eRacer X-Files

Derby Tour Update 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 14:57:00 +0000

I've done a craptastic job of updating this blog regularly, as in most of 2010 was missing. I'm trying to pick back up the slack and get back to regular updating, but one of the fun projects has fallen seriously out-of-date.

In case you don't remember, I started my Derby Tour project in 2009 when I began skating with DDG. The tour includes away bouts in other cities as well as my random drop-in to a league practice in another city that I may be wandering through.

Since I'm a few months behind in this blog in terms of my derby-associated travel, let me update my travel summaries....

Sin City Rollergirls -- Las Vegas, NV [April 2009, April 2010, June 2010]
Ohio Rollergirls -- Columbus, OH [April 2009]
Roller Girls of Southern Indiana -- Evansville, IN [May 2009]
Hard Knox Rollergirls -- Knoxville, TN [June 2009]
Sintral Florida Derby Demons -- Orlando/De Land, FL [June 2009, July 2009]
Nashville Rollergirls -- Nashville, TN [July 2009, 2010]
Memphis Roller Derby -- Memphis, TN [August 2009]
Mobile Roller Derby -- Mobile, AL [August 2009]
Classic City Rollergirls -- Athens, GA [September 2009]
Carolina Rollergirls -- Raleigh, NC [November 2009]
Chattanooga Rollergirls -- Chattanooga, TN [December 2009]
Burn City Rollers -- Phenix City, AL [February 2010]
Oklahoma Victory Dolls -- Oklahoma City, OK [March 2010]
Houston Roller Derby-- Houston, TX [May 2010]
No Coast Derby Girls -- Lincoln, NE [June 2010]
Green Country Rollergirls -- Tusla, OK [June 2010]
Panama City Roller Derby -- Panama City, FL [September 2010]
Tallahassee Rollergirls -- Tallahassee, FL [September 2010]
Little City Rollergirls -- Johnson City, TN [June 2011]

I'm back to tagging all Derby World Tour stops and compiling a map... look out for future stops! And if you have any "Gotta See It" suggestions on stops I need to make, let hear them in the comments section!

Puerto Rico poster!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 13:53:00 +0000

I'm getting excited!

Puerto Rico or BUST!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:37:00 +0000

One of the great things I love about Roller Derby is the fact that its a hobby that allows us all a new avenue to travel and explore different areas. This was the inspiration behind my "Derby Tour" project, to skate with as many teams as I could all across the country... and the WORLD. (I need to do some updating of my Derby Tour notes, yikes I'm behind)

To that effect, I was majorly bummed to have missed the trip last year to Hawaii with the rest of the girls, but always wanted to make a trip to my homeland of Puerto Rico and have been searching for a start-up team there for some time now.

Thanks to the wonder of Facebook, not only did I find a team there.... I found several! They've organized together into the Tropic Terrors of Puerto Rico. This consists of about 5-6 teams spread out across the island in San Juan, Mayaguez, Ponce, Arecibo, Bayamón, Caguas... a BUNCH of rising derby on a pretty small little island! That's exciting to me!

The Reckless Bandidas in San Juan is the team that I have been working with on a Pan-American game versus DDG. They are all very new to derby there, and will be using this as one of their first public debuts to the sport. We've set up a bout for October 22 in San Juan, and are really excited to be skating on the island!

So.... there's a bunch to do in just a short time to get there, and a few of us DDG's are trying to come up with some ways to support getting the team there. Look out for a benefit show to be announced soon!

In the mean time, if you can help throw a few coins into my Puerto Rico or Bust piggy bank below, I'd be MUCHO grateful!

WEPA!

Skate Wars Return: The Fempire Strikes Back!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 14:59:00 +0000

Well, I'm slacking again on updates, FOR SHAME!

This bout was our annual Skate Wars saga bout, with this year's episode being The Fempire Strikes Back! The inner geek in me loves this bout... we get the added excitement of the Storm Troopers and Darth Vader breathing down our necks that the fans (and us) just eat up.

Our B-team was taking on the Tragic City Rollers B-team from Birmingham, AL while the All-Star team faced the Louisville, KY Derby City Rollergirls.

The B-team did a fantastic job, and just fell short after some tough jammer-in-the-box plays. Man, they were really making some great improvements! Excited that they are coming into their own now!

I had the honor of being voted our co-captain for the second game in a row, which means I got the fun task of figuring out a game plan for our line-ups. Talk about a bajillionty scenarios! What to do if Skater X gets injured, if Skater Y is in penalty trouble, if Skater Z has to cover for X, and who is going to JAM?!? Its a complicated chore and in my OCD about readiness, I think we came up with a million What-IF lineups.

Not that it means much in the throes of bout-dom. That chaos is impossible to predict, and even the best laid plans are often little consolation. Thank God for level-headed crews!

So for this bout, we gained back some of our veteran blockers that had been missing, and it was decided that I would concentrate on jamming this game, instead of tiring myself out by blocking too.

I was in a 3 jammerish rotation of sorts, which gave me time to really watch what was happening on the track. The first half was really crappy for me. Derby City started walling-up in the back and would be 4 across right in the middle of the first turn. That gave me zero room to A) gain speed, and B) avoid the giant wall of 'gina without taking some massive stop-dead-in-your-tracks hits. For most of the first half, I'd have to fight my way through slowly. I missed getting lead 3 times, and would have to call off the jam early if I got it to keep DCRG from scoring. I managed about 13 points in the first half, figuring out by about the last jam of the period that the wall wasn't a strong as it appeared and coming through the middle was pretty easy after a quick little juke to the outside.

