Rollercon 2023: Part 1

 

Rollercon 2023: Part 1

               Captain’s log, stardate August 24^th, 2023: somewhere in the Nevada desert. A gathering of people comes to basically just skate around. No I’m just kidding, there is a TON of stuff to do and its not just for Roller Derby Skaters. In the words of my good friend Mike SumNoyz, “Its roller skates summer camp.” Bear with me as I’m still riding the high that is Rollercon and give you a few glimpses through my adventure.

               This year has been different than the ones before, as it was only 3 days. Meaning that literally everything is crammed into those 3 days, and you have to schedule everything you want to do in advanced. With that being said, you can schedule everything you want to, but it may not end up being the final adventure. The first day for me consisted of only 1 class. An introduction to Banked Track taught by the lovely Isabelle Ringer. A literal goddess of the roller skate community in San Diego. As a skater who has been doing flat track only for the past decade, I was ultimately terrified/excited to get onto a banked track. It was difficult to grasp by bearings at first, but in the short time of the class I felt comfortable and happy to not fall on my ass on the track. The main differences physically were the reverse crossovers on the straightaways. My muscles felt betrayed, but they ultimately relented. All in all it was an AMAZING class, and I would definitely be into trying banked track again! It definitely revitalized my spirit with skating and knowing that there isn’t just flat track derby as a prospect. Being in southern California we are blessed with 2 banked tracked leagues. Los Angeles Derby Dolls and San Diego Derby United. The latter having a state of the art facility called Ringer’s Roller Rink, which not only does banked track, but flat track and recreational skating as well!

               Getting back to Rollercon, I only had 1 class for the first day, knowing that I didn’t want to push my body physically yet. After my banked track class, I trekked over to the main competition track to see the Riedell Vs. S1 Sponsor Bout. If you need a break in between classes or just like to watch derbz. I highly recommend checking out these sponsor bouts. You will see all the famous skaters you see on social media or on the D1 travel circuit. After the amazingness that was roller derby that happened, I continued to navigate through the vendor alley, clutching my wallet as to not make any bad financial decisions yet. I had some stickers to hand out as well. I commissioned my dear friend Rocky to create some Deaf/Hard Of Hearing stickers. At my first Rollercon, I remember some skaters passing some out and I thought holy crap its not just me! It’s nice to know that there are Deaf/HoH skaters out there that also love this community. I was actually surprised to know that there is a  
 LOT of skaters out there. So much so, I wish that there could be a challenge bout specifically for this. Maybe next year. I came home with quite a few stickers too, so if you didn’t get a chance to grab one message me on my social media and I will absolutely ship some out! Being a deaf skater, the expo center was a little overwhelming with all the noise, so I did happen to find some peace at going outside often. I didn’t mind too much, as I met many nice people outside.

               With the events ending at the expo center, the Riedell & S1 hosted party was all that was left. This party was the more convenient one as it was in the hotel we were staying at (The Plaza). I’m not too big on parties, and as I put on my themed outfit(Glow in the Dark) I trudged off to the party. The only bad thing about the parties is that the line to get a couple drinks takes FOREVER, but if you are not really a drinker and you only need a beer it’s fine.

               While making my way back to the room, I pulled the old Irish goodbye in my usual fashion to head to bed early so the morning doesn’t suck. Friday was a full day of skating, or so I thought. . . as 6 am approached I quickly regretted leaving my curtains cracked open because the sun decided to blind me as soon as it came up. Quickly I grab some coffee from the always faithful Mr. Coffee(never leave home without it) before I start to stiffen up. Drink some water simultaneously as the Nevada desert will try to kill you with dehydration before debauchery does. All while trying to wake up my muscles with a little light stretching. On this day I loaded up my cooler and backpack with lunch and a few drinks to have as I wouldn’t probably leave the expo center that night until about 8pm or so.

To be continued . .