HP #22 - The greed demon, my quest for skates (part 3)
Usual disclaimer applies: this is an old event I'm recounting. See my first HP post for the full notes on these.
Background: Part 3 of my ongoing quest to find new skates. Following on from my last post, I was in the middle of planning a trip up to Nottingham when I had another lesson with the Tammasaurus and she threw a spanner in the works:
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"Have you looked at getting those Edea Chorus' yet?"
"Oh, the Chorus? Uhh, I'm working on it, I have a trip planned."
The Chorus? That was the boot level above what she'd previously prescribed and that I'd been considering so far (the Overture). Maybe she'd just got confused with the names? I went back to Edea's website and looked up the Chorus, which are for double jumps and I definitely wasn't at that point yet. But, the greed demon inside of me looked at the shiny 4 gold stars on the boot (for non-skaters: men get printed on stars, women get little attached gems if you're sticking to the gender stereotypes of black/white booting) and I thought "well, why shouldn't I? Besides, the 4 stars would make me feel so much classier, I'd much rather be a 4 star restaurant than a 3 after all!"
The price was a distinct jump, I would absolutely be buying the blade separately with this level of boot, which would add cost by itself, and I would definitely be overbooting, but I didn't care - think how impressed the Tammasaurus would be! I was falling too far in love with the sport to scrimp at this point. If I had to rationalise the situation, it would be that I'd somewhat pincered myself with my initial purchase of my Graf 500 novice boot. They're just good enough to handle the initial single jumps, (Salchow/Toe Loop - though the Tammasaurus would definitely pull a face at the thought of me doing them in my Graf 500s), but stretching them through the other singles was definitely risky. Realistically, I needed the support of something like the Overture. The thing is though, I'd gotten through so much of Skate UK curriculum in a short space of time that if I bought the Overtures then it'd be like doing a small upgrade to cover a some of the Skate Star stuff and I might have to reboot again after that. At least if I got the Chorus' then even though I was overbooting a bit, I would also be future proofing - they wouldn't break down THAT fast would they? Plus... That extra gold star... I figured I'd risk it.
So, I renewed my plan to visit Nottingham rink's shop. I called a few days in advance of my trip to check they had my size in stock (I'd learned from last time!) and boarded a train on the day.
The store was big, had a lot of ice hockey stuff in it and was completely devoid of any customers when I arrived. A scruffy, short-bearded guy about my age with the broad build of an ice hockey player and sporting a baseball cap on backwards greeted me from the till as I walked in. I was instantly insanely attracted to him. I had no idea I could crush so hard on slightly scruffy-looking ice hockey players but, damn, this guy was doing it. I hadn't actually seen any adult male ice hockey players at my local rink in the past, so I'd missed out on this experience before, but if any guys local to my rink would like to take it up, I can confirm I would appreciate it. Please leave your numbers at the rink front desk for me as well if you'd be so kind. (HERE'S HOPING!)
Unnecessary crushes aside, I knew that pretending to look at the figure skating boots for five minutes wasn't going to help anyone, and I absolutely wanted to talk to this man, so I just went up to him and explained I was hoping to try the Edea Overt... No... THE CHORUS.
Amazingly, they had sold out my size since my call earlier in the week, so he offered me the half-size up, which felt okay but was clearly a bit too big. I asked if I could try my size in the white boot if they had it and they could order a black one if it was good (I assumed there isn't much design difference between white & black). He came back with a black pair half a size down on my usual size and explained that, ideally, you wanted to go as close-fitting/small as possible anyway so we might as well give it a go. I put the boot on. It felt ridiculously good. So comfortable, the lining was amazing, I'd had so many problems breaking in my last boots, but I just couldn't see how that would be possible with these, they were like slippers! I was feeling a bit of pressure on my right big toe, but the guy explained that just some pressure was probably okay. Next thing I knew, I had confirmed my order for the boots and, once their blade fitter had fitted the blades, they'd post them to me.
I left Nottingham a little nervous about having committed to a size smaller than my usual, but otherwise triumphant. My quest was over!
