Hello 2011

So, 2010 is leaving and 2011 is coming. It's been an interesting year, a few lows, a lot of highs, I think if 2011 is similar to 2010 I won't complain, but I'll be hoping (naturally) that it shall be better. A main part of 2010 has been snowboarding, I feel I've improved a lot, learnt a few new things and in general got a lot more involved with it.

Its 2 weeks exactly until we (me, Cheryl, Mark and Ben) go to Austria, my GoPro HD Helmet cam (with wide angle lens) was delivered yesterday and it's super sweet, so will get some good footage with that. They seem to have had a lot of snow recently, so should be some good conditions out there. We're looking at doing some freestyle course if there are some going, to work on a few techniques and get Cheryl out of her comfort zone a bit.

Boarding Summary
In 2010 I've ridden switch, learnt to land frontside 180's comfortably, managed a few backside 180's, done an indy, melon, roast beef, tindy. Also learnt to butter, tail press and have nailed a few tail blocks too. Also done some frontside and backside boardslides and 50-50's.

In 2011 I want to be more comfortable with backside 180's, nail a few more rails, and get some more air off kickers.

Almost Christmas...

Tail Block in the garden :-)
Originally uploaded by Christopher Isherwood

...and not long til I go away to Austria. There is now 4 of us heading out there in January, and all sharing 1 room which will be cozy.

We fought through snow and traffic last Friday to get to Milton Keynes and use the indoor slope. Was freestyle night so got a few rails/rainbow rails in the bag, managed half a backside boardslide, but I want to work on my confidence with rails, as really enjoy doing them.

Have had a real nice weekend just gone, was snowed in with a special friend so watched a few movies and stayed in bed for the most of it. Built a rather huge snow man so the weekend was a little productive in the end.

Movember and Injuries

Look out for this guy
Originally uploaded by Christopher Isherwood

So it's all been going on recently, I shall try fit everything in.

Firstly I have been doing Movember this month, where you grow a Mo-ustache for all of November, in aid of Prostate Cancer. So far me and a few colleagues have raised over £300 and it's still growing, which is really good and I'm really happy about.

Secondly I went boarding last week on ramps and rails night, using a new board (after my current dryslope board lost part of her edge, hopefully be able to fix it). Was doing a few big kickers and surprising myself with how well I was landing them. Then things went downhill, crashed a few times, dented my confidence, then the last run I did I fell over my tail as I landed, causing me to slide down on my side - shirt/hoody raised up and I ended up losing a bit of skin from my armpit down to my hip - has now healed nicely but was pretty nasty at the time :-).

Thirdly, work, wow, an interesting blog entry about work? Really? I started my Business Diploma yesterday, my assessor was very nice and helpful, and some how I am actually looking forward to starting a bit of extra work and learning new things. I am also moving positions (hopefully, nothing confirmed) in April next year, so a post more suitable to my skills.

It is now 51 days until we head out to Austria boarding, really am looking forward to it.

And finally, a congratulations to my sister Alison and Peter who got married the other day up a mountain (as you do).

No New Posts

I'd love to say I've had nothing interesting to post about, but sadly it's quite the opposite. I haven't had any time to sit and type since my last post a few weeks ago.

Halloween was very good, wore makeup for the first time and busted out some bad boy skeleton dancing. Have discovered a lot of new music which has been keeping my ears warm. Have discovered some people are not quite who you think they are, which is not always a bad thing, quite a good thing in this instance, but no more on that.

I have been playing guitar solidly the past week, and also spent the last 6 days eating out - mum is loving it. I am breaking my bank and probably going to get fat, but having a pretty damn good time while I'm at it.

Sad news, Shirley has lost part of her edge (my freestyle board) and so she is currently awaiting some minor surgery to get her 'ride-worthy' again.

And it was a year ago on the 30th October since Cleo left us, still missing her greatly.

Ride Machete 2011 Review

Ride Machete 2011
Originally uploaded by Christopher Isherwood

Meet Maria, my Ride Machete 2011 board. She's brand new, shiny, and very pretty indeed.

Took her out for the first time with new bindings last weekend at Milton Keynes snowdome. After first run I was very unsure, probably the nerves of it all, worried about stacking it or destroying her. Got to the bottom happily, then made a few adjustments to the bindings - as was my first time trying these out too.

Second run the nerves had calmed down and I rode a little more aggressive. This was when she started to show me what she could do. The response of the bindings/board was brilliant, I moved my foot and the whole board adapted itself to move exactly where I wanted, felt very light to menouver and turn round onto switch too.

As I continued to ride it, it kept feeling better and better, the sidewalls really make a difference (Slimewalls) and felt it was much harder to catch an edge (I tested this out and eventually stacked it flying over my toe edge, which made me and a few others chuckle).

Thankfully made it off the slope without any skiiers destroying it too which was a huge bonus.

