Speed Trials

Let me explain… we’re talking motorized bicycle here!!

He bought a bicycle motor from Bike Dump Dave last Saturday, and has spent his evenings putting it together. It does look pretty cool, I must admit.

And so yesterday morning we headed down to the Bike Dump for some final fine-tuning and to give it a test run.

Angelo and Dave worked on the wiring for about an hour…

And then it was ready to go. Just look at that grin on my man’s face!!

Saturday was also the day of the first annual Ottawa Idiotarod, and the Roller Girls put a team together for the event. If you’re unfamiliar with the Idiotarod races, they’re a play on the Iditarod, which is a somewhat famous dog-sled race in Alaska. The Idiotarod trades dogs for humans, and a sled for a shopping cart.

Unfortunately, when we got there we realized only two teams had registered (boo), and that the other team was made up of bike messengers!! It reiterated that the two coolest groups in the city are the Roller Girls and the Bike Messengers! So it sort of turned into the battle of the sexes as well as the battle between two wheels and eight! In the end, though the boys were slightly faster than we were on the footrace, we ended up with more points, and won “Best Overall”. This was in no small part due to the efforts of Killer Kozac (Christine) who decorated our cart to look like a roller skate:

Oh man, this girl seriously kicks ass!! Look at that cart. Check out the toe-stop, the laces, the padding around the ankle. It was amazing!!!

And the whole team contributed to filling the cart with recycling, and donated items for a local community shelter.

All in all, it was a great time, a great race, and we hope that next year more teams will join in. I know RVRG will have a team (or two) next year!!

After the run, we just had time for a quick beer and then off to our regular Saturday practice.
Lots of skating, lots of scrimmaging. I pushed it as hard as I could, but exhaustion set in for me near the end, and I had my first ever practice meltdown!! Though we always say “there’s no crying in Derby”, it seems to me that there is nothing BUT crying in Derby. This time it was my turn; I lost my shit and cried like a baby for a good five to ten minutes in the bathroom. The worst part is that that was not the first or last breakdown I had THAT DAY. Woah, hormones much???

But when I got back to practice, we were in the midst of a seven-person train-of-pain (that’s when everyone lines up front to back and holds on to each other’s hips, and the girl in the middle skates her a$$ off, pushing three people in front of her and pulling the three people in the back). It’s one of my favourite drills, and I happily joined in and skated my two laps along with the rest of the girls. It was a great way to end the evening. (it also helps that the girls in the train cheer the skater on – nothing like a little positive reinforcement to get the morale up!)

Needless to say, I slept like a BABY last night!

Here are some things I’ve been up to lately…

2000 pieces bitches! Count it!

Thursday

Friday

I also tended to the garden (something I hadn’t done ALL summer… It felt good to get a little dirt under the fingernails, and weed that SOB!)

Our corn is doing super well:

Our beans are getting eaten by some bugs (cute bugs, but bugs nonetheless):

Our tomatoes are still green…

And I reffed another AMAZING derby bout here in Ottawa: Swelter Skelter!

It was hot as hell in that arena, but the girls played SO well, and traumed the Green Mountain Derby Dames. I feel I reffed a nice tight, clean game, and called them as I saw them. There was one contentious spot in the game, and I got called out by a player, but I didn’t let the emotions of the situation get in the way, I thought about it objectively, and from that perspective, I made the right call and was able to back it up. And I feel that the girls respect you more when you’re cognizant of your own convictions rather than blindly agree with them.

And even work is starting to pick up this week, which is great.

***

Total Aside: Before reading the book or watching the movie, I always had this idea of what “Gone With The Wind” meant. I had heard about this bold and exciting lady called Scarlett O’Hara, and I thought the title referred to her character being rootless and impetuous, and that her whole life was a whirlwind that she dared not to control or steer, because she was free and carried along, gone with the wind…

But after reading the book, I quickly discovered that the author meant to convey exactly the opposite: that Scarlett was rigidly stuck in one place while her whole life: the traditions and customs she knew and loved, and all her worldly possessions and status and pomp, THEY were the ones that escaped her grasp and were gone with the wind, leaving her behind.

