2013 Shanghai Slalom Open (Stream of Thoughts)

The UNOFFICIAL backstage experience of my umpteenth trip to China*...

For more journalistic write-ups on the competition itself, check out the REPORT TRILOGY on worldslalomseries.com by yours truly:

• 2013 SSO DAY 1: Pair Classic, Speed Trials, Junior Classic.
• 2013 SSO DAY 2: Speed Finals, Senior Classic, Slides.
• 2013 SSO DAY 3: Battle, Medals.

► THU. AUG. 1^st : Traveling.

After a 19-hour trip: two planes with a four-hour stop in Dubai --excluding the Bordeaux-Paris train of the previous day, the hour of metro to get to the airport and the two-hour wait to board... and the hour of bus to get from Shanghai airport to the hotel...
AFTER A 19-HOUR TRIP (I don't count the extra, it's too depressing) I'M IN SHANGHAI!

Let's not complain, though: I experienced a long flight in BUSINESS CLASS for the first time in my life. I had already been upgrated once, but for a short trip and didn't enjoy it much. But I could have had champagne if ever I had drunk alcohol.....

I see dea... rby people

You know you're addicted to derby when...

...all the NON-DERBY information your brain deals with in your everyday-life is turned into meaningful DERBY stuff...

And when you realize it, it's already too late. The only thing left to do is hook up with your addicted friends like a bunch of zombies on wheels trying to contaminate other people's brains to extend your flock pack. (and get more cool friends.) Because obviously, you can't be cool if you're not turned. QED.

BOOTCRAMP Berry

This weekend, I was coaching in a BootcRamp in Bourges (fra) together with Wheely Wonka and Cherry LieLie, while Maëlstrom and Watzé were running a ref clinic in parallel.

The Paris RollerGirls were in da place, baby!

The event was extremely well organized and ran smoothly from A to Z. Seven out of the nine of us who were staying at Mojo Mama's place were sleeping in Oto's room (her two-year old son). Three words: Pa-ra-dise. It is only one word indeed, but it is worth three at least. Tons and tons of toys. A room carpeted with mattresses. A childhood dream!

Thank god the bootcramp participants did not see us like that, we would have lost all credibility. Forever. Ever.

Saturday. Cracking start.

Most of us arrived on Friday evening, but the event started on Saturday at 1PM. Yet, we were in the gym at 9AM to help setting up the track and everything, and we all had lunch together after a brief but efficient general presentation: organizers, coaches, refs and participants.

Why I Started Derby

My derby name is KOZMIC BRUISE, Number B612...

...and I'm proudly part of the Paris RollerGirls.

 

I dropped by about one year ago, I liked it and stayed a bit... but then we had to face a terrible but common problem for Parisian sports(wo)men, and this during a good bunch of months: no gym to train! We had to stop training during automn because wind and drizzle don't mix very well with skating...

 

Luckily enough we finally found a (provisory) gym in the near suburbs on a campus, and we could resume our trainings for good in January.

It was a second try, we lost girls on the way but new girls arrived. I came back too, more motivated than ever, after difficult automn months when I had to make an aweful decision -- quitting freestyle skating competitions because I was choking in there little by little, my passion was becoming more and more poisonous to me...

 

I clung to Derby to forget Freestyle, yes indeed, but also (and above all) because I found self-confident, amazing, improbable, and loving people coming from everywhere in the World.

This is all new to me because I never practiced a team-sport. I've always done creative individual activities (dancing, freestyling) so this is quite a new challenge and I'm really curious about it!

Presenting Myself...

Name: Kozmic Bruise
Number: B612

I wasn't far from being called Sadic Machine, because I'm the off-skates (work out) coach and I love being tough... No: I love being tough and smiling at the same time!

But the name happened not to be very original... if you have a look at the official list of Derby Names, you find a lot of machines and sadistics.

 

I finally chose KOZMIC BRUISE as a tribute to Janis Joplin's Kozmic Blues, because she rocks.

 

As for my number, to stay in the Kozmic dimension, I picked up the name of an asteroid, that of the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry: Asteroid B612. It's cute but don't judge a book by it's cover...