With that little gem of information, the second half was all a different story for me. The blockers were doing great at breaking that initial wall up, and being able to go in an just grab those quick 3 and 4 to zero jams were slowly adding up. Unfortunately, I was the only DDG jammer to score in the second half, and they just didn't add up enough for the win. We ended up losing, 53-104. It gets frustrating, we know we are a good team, but just can't pull it out on game day.

Here's a little highlight reel from Rocktt Xtra:

After seeing that, I know of a few things I want to "tweek" myself in my game.

Thanks to all the great fans that came out to support us! We really appreciate all of you!

PERSONAL GAME STATS:

Skated in 13 out of 43 jams (30.23% of the game), all as a jammer.
Of the 13 jams, declared lead jammer 10 times (76.92%)
Scored a total of 31 points in the game, an average of 2.38 points per jam
Plus/Minus was +9
Highest scoring jammer of bout
Highest +/- of bout, the only jammer for DDG in positive
Highest lead percentage
Only DDG jammer to score in the second period
Only 1 minor back-block in the bout.

Up Next: An away bout vs Little City in Johnson City, TN, then its Greased Lightning time for Summer Fights on July

Dixie Derby was RAPTURED!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:18:00 +0000

All in good fun, we decided to get in on the #RaptureBomb fun!

NO PACK!

Because we all know refs don't get raptured!

ROLLER DERBY REALLY DID SAVE MY SOUL!

A weekend to remember

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Thu, 05 May 2011 21:01:00 +0000

I'm sure plenty are aware of the situation in Northern Alabama as a result of the marathon of storms to hit this region on 4/27/11.

But there is positive news to come out of the tragedy, and this is OUR story as team and the kindness and outpouring of love and support from the derby community:

Please read my Examiner.com article: Not Even a Tornado can break derby bond and spirits.

No words.

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Wed, 04 May 2011 14:02:00 +0000

There are no words to describe how angry this makes me that someone could do this.

Meet Lori, aka Lmbr Timber Onu of Emerald Coast Roller Derby, was victim of a severe domestic violence attack on April 23, 2011. Lori is having surgery to repair broken eye sockets, nose and cheek bones. She faces a long recovery and mounting medical bills with no medical insurance. ECRD and many other people who love Lori are planning events and fundraisers to help.

PayPal link to help Lori:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_sxclick&hosted_button_id=36EF74RAATAZS

You may also send donations to:
First Citizens National Bank
Attn: Scott Luce
391 Main Street, Genesee PA 16923

Checks need to be made payable to : Kristine Milkeris-Smith

Please write : "Lori Milkeris medical" in the memo line.

More information at Lori's Aid Facebook Page

Awesome Good Luck Charms

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 20:46:00 +0000

One thing I didn't mention in my last bout post was how grateful I am for some awesome supporters and fans that came to cheer us on for our first home bout of the season!

My biggest and favoritest one being my good luck charm:

He brought an army of people from Rocket Harley for this one, and even a new recruit in the process!

THANKS ALEX!
And thank you to all who came out!

Dismember the Alamo: 4/9/11

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 18:49:00 +0000

Its only one event into the season, and I'm already slacking on regular and prompt updates!

Our first home bout, Dismember the Alamo, was 4/9/11 against the Alamo City Rollergirls from San Antonio, TX. Normally, I'm the preach-y one about eating right, and hydrating, and all that, but I had a major fail of being busy and screwing up my own pre-game regiment.

So when I arrived (late) to the VBC, I had to hurry up and scarf down the pasta I had made to load-up for the game. Eating that fast caused a major case of indigestion (NOT WINNING). But all upset tummy aside, warm ups felt pretty good, and I was finally feeling like my new 88a Heartless Stalker wheels were broken in enough for the slippery VBC floor. I also got to debut my new intro prop: my checkered flag that I ::cough cough:: borrowed ::cough cough:: from my part time job at the auto parts store.

For this game, I was put in as a jammer every fourth rotation for the duration of the game. I'm really happy to have mobility back in my knee and glad to be back to jamming in the chartered games this season. Taking the line on the 2nd jam, we were down by 4 points and scoreless in the first jam, and I knew I had to get on the board to put this game in the right direction. I was able to get through, but didn't get lead because I failed to repass a down skater. Not an issue, because Alamo's jammer got called on a track cut major, which sent her to the box and gave me a power jam. I was able to score 14 points before the two minutes, making the score 14-4 our favor.

After that, the game turned a bit uglier. Tripping, majorly sloppy, messy hits and some real brutal full-tilt-to-zero takedowns were taking us jammers down pretty hard, and making it quite the struggle out there. We stayed ahead in the score, all of us playing smart and getting those 3 and 4-point jams to keep us up. My highest scoring jam of the bout came right at the end of the 1st period, with a 16-point power jam. We went into halftime ahead 79-48.

I started off at the jammer line in the 2nd period, and we'd again trade 0 point or 2-3 point jams with Alamo. A series of jammer penalties would get us in trouble deep into the 2nd period, allowing Alamo to take a 1-point lead. I took the line knowing we could very easily lose this game, and worse, I already had 3 minor penalties. Talk about PRESSURE! I was getting a bit frustrated with the low blocks/dive hits that I felt should've been major impacts because they slowed me to a near stop in the pack most times. I *may* have took a little extra liberties getting up a few times after being tripped by these shenanigans.

