Sharp blades!
I had my blades sharpened at Ally Pally this morning - apparently they were not good . . . guilty look . . . :) - not all my fault though (for leaving them an absolute eon), apparently the previous sharpening was somewhat wonky. Although I am not that experienced with blade sharpening at the moment, it seems he did a good job. The adjustment period was fairly easy, and I could stop straight away, albeit a little hesitantly! My 3-turns vanished for about half an hour, but actually feel more secure now, and my edges feel great! I skated for about an hour and a half before "lunch", and about the same after. By the afternoon session, my blades were feeling wonderful.
I did pretty much the same as I did on Friday.
Forward Crossovers - Figure 8: The CW FXO's are feeling better - I am beginning to get the curve deeper as I was hoping.
Russian Stroking: Speeded this up today, and apart from nearly falling over my toepick during my blade adjustment period, these felt good. Still need to check with D about whether I should be straightening my skating leg on the FI edge! I practiced it both ways just in case :)
Forward Edges - Inside & Outside: My edges feel so much more secure now, I can't tell you! I need to work on controlling the LFI edge a little more - the right one is much stronger. As long as I focus on keeping my hips strong and square, they are okay. And I need to make my LFO deeper. But I was pleased with these today overall.
Forward 3-turns: As I said, these went on holiday temporarily, but came back luckily. I mostly did just FO3's today. When they returned, they actually feel better now as my backward inside edge feels so much more secure. I also think that because I know I can't skid over these on sharp blades, in case I nut myself on the ice, I have to concentrate much more on getting up on the rocker to do the turn, so it is better overall, if that makes sense?!
Mohawks: Hmmm, newly sharp blades don't make these fun! But they got better and I am definitely feeling my weight over my BI edge on the exit which is great. L-R is lagging behind a bit.
That was about it! Came back and went to Monkeynuts in Crouch End for a massive burger and potato wedges with Stacey and her fiance - they were both off work today too, as they are off to Russia tomorrow. It was lovely, but I am stuffed now. Still, it's nice to be a lady of leisure just occasionally!
PS. Out of curiosity, how often do you all get your blades sharpened? I was told today every 3-4 weeks, which seems quite often? And do any of you use a Skatemate or something similar in between, to make the sharpening last longer?
8 comments:
I sharpen mine every 40-50 hours of skating (I track my on-ice time in a spreadsheet). Sometimes you may feel that they're dull before then though, so it's not hard and fast.
i do mine once every 3 months, more so in the winter since i go outdoor skating multiple times during the week.
you can certainly feel the difference though...with dull blades it is hard to hold a spiral or do edges.
It's funny you should say that Gordon - I designed a Sharpening Log spreadsheet yesterday. That's the IT geek in me coming out!
I usually find 8-10 weeks is about right for me. If I leave it longer than that, I am all over the place.
Hmmm, methinks that the sharpener saying every 3-4 weeks was a little optimistic on his side?!
It really depends on the individual - not only how much you skate, but how hard you skate, how heavy you are, how much you walk around without your guards, how clumsy you are and click your blades together, how you like your edges, etc. I like to do mine about once a month, but usually end up more like every 6-8 weeks.
It depends on an awful lot of factors, not the least of which are how far away your pet sharpener lives and how sharp you like your blades! Husband likes his much blunter than I like mine. High time he had his done, though.
I do have a Skatemate and use it a lot to extend the life of a sharpening. Once I start needing to use it every day or so, I know it's time to get them done again!
I might just invest in a Skatemate then. Anything that encourages slightly frugality in this quite frankly expensive sport must be a bonus!
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