Mad City Throwdown

  

Thanks to Lake Owen Camp, I was able to attend the Mad City Throwdown a couple of weeks ago, and blade my heart out. Adrian taylor and I went out there to go promote Lake Owen, and throw out some give aways, as well as some free time at Camp. If you have never been before, I highly suggest it. The facilities are not as Grand as Woodward East or West, but the overall vibe and experiences you take from there are what make it so great.

So yeah I got to blade alot. Maybe even the entire time I was there. There was a 20 minute period where I did not have my skates on the entire day I was there. My favorite thing about the contest was that you were still able to skate the mini ramp while runs were going on. When I go to contests the main thing I am interested in is purely blading with my close friends that I rarely get to see at a skatepark I rarely get to skate. Thats all I really want to do while I’m there. The 16 year old definately comes out and takes control of the reigns even though the carriage (my now 27 year old body) has a hard time keeping up.Its funny how young your mind can stay. I still have for the most part the same youthfulness I had when I began. That is what makes rollerblading (and this goes for any childhood passion in general) so great. It’s like a fountain of youth. You and I may have acquired some baggage along the way (i.e. bad mental habits, worn out body) but there is a place you go that is not of your ordinary day consciousness where you are that kid again, and rollerblading is the time machine for that. The only bummer is that the body at times can be harder to maintain then the mentality. What also comes along with being young is thinking your invincible and that whatever you do has no consequences. Like throwing yourself off roofs all day, and then going to taco bell right after. You will feel it some day, trust me.

I am constantly running across friends of mine that used to skate when I was about 14 to 18 (the greatest time to be a T-dog in my opinion,) and when they go skate, they complain how they suck, or that they are “too old.” This is also referred to as OMS or “Old Man Syndrome.”This is one of the biggest delusions that plagues the generation I grew up with today.Well this may be the biggest fallacy of rollerblading history and this is why. You still have that young mind, and it is activated as soon as you put on your blades. Now as soon as you do put on your blades, you want to go and start doing all the things that the 16 year old in you used to do, but the catch is that you don’t have the 16 year old body any more and in fact the 27 year old you is feeling all of those roofs and taco bell you once did. You are expecting your body to do what your mind says but the reality is its not going to happen. Unless….

You prepare your body. The truth is that you CAN skate like that 16 year old and even BETTER if that is really what you want to do. BUT, you have to work harder for it then you once did. Depending on the degree you want to skate like that youthful child and even better you have to do things like stretch and excercise. Also the chemicals (food, drink, etc.) you put into your body also effect you MENTALLY, and everything in the material world all begins in the mind or consciousness. A thought forms in the mind (or wherever the place actually is that they take form), and then you make a choice on whether to materialize it or not. And what do you think helps makes this process more efficient? Chemicals.Wow that was quite a tangent. Back to the Throwdown…

My body was performing like a race horse that day, and I was able to blade pretty consistently all day. It was great. I had been doing hotlaps around Tom Hyser’s house while staying with him almost ever day on my Marathon Carbon blades. “Hot Laps” consist of a 3 mile hilly loop, which I would do on average 2 to 3 laps of depending on how focused I was. Sometimes I would do it with no music, and other times with. Doing them, I began to take notice of things like how I use my lower back when I don’t need to, and how I should use my legs more. These things are hard to be aware of and even harder to change, but when fixed can make blading alot easier for you.

I know another tangent…I think I’ll just let them roll from now on and not call them out. I write best when it just flows naturally from my fingers and it feels the best doing so…so…yeah. And seeing that this is my blog and I can put whatever I want on it, the only true critic is me so I’ll try not to be so hard on myself and let the tangents fly, because I Love them.

There was some really good blading that went down that day. Quite a few people caught my eye. Matt Luda was one of them. He was doing some cool lines and making them look fun at the same time. I have been seeing Rory Malehan and P.J. Pencac (sorry if the spelling is wrong) alot lately as well, and they have been skating amazingly every time. Young gun Mike Froemling was also hucking very precise manuevers all over the place. And oh man…homeboy who did the sweaty and fishbrain on the down wooden ledge that your not supposed to skate, he got big kudos from me. There was another dude who had the valos with the black toecap as well who was skating really good. And if you were there, you definatley saw the mizu to misty flip off which I called out to everyone to watch because I knew it would be a crowd pleaser.Overall I had a great time at the contest. Any time I have the freedom to roll for as long as I want I am going to have a good time. Its usually the in between times that throw me off. Also i have a habit of wanting to do everything in a very untimely contest fashion. I find myself skating my best when there is no category or time constraints. I’m not really too worried about this because I don’t HAVE to do good at contests, but it would be nice to. Just have to let myself relax and calm that 16 year old inside that just wants to do everything here and now in one big bang.

“Must have patience Daniel Son.” – Mr. Miagi

This blog was inspired by Mark Davidson who was once a young camper at Lake Owen camp, and is now a good friend of mine. He sent me these 2 photos today, which sparked the rambling you see above. Thank you Mark for being a great friend. AND, thank you for having an amazing family. We were seriously treated like royalty while Staying at the Davidsons household. Every morning we woke up to a breakfast buffet and every night we feasted like we were eating at sizzler. (actually it was way better then sizzler, but I couldn’t think of a resturant). 

Here is me experimenting with heel stalls. i was able to do one earlier in the day for maybe a foot or so. I definatley took some hard falls trying it. And I must say it looks a little fruity but, here it is. It happened.