Dixie doesn't typically do well under stress, and it was great to see everyone remain calm and take back control of the game. BOA landed 4 to move it back into our favor, and then my blockers did AMAZING, holding off the Alamo jammer for 3 straight jams and letting me get around twice for 8 points. After this jam, we're back in control 120-109.

BOA sealed the deal with a 20 point power jam right behind me, and it was all uphill from there, with Dixie taking the win 141-115. This is our first sanctioned WFTDA charter game of the season, and it feels good to put a "W" in the column!

PERSONAL GAME STATS:

Skated in 14 out of 39 jams (35.90% of the game)
Jammed in 13 jams (33.33% of game as jammer)
Of the 13 jams, declared lead jammer 6 times (46.15%)
Scored a total of 53 points in the game, an average of 4.08 points per jam
Plus/Minus was +23
Highest scoring jammer of bout
Highest +/- of bout
Served 1 minutes in the penalty box during the game (12.5% of my track time) for a major back block, and had 3 minors: a back-block, an illegal procedure, and a track cut

Up Next: An away bout at Knoxville, then the Rocket City Rumble III! Our 6 team, WFTDA Sanctioned tournament at the Von Braun Center South Hall.

Its Dodgeball time!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 16:57:00 +0000

"If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!"

I should be good at both! This weekend is the 6th Annual Dixie Derby Down n Dirty Dodgeball Tournament. It's my 3rd year at the event, and its always a great way to start spring for a fun day in the sunshine.

The event is bigger this year, and so far 22 teams have pre-registered, with more sure to sign up the day of the event.

Come out to Dublin Park and watch or register a team and play!

More details are at: http://www.dixiederbygirls.com/dball.htm

Preseason Scrimmage -- March 13, 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 21:01:00 +0000

To prepare for our upcoming regular season, we decided to have our first intraleague bout since probably 2007-ish, and to give it even more nostalgic atmosphere, we hosted it at Roller Time, our practice home.

For those who weren't around then (myself included), before DDG started playing other WFTDA teams and scheduling bouts with other cities, they had two intraleague teams within the league that fought for championships: The Red Hot Riots vs. The Thrill-Killers. Now, despite being on the same league overall, there is always some pent up animosity and bitterness that comes with the competition-- and this was an especially heated rivalry (re: DRAMA!) back in the days from what I'm told. The concept was abandoned completely when DDG began playing bouts at the VBC.... many very grateful to see it go, and very vocal about it never returning again.

So, it was a BIG huge deal to be playing an intraleague bout after all this time of it being such a taboo topic. Some whispered about the "Riots vs. Killers" dark aura that lingers at RollerTime. Its almost a bit of a legendary curse (reaffirmed with the rather forgettable loss to Memphis last RCR) that plagues the hardwood. But with the growth direction the league has taken, it was time to put away the bad juju and just play some fun-filled, no pressure roller derby with our teammates.

The day began with laughter and the unsuspected flying of the Red-Hot Riots Flag during track set-up. There were plenty of laughs abounding... and we knew that regardless this day would be a-okay.

We faced off PINK vs. BLACK. I would take the jammer starting line first for the pink team against Ebbin Flow. She got through just ahead of me to claim lead, but I was able to pick up the first point before she called it off. Injured-Asian Invasion was coaching us, and she had me jamming and then immediately going into the next pack as a power/outside blocker before coming out to rest for a jam. I took the jammer line again in the 5th jam, taking lead and scoring 5 unanswered points. My game-high jam came in the 9th with a 20 point jam, and the rest were quick 3 and 4 pointers before a call-off to keep ahead of the Black team.

Blocking I felt great too, with several big take downs and great holds against black. Bitchy Valens and I held off the black jammer against a full-strength black team for several great laps when all the rest of ours were in the box. My favorite photo of the night captured one of my bullying hits on Sarah Von Knockaho. I seemed to pick on her a bunch this game, with some knockdown hits that left for a great highlight reel.
The final score had us up 188 to 111. We had a great time, no one was hurt, and we had some great real-time practice in front of our most faithful fans! I can't wait to get our regular season started in April at the VBC!

PERSONAL GAME STATS:

Skated in 15 out of 33 jams (45.45% of the game)
Jammed in 8 jams (24.24% of game as jammer)
Of the 8 jams, declared lead jammer 6 times (62.50%)
Scored a total of 42 points in the game, an average of 5.38 points per jam
Plus/Minus was +32
Served 2 minutes in the penalty box during the game (13.3% of my track time), once for a major track cut, and once for my 4 minors: 2 elbows, 2 track cuts.

Up Next: First home bout of the season, April 9th against Alamo City in a WFTDA Sanctioned bout at the Von Braun Center South Hall.

Coming back together....

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 19:50:00 +0000

And just as suddenly as it disappeared--- POOF! eRacer X got her MOJO back!

I had a lot of great advice about my recent mental beat-down, lots of encouragement from my team, and one statement that really drove it all home.

"You need an instigator--a shit talker. You need someone to really just piss you off. Not in the throwing punches kind of way, but the 'gas to the fire' way."

That came from a very good friend and one of our officiating staff-- one who inexplicably knows me better than I probably know myself and one who is wise beyond reason. She was right. I just needed that extra push to engage the "Dammit, I'm not gonna TAKE this anymore" survival mode. It started with that one extra-determined fight to break the pack in practice, and that had a ripple effect.

All of a sudden, I AM taking that outside corner to out maneuver the last blocker, I AM riding that inside line and holding up against the hits trying to take me down, I'm juking, cutting, weaving, bobbing and I AM breaking through that pack to score.

