Great Practice Tonight

Ok, I am tired.  I just got home from tonight’s practice with Piedmont and I felt like I got a great workout.  The pace line started out “extremely fast” according to the person that was skating behind me.  Tony typically has certain skaters lap the pack… and for some insane reason I decided to pass up through the pack and take a tern lapping the pack.  Richie Reynolds went with me which gave me a little extra motivation.

After the pace line we did 10 laps 4 times.  I wish you could have seen the enjoyment on Tony’s face when he said “Ryan, I told you to go with the first group… this second group is going to hurt!”  I guess we had a little miscommunication.  The second group had Mariah, Cheeks girlfriend and a handful of other folks that have been skating much more than I have.  When I skate a race at practice I could care less about getting first.  My primary goal is to hurt and to get a good workout.  That being said I led out each of the ten’s and felt as though I did so at a speed that would allow me to get a workout and would also make the other skaters work harder than normal.  And yes, I had on my 84’s tonight.

I talked to Cheeks for a bit about his blog and mentioned that he should write about young skaters and their tempers (due to something we witnessed at tonights practice)… something we both have a lot of experience with.  I also told him that he should write about the 17/18 year old Michael Cheek.  You do know he has worked his butt off to get where he is right?  He didn’t just put on skates like Harry or Mantia and become an instant star.  I think he has a good story to tell, a story that might motivate a lot of people.

The other Cheek (Joey) also stopped by practice tonight.  It is crazy to see how successful he has become.  At the end of the day it is great to see that both brothers have succeeded in their own right.

Don’t you just love when you are skating and your legs hurt so bad you feel like you just can’t push anymore?  I don’t think there are many sports that can give you that feeling.

Talk to you soon.

Me and My 84’s

So who says I can’t come back on 84’s? I just skated a practice in High Point on my old Verducci and my 5×84 frame and had a blast. Sure I would like to be skating on wheels that are 26 mm larger… but that isn’t something that I can do at this time.

That brings me to the evolution of our skates. When do the wheels stop getting larger? Have you ever wondered how many people have been forced out of the sport simply because they can’t afford to keep up?

If you think about why so many have upgraded to the larger wheels it is kind of crazy. It starts with the elite skater and works its way down to the beginner. Does anyone that doesn’t compete outdoors for a living really need to skate on 110’s? I really don’t think so. Basically we are a sport that follows in the steps of a handful of people.

Just because you get bigger wheels doesn’t mean you are magically going to run a sub 9 second lap and it doesn’t mean your endurance is going to double. Somewhere along the line it seems like ability lost to size. There is a funny joke there… but I’ll leave that out.

I think my next practice will be tomorrow night.

By the way, the brand new Challenge boot I have for sell is on eBay here and the Pilot (4×110) frame is here.  If you want to know why I am selling this new equipment read this.