Interesting, huh?

It’s been a good month and a half. Heck, I even managed to check off my first item on my resolutions list: I played in my first ever Roller Derby Bout. How was it in two words or less?

1. Effin’
2. AWESOME!

Of course there are no pictures (sad) but I had the best time, and we WON!! Here is a link to some rando video of the entire game (yeah, brace yourselves. It’s long!!)

Check out the very last jam… One of our star players eats it, and managed to break her bones. It was awful. We all wish her a very swift recovery.

But despite that terrible injury, we still managed to have a great time (yes, even the injured player), and I really fell in love with my league, as well as Roller Derby. It’s amazing the rush I got from playing a real game, amidst my amazing teammates, and against a real life opposing team. So much more exhilarating than scrimmaging at practice, pinnies vs. black shirts.

So if there was ever any doubt before, now it’s a done deal: I’m in for good. I’m hopelessly head over heels. Crazy, huh? Something that made me so anxious for so long, all of a sudden it’s nothing but derby love and more, more, more. I alternate between wondering why the hell every girl in the world doesn’t play, to relishing the fact that I’m part of this small subculture.

The sad part, of course, is that the season is coming rapidly to an end. The girls only have one more home game before the rinks get reclaimed by ice hockey leagues. Here’s the info…

More information and online tickets are available at www.rideauvalleyrollergirls.com $12 at the Door
Partial proceeds from the sale of each ticket to every RVRG game is donated to a local charity.

Don’t miss out!
Doors open 7pm / Game begins at 8pm

Brown rice pudding (with coconut milk). Mmm m. I sweetened it with a touch of maple syrup, which you’re not supposed to use in elimination diets, so today I’m going out to buy some brown rice syrup… I don’t care, though, because this was SOOOOO good.

Topped with nuts. I also had a banana an hour later.

Lunch was good too, and super simple.

I boiled some brown rice pasta (1/2 cup uncooked, on the right), and set some veggies to steam (on the left). While I waited for the stove to do its thing, I prepped an avocado:

Veggies steaming:

Once my pasta was drained and rinsed, I sliced my avocado:

And turned it inside out into the bowl:

Then I added some balsamic vinegar and nutritional yeast:

Added the veggies, and stirred:

It was great. I’m a huge fan of balsamic vinegar. It’s so sweet and tangy, and I could eat it on anything. This meal filled me up and was really colourful and super tasty.

Throughout the afternoon, I snacked on some almonds and another pear, and one of these juices boxes:

Super cute!!

Then I got ready to head out to the Rideau Valley Riot.

Car full of Bike Polo and Roller Derby gear

I was refereeing again for the Slaughter Daughters, and it was, of course, an amazing time! They were playing the Tri-City Thunder, and after the first period, I was sure the SD’s were going to pack it away. Unfortunately, they lost a little steam in the second, and the Tri-City was able to surpass them in points. The third showed the Daughters fighting back somewhat, but the Tri were in their element, and swept the game something like 56 to 85 (I’m not sure the exact score… Check the RVRG site for more info).

It was a great game, and the intermission shows were the Mallets of Mayhem playing an exhibition Polo game. It was super fun.

By the time I got home, it was 11:30pm, though, and I wasn’t super hungry, so I just had some water and went to bed.

Again, no bloating today, and the caffeine withdrawal headache only sprang at about 2pm, for about an hour. I was dehydrated after the game though (despite having a water bottle with me the whole time) and I went to bed with a headache too…

Plans for this morning: Grocery store for a few staples, return the pylons to the Bike Polo Court, and a 6.4km run. I didn’t run on Friday (headache and haziness precluding) so I want to get back on track. The situps, however, are going well, and Angelo and I are up to 48 situps at a time. Though we’ve started to incorporate different situps into the regime, just to get those obliques and lower abdominals. It’s super nice to have a partner do this with me; it definitely makes it more fun.