The fog lifted... that allowed me to resharpen my mental awareness... seeing when to call it off, knowing when to race in the pack, when to stall, where to help. My hits improved, my timing improved, my PLAY overall just did a 180. By far, the most critical and strongest muscle in my body -- my BRAIN.

It seems silly now that all these things that are so second nature to me now could be so easily lost in a mental break-down. But they were, and I'm even more hyper-aware that if I can suffer from a case of self-inflicted Mentally Beat Up bruises, then its quite possible that there are many others on my team that may also need the extra assurance.

I've always considered myself mentally strong... I can push through pain, I know what it is to give 110% effort and the rewards that come with the exhaustion. In my drag racing career, I depended on my confident ability to stay cool in even the most sudden/life threatening situations. So that mental breakdown? It caught me completely off-guard.

I know the antagonist route that ended my journey isn't going to have the same effect for most. I'm weird like that... you get me mad, I dig deeper and come back harder. But it makes me very aware that our actions can have a very real and lasting effect on our teammates.

From now on, I'm going to watch my words. I'm going to look for those chances to help and encourage my teammates. I'm going to be the POSITIVE light at the end of the tunnel for someone else in their fog.

Because at the end of the day... we are all in this together.

On the plus side

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 15:01:00 +0000

Well, I may be sucking as a jammer, can't hit a 2lb baby out of bounds, and can't even get my stance straight, but on the PLUS side.... my clothes are way too big again!

At least I'll look good trying.

Mental Beat-down

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:35:00 +0000

I've reached a roadblock... albeit probably mental, but successful in stopping me in my tracks and chipping away at my confidence.

Taking a break from derby September-February was the best and worst thing I've ever done. I needed the break. I was wore out and burned out on the tough travel schedule we faced last season. I needed some time to recollect myself, to focus on some other areas of my life that needed attention.

But I missed it. I missed my girls, my family. I needed the stress relief and the outlet that skating provides to my mental health. The physical health benefits as well... its amazing how quickly you lose "it".

Coming back felt great.... I felt like this being my 3rd year playing, things would finally "click" more for me. I know its a constant fight... pushing the limits, pushing the comfort levels to be the best skater I am capable of being. But first contact in, and I took a brutal hit to the knee during a drill, most likely worsened by the fact that my supporting muscles are weak and not able to protect my knee as well, and all of that confidence is gone.

As a jammer, I realize that a very large and very real percent of derby is a mental game. Its a game that tests not as much your ability to knock others down, but YOUR ability to get back up. I've been working a grueling 7 day-a-week, 75 hour work schedule, with my only other free time devoted to skating. But as much as I NEED to skate, when I enter the rink, I'm already mentally tired. I want to forget about all the tasks looming before me and focus nothing more than derby. Somehow, that's not happening.

After my little knee snafu at the beginning of February, we pushed right into scrimmages. I felt like a baby giraffe, and the knee was compounding the problem. Lined up on the jammer line, and promptly got stuck in the pack, time-after-time-after-time. Mentally, I wanted to make excuses for myself: the teams are lop-sided, we have a lot of newbies, I'm easing back into it to guard my knee, etc.

But the reality is that I'm mentally out-of-shape. I'm letting each of those failed attempts at getting through the pack eat away at my confidence. I'm allowing myself to let fear and self-loathing affect how I skate. It changes the way I approach the pack, it stops me from trying to get around that stubborn blocker. And the worst part is, its mental and the only person I have to blame is myself.

I left practice last night after a particularly frustrating scrimmage wondering if I am not ready to be out there yet. No exercise can help with mental struggles-- its an internal problem that only I can overcome. But I began feeling like my super-low confidence and mental strength may be putting myself at risk for even more injuries, like I'm a walking accident waiting to happen.

I want this year to be the best... I want to grow as a skater. I want so bad to be a valuable asset to this team. But right now, I just want to crawl into my little hole and stay there for awhile.

What do you do to get mentally tough? What pulls you out of the derby-funk haze?

Comments much appreciated.

We are all FAMILY.

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 16:22:00 +0000

You see the attitudes. The smack talk, the power hits, the brutal knock-downs, the bruises and even the occasional broken bones. You hear about the skirmishes, the penalty box confrontations, the ejections, and the expulsions.

But what you might not hear enough about is that at the end of the day, as we unlace our skates, we are the most loyal and fiercely protective family that anyone could ever ask for. Derby is more than the aggressive sport, its more than the persona we portray on the track. It is a lifestyle that we've chosen, and a family that we have adopted for better or worse as our own.

Whether it be the trust and respect that is earned by one another in the throes of bout-time battle, the solidarity in running a successful business and community champion, or perhaps the fact that getting 40+ women together 3 times a week things start to "sync" up (if ya get my drift), the outcome is a family of like-minded women who despite it all, have your back through thick and thin.

Whether its your derby wife you call in the middle of the night when you need a sober ride home, or the army of derby girls that comes to your rescue when a relationship goes south and you want him out NOW, or the crew that will pull miracles to save you from 2,000 miles away.... you come to know that despite whatever headache may face you on track or at practice, your family is solidly and firmly rooted behind you.

This family extends beyond the confines of your own league. Almost like the cousins you hardly know and only see once a year or every other year at best, skaters on competing leagues are part of this family. Because while we may hate each other for two 30-minute periods, at the end of the day we all do this thing we love -- we play derby. And it doesn't matter which team we're on or what positions we play, we're all there doing the thing we love together.