If only that was truly the case...
Background: Part 3 of my ongoing quest to find new skates. Following on from my last post, I was in the middle of planning a trip up to Nottingham when I had another lesson with the Tammasaurus and she threw a spanner in the works:
-------------------------
"Have you looked at getting those Edea Chorus' yet?"
"Oh, the Chorus? Uhh, I'm working on it, I have a trip planned."
The Chorus? That was the boot level above what she'd previously prescribed and that I'd been considering so far (the Overture). Maybe she'd just got confused with the names? I went back to Edea's website and looked up the Chorus, which are for double jumps and I definitely wasn't at that point yet. But, the greed demon inside of me looked at the shiny 4 gold stars on the boot (for non-skaters: men get printed on stars, women get little attached gems if you're sticking to the gender stereotypes of black/white booting) and I thought "well, why shouldn't I? Besides, the 4 stars would make me feel so much classier, I'd much rather be a 4 star restaurant than a 3 after all!"
 |
| Damn that sexy fourth gold star! |
The price was a distinct jump, I would absolutely be buying the blade separately with this level of boot, which would add cost by itself, and I would definitely be overbooting, but I didn't care - think how impressed the Tammasaurus would be! I was falling too far in love with the sport to scrimp at this point. If I had to rationalise the situation, it would be that I'd somewhat pincered myself with my initial purchase of my Graf 500 novice boot. They're just good enough to handle the initial single jumps, (Salchow/Toe Loop - though the Tammasaurus would definitely pull a face at the thought of me doing them in my Graf 500s), but stretching them through the other singles was definitely risky. Realistically, I needed the support of something like the Overture. The thing is though, I'd gotten through so much of Skate UK curriculum in a short space of time that if I bought the Overtures then it'd be like doing a small upgrade to cover a some of the Skate Star stuff and I might have to reboot again after that. At least if I got the Chorus' then even though I was overbooting a bit, I would also be future proofing - they wouldn't break down THAT fast would they? Plus... That extra gold star... I figured I'd risk it.
So, I renewed my plan to visit Nottingham rink's shop. I called a few days in advance of my trip to check they had my size in stock (I'd learned from last time!) and boarded a train on the day.
The store was big, had a lot of ice hockey stuff in it and was completely devoid of any customers when I arrived. A scruffy, short-bearded guy about my age with the broad build of an ice hockey player and sporting a baseball cap on backwards greeted me from the till as I walked in. I was instantly insanely attracted to him. I had no idea I could crush so hard on slightly scruffy-looking ice hockey players but, damn, this guy was doing it. I hadn't actually seen any adult male ice hockey players at my local rink in the past, so I'd missed out on this experience before, but if any guys local to my rink would like to take it up, I can confirm I would appreciate it. Please leave your numbers at the rink front desk for me as well if you'd be so kind. (HERE'S HOPING!)
Unnecessary crushes aside, I knew that pretending to look at the figure skating boots for five minutes wasn't going to help anyone, and I absolutely wanted to talk to this man, so I just went up to him and explained I was hoping to try the Edea Overt... No... THE CHORUS.
Amazingly, they had sold out my size since my call earlier in the week, so he offered me the half-size up, which felt okay but was clearly a bit too big. I asked if I could try my size in the white boot if they had it and they could order a black one if it was good (I assumed there isn't much design difference between white & black). He came back with a black pair half a size down on my usual size and explained that, ideally, you wanted to go as close-fitting/small as possible anyway so we might as well give it a go. I put the boot on. It felt ridiculously good. So comfortable, the lining was amazing, I'd had so many problems breaking in my last boots, but I just couldn't see how that would be possible with these, they were like slippers! I was feeling a bit of pressure on my right big toe, but the guy explained that just some pressure was probably okay. Next thing I knew, I had confirmed my order for the boots and, once their blade fitter had fitted the blades, they'd post them to me.
I left Nottingham a little nervous about having committed to a size smaller than my usual, but otherwise triumphant. My quest was over!
If only that was truly the case...
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