It’s been rainy and very foggy for over three days now. The current dew point if 63F and the actual temperature is 64F. It feels cold and clammy outside. There have been many dense fog warnings, “As visibility may be reduced to near zero at times.” My trip to the parking garage tonight was a thwarted by this—it was a moist-damp-wet inside the garage. Even the garage walls were “sweating.” I found another garage that had some dry flatland, along with a 1-sided curb (crusty, unwaxed, not very long…perfect for just doing stall tricks on, which was great considering I haven’t skated in over a week). I eventually got kicked-out, but I was there long enough to get in a sufficient session. No complaints.
I had two set-ups in the car, so I got to dabble with The Madness a bit. Here are few take aways.
(1) I did a f/s pivot, slipped out, and fell on my elbow pretty hard. Cut it open a bit. 90% of the time I skate, I always wear a forward elbow pad. Usually I don’t wear one when I’m just doing stall tricks on a curb, because, well, I am just doing stall tricks on a curb. Lesson learned. Never skate, at all, without a forward elbow pad. Even for just stall tricks on a curb.
(2) The two set-ups I had with me were the DLX 8.75”/14.62” with 159s, and the Black Label 8.5”/14.5” with 149s. I wasn’t planning on skating the “big ramp board” (e.g. the 8.75”) on the curb. I intended to skate the Black Label, as I haven’t skated that set-up too much since I put it together. As mentioned in previous posts, I was curious to see how a “middle ground” set-up was going to perform (e.g. something directly between the 8.75 and my usual 8.25). I skated the Black Label for a bit, and it felt…meh. It just wasn’t resonating with me. I wasn’t feeling inspired by it, and I wasn’t really, well, feeling Stoked on it…and that’s what it should be all about.
(3) Then I decided to give the 8.75 a try, but figured it was going to be super clunky. I was wrong. Dead wrong. I actually loved it for skating the curb. There was no real noticeable difference in how “good” I was skating on the 8.75 compared to the 8.5, but the 8.75 just felt so much more…comfortable. This shocked me. The Black Label felt like a nice hotel bed. The 8.75, however, felt like my bed, which is to say it just felt…“right.” After switching back and forth between them for a bit, I ascertained what I didn’t like about the Black Label; the nose and tail were a tad steeper than I like. There was no question which of these two set-ups just “felt better,” and it was clearly the 8.75. Once again, this big giant “ramp” board is really shinning in a pure street setting. There is something there, there.
It looks like the weather may turn for the better tomorrow, and I’ll get to try the Black Label (and the 8.75”) on some bigger transition. I am really curious to compare those two in that setting, considering how UNDER-whelming the 8.75 was on the exact terrain I originally set it up for (irony is deep at work here). Unless the Black Label really outshines the 8.75 on bigger ramps (and it might), I think this one is close to being called.