Which is why when I read that a fellow derby girl is in need of help, I don't even think twice about helping her. I've never met Sk8 Outta Compton, a recently retired skater from the Atlanta Rollergirls team. I don't have to know her personally to respect what she has done for this sport and what she accomplished in her skating career. But even though I never had the chance to know her, or skate against her, she is family and she needs our help. Those satchels will be used in my skate bag proudly, and I will print a big #310 (her derby number) on them to remind me of my far-away derby sister and her new journey.

I'm proud to call all of the strong women in the derby-verse my sweaty, stinky, and often PMS-y family, and am proud to know that if ever a time comes where I have to put in the derby-distress beacon, that an army will be there for me where ever I might be in my life. How has YOUR derby family come to save you? Share your stories in the comments!

Be sure to visit Sk8 Outta Compton's blog. Read her story. See how you can help.

Derby Presents

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 18:20:00 +0000

Ever since they started popping up at derby practice and bouts everywhere, I've had a severe case of Zuca bag envy.

Well, I officially have my own Zuca bag of awesomeness, and how much more eRacer X-ish can this bag get?!?

It's appropriately named the Zuca ZOOM bag. And its mine! Yay for derby presents!

Back with a Vengence.

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:24:00 +0000

So I nudged my way back a little early. I just couldn't wait to get back any longer. I stepped back in the middle of bootcamp last Wednesday, and have been trying to get my skate feet under me since.

The new skates are heaven. Literally. They feel like they were made for my foot. I am in LOVE. So far, only very mild break-in discomfort, and that was after the 5 minute timed laps deal because of the pressure put on my ankles from crossing over for 5 minutes straight. EZ Fits helped immensely, I suggest getting them for those breaking-in new skates. Asphalt Beach has them in stock all the time.

Which brings me to the OMG story for the blog.... 5 Minute Timed laps.

I was fully expecting myself to be full-of-SUCK for this time trial being that I haven't skated or done much of anything except work since September of last year. Since this is only my 2nd time on skates since then, I still feel like I'm baby-Bambi on my skates all over again.

Last season, I figured out the key to success for these is a nice steady pace of nothing but cross-overs in the diamond formation for the ENTIRE 5 minutes. Yes, nothing but crossovers. Its hell on your ankles and lower back, since you MUST be in for-real derby stance the entire time, but you aren't expending the energy gliding the curves and having to work back up on the straight-aways.

Having figured this little gem of information out, the most common annoyance for me is getting stuck behind someone and having this rhythm disrupted. Don't believe me? See what a difference it makes, and you'll understand why I avoid breaking rhythm at all costs. With it becoming such a methodological rhythm, the only thing left to focus on is breathing deeply in and out, and trying to push that rhythm a bit faster each time. I almost want to bring my ipod and ear-buds for total relaxation to see how well I can do to an up-tempo techno tune, so I can tune out the distractions even more.

So for this time trial, I just went back to that happy place in my mind, and focused on the breathing and crossing. Last season, I averaged about 31.5 laps, with a season high of 32.5 laps. I was fully expecting to come in around 29-30 laps being out of shape and out of practice.

Imagine my OH MY GOD surprise when they tell me I posted a career high of 33.5 laps!

Seriously. I am in shock. Not only is that the highest amount of laps I've ever posted, but I did some digging through our old stats and that's the highest ANY skater has ever posted in our records.

The awesome part about this is that I didn't feel like that was 110% of my possible effort. I had reserved a bit too much in the tank at the end.

The only explanation I can offer for this is:

My new skates are BAD ASS. They are lighter, and they must be helping keep me lower and more efficient by keeping my heel in place. As DDG's experimental skate mechanic, I am hoping I can convince the girls this season how important the proper gear and maintenance is to their performance. (Hello, ASIAN INVASION, with ceased up bearings and falling apart skates last season. I'm talking directly to you...)
Quitting smoking is for winners. FOR REAL. I quit at the end of November. I feel SO much better. For all of those timed laps last season, I was hacking up a lung and about to puke after each time trial. This season? Not at all! I'm now a believer on how much smoking and drinking impairs skate performance. I have been working so much I haven't had a chance to drink much either. Mission #2 for the season: getting our league to improve smoking/drinking/nutrition habits. Just look at Nashville. They quit as a team and they went to Nationals. Enough said.
I'm praying this isn't a fluke. I've been known to post ridiculous beginning numbers and then take forever to reach or exceed them again, so I'm hoping this is not one of those flukey-type performances. I'm hoping this is a precursor to an awesome season of lots of super-jammer performances. I'm taking it as an inspiration towards greatness....

Man, I cannot tell you how great it feels to be back! I'd love to hear from others to see what you/your league have as average and top honors in this drill! Leave comments!

PS: Above is a pic I snapped at day 1 of bootcamp. I think these freshies are going to be great! They've done better than any of the recruits I've ever seen us have, so I can't wait to be playing with them this season!

Broken Hearted Skate-a-thon 2011 Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 15:50:00 +0000

Well, its that time of year again, folks.

The 4th Annual Broken Hearted Skate-a-thon is coming up again! This is the fund raiser we do every year to benefit the American Heart Association where we ask for donations per lap we skate during the 2 hour skate-a-thon.

Last year you might remember I was challenged by a friend to do 250 laps in an attempt to "melt my little skate wheels off". I accepted, and turned in a dizzying 316-lap performance which took me about a week to recover from.

Well this year, I'm going to attempt to melt down my new skate wheels and shoot for 325 laps. We raised a ton of $$ last season for the American Heart Association to give back to the "Broken Hearted", and I'm hoping that with your spare change we can beat that this year as well!

