A bout, a victory, a proposal, a celebration…all are had in the summer sun

I had a bloody good weekend. Team Canada came to town, fresh of a major win against Glasgow the night before, ready to kick some London girls in the derby behind. Or so they thought…

Skating with London Rollergirls (and specifically the Travel Team) has reached a very interesting point. We think we are good….like with the potential to be actually GOOD…but we don’t have the benefit of real testing against hardened teams, and we don’t have the benefit of all the guest coaching you can get in the states. I know we aren’t ready to take on the big guys, but I have had this sense that the potential is there, and we have a crop of newbies that make it even more of a possibility. So I was really interested to see what happened against Team Canada, and I had a pretty strong sense that we were going to give them a big shock.

Team Canada has some great skaters, but they aren’t really a team. They are made up of gals from 5 different leagues, who have never skated together before. That’s a big disadvantage in derby, where after a certain level of competency in skating is reached, I think it becomes more about automatic strategy and teamwork. They were also jet lagged and travel weary. I have had to skate against a few tough opponents back in the states after long trips, and I know how it can sap your endurance. So major props to them for giving a super physical game the whole time.

And that’s a big build up to say that it was quite a game. I have to be honest, in the very first jam, Sky Rockit broke through the pack as lead jammer like a shot of nowhere and I pretty much said to myself “yup, we got it”. It never changed. We dominated the score line the whole bout, despite some great jamming efforts from the TC bench (watch out for Mirage and her wily skills). But man it was good. Super hard hits and takedowns, dramatic moments, rock star jamming, the whole lot…

The audience loved every minute of it too. I normally worry about a wide score margin, thinking that the audience will get bored, but it wasn’t a concern here. It was just a fantastically entertaining time.

And in the end, we won 128-45. The victory lap with the LRG flag felt pretty good. We look pretty sweet in black.

Victory Lap Picture:

Video highlights of the bout:

So then we all lined up in front of the audience for the bout awards, and Tom came up with an award envelope too. I won Penalty Queen (again)…not sure why I always get that in bouts, but not in practise, but whatever. (I think it’s the 20 feet violations!)

So finally Tom was the last one left with an award envelope, and he took the mic and pulled out a blank award and said he couldn't write down what he felt about this special person. Then he got down on one knee and pulled out a ring and proposed to me. I said yes, of course.

Proposal Pic:

Another proposal pic:

The whole audience was cheering, my girls were crying, and it was all around the biggest derby-cheesiest best moment ever. Straight out of a Hollywood movie, and pretty much a perfect proposal for a spectacle lover like me. Tom doesn’t normally like the limelight, but he did an awesome job, and I love him for it.

So we got to celebrate a lot at the after party. Then Sunday was the nicest warmest day we have had all year, and we sat in the sun in Clissold Park with friends and just chilled. The day ended with drinks with Canada in Kensington and a well deserved sleep.

So there you have it…quite a weekend.

A Grand Tour of Sunny Places is Commenced on the Holiday Weekend

A bit late, naturally, but here are some nice pics from my spring bank holiday weekend. Tom and I went to Hampton Court Palace and had a picnic in the gardens.

Tom and a garden:

Courtney in the vine walk:

Then we took a river boat down the Thames, through the locks, and got off at Richmond for a nice steak dinner at Gaucho Grill (Tom’s toss up favourite restaurant along with Bodean’s BBQ).

Boat through the locks:

Tom get excited about Gaucho:

We also spent a nice sunny day in Hyde Park, with me skating along the Serpentine Road naturally.

A good boyfriend carries all the stuff:

This type of activity seems to be part of a theme lately….with most weekend finding us visiting some lovely touristy type place. Ice cream sundaes at Fortnum & Mason, reading books in Green Park, meanders around old Hampstead village (lunch at Gaucho’s naturally), etc…. We actually joined as members of the Royal Palaces which means we can get into the Tower of London and Kensington Palace and Hampton Court anytime we want. We both like the crown jewels.

Skating, etc…

So the other day I surprised Tom with a present: a brand new pair of size 12 Riedell R3 speed skates. Muahahaha…..

He was amused and shocked (dunno why) and now he has to learn to skate.

I don’t think he will end up as a derby ref, but it will be nice to have him able to roll around with me.

Speaking of rolling around.

This weekend is pretty much one of the most exciting things to do with London Rollergirls to date. Its our first ever international bout. We have a team of skaters from 5 different Canadian leagues coming over to play us as Team Canada. This is a big one. Winning means major props for us…and we are going hard core for it.

Mutiny on the Mountie Poster:

In other LRG news….last week I competed in a BBC game show called Eggheads. It wont air for another month or so, but it should be AWESOME.

Eggheads pic: