I would love to join up with your group and start racing!! Can someone let me know what I need to do? I would also need to buy some new skates, and have a general idea of what I would need/want...but at those prices I want to make sure I don't make a mistake with what I buy:)

I currently play rollerderby with the Orange County Roller Girls...I jam, so I am a pretty quick skater on quads. I also speed skated on inlines (you know the old ones with the plastic boots...got them from Alfredos in long beach...and skated with that crew..anyone remember Long Beach Tuesday night skates?) long ago....I'm older (44) but still in pretty good shape but want to do more training than my derby life allows. I would love to start racing...and your crew sounds fun!

So any info that can help me would be greatly appreciated!! And who knows..I might be able to get a bunch of other skaters involved too!

Hey Retro,

Welcome to the board and of course we can help you out. We are always looking for more skaters to keep this sport going for years to come.

We have a weekly speed workout session in Long Beach at Eldorado Park in Area 3 on Saturday mornings at 8:30 am, except this Saturday due to the area being closed. There are also smaller skates throughout the week in various locations in So Cal. Hopefully I can get that info up on our website soon. In the meantime you can find out about the happenings of our group by joining our mailing list. You can find the information to join the mailing list on the home page.

As for skates, there are a lot to choose from and their prices vary drastically. Skaters in our group skate on Bont, Luigino, or Simmons to name a few. All are great boots, but each have different fits. The important thing is not sell yourself short in the beginning. You don't necessarily need the most expensive boot, but you probably don't want the cheapest either.

Bont has one of their North American Reps right here in So Cal. Glenn Koshi has a small shop down in San Marcos. You can check out the skates he offers on the Bont website, http://www.bont.com . He has a large selection at his shop of which you can try on.

Our race team is sponsored by Luigino. They have a great selection of boots too, http://www.luiginoracing.com . The Luigino boots have a much lower cut around the ankle, so if you are just starting out you might need a boot with a slightly higher cuff for ankle support. Just something to keep in mind.

The next thing you will need to decide is the wheel size you will want to skate on. Most racers are skating on 110mm wheels these days, but since you are just beginning you might want to get used to 100mm first. These wheels are much higher than what you are used to on quads and will take a little getting used to. Either way, if you are looking to save some money, I would suggest getting a frame that can accommodate 110's so when you are ready to make the transition you don't need to buy a new frame which can set you back $200-$300. You can easily put 100's on a 110 frame.

The wheel of choice these days are Matter Wheels. There are new wheels debuting this season from Answer and Bont. We shall see how they perform on the world circuit as the season progesses.

There is still a lot more to inform you about, but thats a start. Do you have some other specific questions that we can help you with?

Hope to see you at Eldo on an upcoming Saturday.

Scott

Thanks so much for the info!! I will try and join you on a saturday morning...but until I get new skates, I will have to skate with my K2 recreational inlines (I will NOT skate with quads with a bunch of inline skaters...I will be slow enough!!).

I remember Glenn from my Alfredo days...didn't he have a store in huntington beach and have a sat morning fun skate from HB to newport? I used to do that and the wed skate all the time (along with alfredos long beach tuesday night skate). It's cool that some of the skaters are still sticking with it!!

Can someone give me the address to his skate shop in san marcos? As soon as I have time I will head down there for a pair of skates...right now, derby is keeping me pretty busy, but I need to start working on some speed and endurance asap as I have an important championship game coming up...and I would love to start racing

Hope to see all of you next sat (I have a game this sat). thanks for all the help!!

Oh yes back in the day those skate were awesome. The HB Fun Roll still is happening every week, Sat 10:30AM at the pier. Still super fun to do and eat after with the gang.
Contact Glenn at
glenn916@yahoo.com
for details to drop in at his shop and he would enjoy hearing from a skater from the past. Bont has some super skates to get into these days.
http://www.bont.com

I raced in two half-marathons last year, and a 10K, all on my quads. I've been going to El Dorado for awhile, and now mostly go on Sunday mornings. I've also done some fresh meat practices with Angel City Derby Girls, and do speed skating practice on Tuesday nights at Holiday skating center. Tuesday night practices are really great now, since they're focusing on techniques.

-Sharon

Retro did you tag up with SCS for the skating?