Everyone is invited to come skate laps for Broken Hearts with us on February 9th at Roller Time Skate Center (707 Arcadia Cir. Huntsville, AL) for a $10 donation (+$3 for skate rental).

you can make a one-time donation online!

I've made it super easy... just click below to donate via paypal.

Donations are TAX DEDUCTIBLE!

Thanks for all your support!

New Skates = Happy Dance!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 16:28:00 +0000

At the end of the 2010 season, my good old Vixens found a new home with one of our freshies, Marley. I loved those things, but after trying on Cakeface's super light weight skates, the skate mechanic in me decided I wanted some new super badass skates for my 2011 return.

I did months of research (what else is there to do in the offseason, anyways?). I had decided I wanted the new Riedell Powerdyne Revenge plates, but hadn't made up my mind on a new boot. I know I wanted to upgrade, but couldn't decide between the 951, 965 (Minx), 911(Jammer) or 1065(Siren) model boots.

In December, Asian Invasion and I made a quick day trip up to Asphalt Beach in Nashville. I had narrowed it down to either the Minx or Sirens by this point, but really wanted to try them on. Both felt wonderful, but with my skinny little ankles, the Sirens had the Heel lock system that helps to keep your heel planted in the skate instead of the slippage I'm used to dealing with. So, I decided to go with the Sirens.

My official return is February 2nd, so I won't get to try them out in practice mode until then. But let me tell ya, I'm finding every excuse to put them on my feet and play around that I can. The night I picked them up, I had to work at my second job Advance Auto (how else am I gonna afford awesome new derby skates?!?). We were slow, which worked as a perfect opportunity to test them out by doing laps around the store and booty blocks into the display racks! Take that, brake cleaner!

Can't wait to be back!

Hello, and welcome to 2011!

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 19:55:00 +0000

HEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO OUT THERE?!?!?

Wow, I've been neglecting my eRacer X-files blog entirely too long.

My excuse is that I got wrapped up in the selfless and team-oriented writings that I do as the DDG Examiner. But that doesn't really allow me to talk about my skating exploits personally, so my resolution for 2011?

BACK WITH THE BLOG!

Man, I have a ton to catch up on. But for now, just know that I'm currently working towards returning to DDG and have been on skating hiatus since September. Skating = my sanity, and I really need some sanity back!

I'm also really missing the focus that blogging here gave my skating, so I'll be working on those 2011 skater goals and all other forms of craziness shortly!

Shoves & Bruises,

eRacer X

Pimped out by my derby sisters

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:21:00 +0000

Rocket 95.1FM is my favorite radio station in Huntsville, and I never miss the Go Fish morning show on the way to work every morning.

Fish's sidekick, Ken, was just dumped by his girlfriend this past weekend, and they played the breakup on air. So by Wednesday, they decided to do a rebound radio contest to find Ken a rebound date. I was listening on my way into the office thinking... "What he needs is a derby girl!" and trying to ponder who on the team I could wake up at 7:30am to call in for the show.

But as I'm sitting there thinking this, MY phone rings. Its Bama Brewser, apparently I wasn't the only one who had the idea, only she had determined that it was ME that needed to go on and "take one for the team".... that I was the perfect candidate and that Oh by the way, she was calling Fish right now to give him my number. Yes, I have officially been pimped out by my league, folks.

Now, the Dixie Derby Girls have quite a reputation on the Fish morning show. Asian and Hell Razor have both given poor Ken a beat down before with a wooden paddle. (poor guy... those two don't even NEED a paddle to do some serious damage) So of course, Ken was already scared before I even arrived.

KEN: "How much can you bench?!?"

ME: "Oh, about 2 blockers...."

Fish was clearly enjoying his obvious fear, so I became the WILD CARD entry. (That's what HE said... I know!) I was the 3rd and final to show up at the studio on Thursday.

After a very quiet Ken asked a few small questions, the gauntlet was thrown down by Fish for an Arm Wrestling Competition. Let's just say score: eRacer X -2-, Ken -0- I tried to take it easy on him... honest, I did!

And for your viewing pleasure... you be the judge!

I offered up not just me, but a date with MULTIPLE derby girls. What guy turns down a chance to be a total stud with a bunch of HOT derby girls on his arms? Alas, I think he was worried he couldn't handle it and they chose one of the other contestants.

No Sleep + Derby = OUCH.

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:59:00 +0000

In all my years of athletic endeavours, I've come to depend on my unnatural level of endurance under pressure and my borderline masochistic tolerance of pain. But every once in awhile, my body is sure to tell me when its had enough with a big EFF YOU. That was the case at our first home bout this year, the Spring BLAST OFF. I knew that I had burned my candle both ends too thin, but since when is that ever a problem!?

My bout week was spent under chaotic stress and pressure of my biggest career tradeshow of the year in Las Vegas. 10 hour days on my feet, followed by hosting social events for our dealers and customers into the nights. I hadn't had more than 4 hours of sleep a night in weeks. (I did get in a quick practice with the Sin City Roller Girls while there though, thanks ladies!) Top that off, I wasn't leaving Las Vegas until 12:40 AM, the DAY OF THE BOUT. Yep, the redeye back east and landing in time to change, get ready, and get to the VBC for the Spring Blast off.

