised of sweltering heating conditions, a neighbouring passenger who enjoyed his dubstep loud and uncomfortable napping conditions. 6 hours later we arrived at Victoria station.

Terri’s London Underground iPhone app was a lifesaver as we followed directions and headed to Earls court. Hitting the platform and hearing the beeping sound from the doors must have brought out the daredevil in Hayley and Moose as they launched themselves into the closing shutters. Making it safely they soon realised they’d split the pack as me and Terri waved them off into the distance. I can still see their panic stricken faces now… bless.

Here is where we made our first mistake; the past has taught us- never let a Moose and a Hayley loose on their own. Fortunately Terri had already prepared for such incidents:

Thankfully the cards didn’t need to be used and we saw them sitting on the platform looking pretty satisfied with their small victory.

 10 minutes later saw the arrival of ex-Milk Roller and now Dorset Rollergirl ChuChu Rocket. It was hugs all round before we headed to our Battersea Travelodge.

 Dropping our bags off and getting changed we headed back to the Underground and stopped off first at Notting Hill. Starving we headed for Gormet burger for the best meal of our lives.

Stuffed and ready for more beer we jumped back on the tube, on the other side Terri managed to get us to race up the steps of the Underground… we unwittingly accepted the challenge and soon realised all was not what it seemed. 193 steps later we collapsed into Covent Garden.

After looking at a lot of nice things we couldn’t afford we headed to Leicester Square and finally ended up in Camden. Sad that a lot of things were closed we decided to entertain ourselves by posing with statues.

Taking a break from modelling we sat down grabbed some coffee and tried to guess the flavour of shisha!

We then took our inner troubled rockstar selves and headed to The Hawley Arms, the ratio of dirty looking hot men to derby girls was pretty high so the girls were happy, we also had to persuade Hayley not to give out all of her ‘special cards’ in one place.

We were told that the toilets had a lot of crazy messages in them… WWSHD?

Resisting the urge to do press ups and squat people (usual after party behaviour), we soon headed back to the hotel, knowing that we had another long day ahead of us.