Our B-team was playing first thankfully, so I had time to get some pasta into my system, and drink a good amount of energy supplements in hopes of boosting my jet-lagged system for the bout. We would be playing the Panama City Roller Girls from Florida, and I was told they were a fast bunch. A quick look at the line up (I hadn't seen it at all since I had been in Vegas all week), and I was on jammer rotation for the start of the game.

Warming up, I was trying to conserve as much energy as possible. I didn't want to over do it and run out of my reserve fuel for the bout. Hindsight, that might've been my mistake. The bout started with CU Afterclass scoring a quick 10 point jam, I followed with 15 points and Wicked One another 5. I went in for 2 more jammer cycles, scoring 4 and 3 points respectively, and by that point we had built a pretty large lead and were switching to our alternate roster, which put me into block.

And that's where it went horribly wrong. I was playing power and got tangled up with a sliding blocker who cagged my skate and fell on top of my ill-placed knee. I hit the ground and couldn't get up. It hurt really bad, but I figured it was something I could walk off. They wheeled me back to the bench, and I sat there poking my knee for a few jams and getting the medic to wrap it with an ace wrap. I'm used to playing with some discomfort (ie.. if it ain't broke, it ain't nuttin), so near the end of the 1st half, I decided to go back in.

That lasted oh, about 20 feet. One of the PCRG blockers came at me at the front of the pack and I went to easily counterblock her, but when I pushed against my right knee, it collapsed underneath me and I went down hard again with shooting pain at the back of my knee. I knew I was done, my body gave me the big EFF YOU and decided it was through.

I couldn't put weight on my knee all day Sunday, but it seems to be doing a bit better today, and I'm hoping its just some muscular damage opposed to something worse.

Dixie ended up winning 192-63. Out of the 3 jams that I played as a jammer, I managed 22 points, lead all 3 jams and had +22 in my plus/minus total. I was pretty happy with that considering I had zero sleep.

Fingers crossed that my knee makes a complete recovery by next week... we have one of our biggest games of the season against #5 Houston on May 2nd!

Skate Mechanics: Tuning my Skates

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:39:00 +0000

This is only my 2nd season playing roller derby, but coming from an automotive racing background, one of the cool parts of derby that I like to tinker with (funds allowing) is skate hardware performance.

Now every skater has their own personal preferences, and its hard to determine what that might be as you're learning because to be honest, your form/skating style changes dramatically one day to the next during the learning period.

As for me, in my 1 year, 3 months as a skater, I am on my second pair of skates, my third bearing swap, and my 4th set of wheels Apparently, I'm hard on equipment. But in all fairness, I skated the heck outta that equipment every chance I got, so it was way above and beyond our normal season practice/bout schedule.

Changing out equipment and their different performance angles is a lot like tuning a car for me. Each component has a different overall effect on performance. Here's some of my experiences to date (your results might vary).

Starter Skate:

RW Outlaw Boot

Radar Tuner Hot Pink (Quik~94A)

Abec 9 bearings (yellow)

This was my first set of starter skates. I was super excited to get them right off the bat. They were fairly inexpensive ($130ish) and were leaps and bounds better than the rentals at the rink. First off, freshmeaties should know that getting your own skates improves your performance like 100,000% over the rentals. Those things are calculated train wrecks for derby. This setup got me out of Freshmeat land and over to scrimmage eligible. We practice on a hardwood rink surface, so grip typically isn't an issue as long as your wheels are kept clean. The boots never gave me blisters or any other discomfort and were extremely well padded. They felt like a cushy pair of sneakers. (incidentally, these are still being worn by my cousin, who has taken up derby in Ohio as well. She changed the wheels out and seems to be doing fine with them)

Bones Bearings:

My first upgrade not long into being scrimmage eligible, was to change the bearings out to Bones Reds Bearings. These are about midway up the bearing totem pole in terms of roll resistance and speed. My first set were used, and I just cleaned and oiled them well, and picked up a ton of speed over the ABEC-9 Yellows that came with my starter skates. These seemed like the most beneficial investment in terms of noticeable skating difference.

After skating in my first few bouts away, I noticed that I had a real issue on the slicker floors. This was when I started really checking into compounds and wheel grip ratings. Most of the DDG's used Radar Flat Outs on the slick polished concrete floors. I also was noticing that the bulk of my skates and the flex of the nylon plates were really making me feel less stable in jamming. I think my skates might've been a tad on the too big side. So, about 6 months into my young skater career, I decided to upgrade to a new skate.

Riedell Vixens

Riedell 165 Boot

Powerdyne Triton Aluminum Plate

ABEC 7 bearings (blue)

Radar Flat Out Black (Grip ~88A)

I bought these from the Riedell vendor at our Rocket City tournament, so I got to try them on while skating the polished concrete surface. The very first thing I discovered, I had to go down 2 sizes, not just one, to get the right, snug fit. Once I put them on, the more pronounced "speed" setup is apparent. You HAVE to skate in a normal skaters stance with these. They also feel a whole lot more secure. But those wheels and bearings? Felt like I was stomping through mud... the Flat Outs had a lot more grip than the tuners, and I took those bearings right out and replaced them with my Reds. That did a whole lot better, but when we started practicing on the hardwood, I had to skate twice as hard to overcome the grip on an already grippy surface.

Radar Mojo Wheels:

After a few months, I had already started noticing wear on the Flat Outs. They indeed worked great on polish concrete, but where as my speed was coming along, I felt I was still lacking in the agility department while jamming, and often tripped on my own wheels trying to shuffle through the pack. I borrowed a set of Radar Mojos, the slimmer (38mm vs 44mm), aluminum hubbed version of the Flat Out. They were heavier, but I felt much more agile in the pack and my juking and lateral cuts dramatically improved. I was sold. I used these for the last half of the season up until now. They've done well, but I still notice I'm slipping a little at high speeds on polished concrete.

Atom Stingers:

Well, this weekend we're headed to play the Oklahoma City Victory Dolls. We were pre-warned that their venue's floor is the slickest that many have ever encountered. My last skate session with Nashville had me stumbling and sliding everywhere, and since I'll be most likely jamming this game, I didn't want to take that chance. I called up Sin City Skates, and spoke to Ivanna. I wanted to keep the narrow 38mm wheel, but wanted to go gripper than the 88A of the Mojo. The Suregrip sugars (85A) and the Radar Shadows (80A) are the only two grippier wheels I could find, and both came in only the wider 66mm sizes. Ivanna then explained that all the Radar wheels went by their own hardness rating (grip, gripper, quick, firm, etc.) The Mojos were actually the equivalent of a 92A in another brand wheel. Same with the Flat Outs. So I decided that a true 88A would probably be the best bet. Ivanna recommended the Atom Stingers, worn by the 2009 National WFTDA champs, the Oly Rollers. Atom is also the official wheel of the WFTDA, so I figured I'd give them a try.

They are on my skates and ready to go, so I'll report back after this weekend and let you know how they do! Wish me luck!

Beating the Brakes off the Vette City Vixens

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 12:18:00 +0000

Anyone that knows me, knows that I'm a DIE HARD Ford Racer. Although I can appreciate all kinds of horsepower, the one car that I absolutely can't stand is the Corvette. It probably has more to do with the stereotyped driver than the actual car, but its enough to have ignited a long-term hate relationship with any Corvette newer than oh, about 1963.

So that in mind, you must understand my mentality heading into our first 2010 expo home bout on the Redstone Arsenal against none other than the Vette City Vixens from Bowling Green, KY. This wasn't just about derby anymore... this was the deepest of rivalries. Ford vs. Chevy. Corvette vs. Mustang. Whatever you want to call it, this was eRacer X on a MISSION.

As the first home bout of the season (unofficially... the regular season kicks off April 17th), this was a special expo bout held for Arsenal/NASA employees and their families and friends to come out and watch the action for free. Our hope is that they would see how wickedly awesome derby is and buy tickets for our regular season... and we might all pick up some new fans. There were quite a lot of fans at this bout, and I'm pretty sure that we succeeded in the goal of picking up some newbie fans. I signed a few autographs for the kiddies and took lots of photos with them, so I expect they'll be asking Mom and Dad to bring them back. (photo: a young fan with my jammer panty on her head... isn't she a cutie?)

Now, to be fair, Vette City is a brand new derby team. This was their first public bout. You'd think we'd show them some kind of mercy. Mmmm, No. They are a great bunch of girls, and they have lots of promise, but derby is derby my friends, especially when its an auto related rivalry for me.

So I would start the game wearing the bright pink star. After going back and forth last season between jammer/blocker, it appears that I've been marked a jammer for this season. And what a way to start 2010... with a 19 point jam! I ended up in the box twice, once for a major elbow and then another right away for an illegal procedure 4th minor that sent me right back to the box (I wasn't behind her hips apparently... I got a little antsy!) But I did score 2 separate 19 point jams, which is the highest single scoring jam I've ever had to date.

Dixie ended up beating the brakes off Vette City, 219-50. The afterparty carried over to the Benchwarmers, and was a ton of fun. The Vette City girls are a great group! I look forward to skating against them again when they've got some more play time under their belts.

Part of my personal goal/training plan is to really analyze my performances by studying the numbers after each game. This is how I ranked for this bout:

I played 11 jams out of 32 in the bout (34.3%).
Of the 11 jams, I was declared Lead Jammer in 9 (81.1%)
I scored a total of 83 points in the game, an average of 7.55 points per jam
My plus/minus total was +64, that means 64 positive points during jams I played.
I ended with 1 major elbow, a 4 minors box trip, and 2 left over minors at the end of the game. That's actually a pretty sloppy game for me, I tend NOT to collect any penalties at all.

Overall, I feel I'm starting to get a little better jamming. I'm trying to develop my style a bit, and photos are helping me see areas I need to work on. One big accomplishment for me this bout has been getting my jammerline start more proficient. I've always been kinda awkward on the start, and never felt I had a starting procedure that worked for me until now. I did some research on toe stop running starts and duck walk starts, and what I saw was that there was some wasted momentum in the way I was trying to run on my stoppers. So I played around with something I'm gonna call the ToeStopDuckyHop start.... its too difficult to explain in words, but it basically means I'm almost running sideways off the line and straight into a power push 3 -4 hops later. Its probably wrong, but its a lot quicker than what I was doing before, so I'll keep it for now.

Up Next: WFTDA Sanctioned bout against the Oklahoma City Victory Dolls on my 30th birthday, March 27th.

Dixie Derby Girls Examiner

noreply@blogger.com (Erica Ortiz) — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 20:07:00 +0000

Well, its official... Huntsville now has its own dedicated section on Examiner.com for Dixie Derby Girls news and other derby related reporting.

And guess who is the writer for the section??? Yep, yours truly!

The website, which organizes and features hyper-local news related to your community, has implemented a Dixie Derby Girls Examiner section into their sports category. I'll be posting bout reports, news, and other related articles to the section.

Please check it out! Dixie Derby Girls Examiner

Make sure you subscribe, and leave comments while you're there!