Sadly I didn't get to try to much popping or kickers as there wern't any out, but next time we go I'll make sure there is.

Ride Delta MVMNT 2011 Bindings

Ride Delta MVMNT 2011 Bindings
Originally uploaded by Christopher Isherwood

...have landed. They are beasts, made from aluminium, light as a feather, responsive, stylish. Black. 3D Toe strap is snug, main boot strap is leather and perfectly shaped. 2.5 degree wedge bases too to improve pop angles and general stance.

First impressions are good, they feel durable and sturdy. The rubber underside is a real nice touch to prevent the binding moving around as you tighten her up. The adjustable hardware runners in the baseplates also great for finding that exact stance and angle. Have set them to -16 / +15 right now but will play around once I'm out there. The highbacks are nicely padded and flexible to give good movement, and a tool-free adjuster to change your angles is a great touch.

Thank you Ride! - Board review to come soon.

How to butter on a snowboard

Well, after a few complications yesterday regarding my new bindings. I ended up going for the Ride Delta MVMNT's, which are pretty much top of the range in Ride bindings, so very happy about that. They were a bit more expensive, but I'm willing to pay a little more for something that will last me a while and keep me satisfied.

Apparently they were dispatched yesterday too, so hopefully recieve them in the next few days.

Tonight I am going to the dryslope again, and going to practice buttering. Apparently buttering is where you put your weight over the nose or tail of your board, causing the opposite end to lift off the ground. Think of it like doing a wheelie on a bike.

Once you can travel along in a straight line on your nose or tail, you can start implementing turns into it, by rotating your body as you balance on your nose/tail.

A butter while on a rail or box is called a nose/tail press - so I've read. Shall give it a go tonight and keep you posted of my progression!

This week has been pretty quick, which is nice. Also looking forward to the grand prix this weekend - come on Alonso.

Bought!

So, my new board (pictured) is ordered. It's a 2011 Ride Machete 155, ideal for freestyle riding and park riding. Can't WAIT to take it out to Austria, might even take it to the fridge (milton keynes) to test it out. Also got my BINDINGS (pictured in previous post), which are also Rides, LX bindings in blue. They gave me a 10% discount and threw in a free 'Skiing is for fat kids' T-shirt, which is a nice touch.

VERY EXCITED. Can't wait for it get delivered, unwrap it, stroke it, praise it, give it some love...

New setup

So now that Austria is booked, I've decided to go for a new setup. I'm looking at a freestyle board for park fun, something light weight and easy to get round/up onto rails. Burton Hero was a front runner, but due to the EST binding setup, I cant get the bindings I want (Ride LX in blue, pictured). Going to keep looking though, I'm sure something will come up sooner or later.

As for boarding, I am going on Friday to work on this thing called buttering, which is basically where you ride on your tail or nose end, raising the opposite end up in the air, you can also move onto spinning round while on this end, but get to that later I think!

Switttttch

So I landed a frontside 180 off a kicker tonight which was pretty sweet, being able to ride switch has def. helped a lot, will be moving on to more advanced stuff soon. Sadly I had a fair bit to drink half way tonight and it kinda ruined my ramps, landed some really nasty big air on my knees but thank god for knee pads. Tonight was good, frontside boardsliding again which is good, got over my fear of smashing my face up again.

Good night all round, lookin forward to what this weekend has in stall too ;-)

So tired

I think the last week of events has caught up with me. 2 snowboarding trips, a 10k charity run and, well, nothing yesterday.

Back to work today after a pretty good weekend, Saturday I spent over near Ashford where I did my first competitive run, and I beat more people than people beat me so really happy about that, also ran my quickest 10km in 48 minutes which is pretty cool.

I have no idea what the plans for this week are, think i'm going to cinema tonighhhhttt. Going to go boarding a few days after work this week, really have been working hard on riding switch and getting my 180 jumps down, in preparation for holiday next year, which is looking like south of france at the moment......

Mental

So tonight was the first night in a while I've had time to sit about and do nothing. This weekend just gone I went to a snowboarding event where they had an airbag on the other side of a vert ramp which was very daunting at first but once I did it the first go it was pretty immense.

Managed half of a front flip indy grab which some professional photographer got on camera too which is good stuff.

Doing a sponsored run on Saturday which I have been training for, looking forward to that also. I have also been looking at booking a snowboarding holiday for next February/January.

Work has been going well, especially as this time next year I could be doing a degree, all paid for, which would then cut down my hours to 3 days a week but full pay. Nice!

Have been looking at getting a new car, some new bindings, a new helmet cam for holiday, and also holiday. It never appears to end this 'spending' stuff.

Quality

Have had a great week, been out all over Kent showing off my hard work to different surgeries and health centres. Have been out all over kent going on walks and enjoying the fresh air and sun and the company.

Cooking a nice dinner tonight which i'm looking forward too, haven't cooked properly for a while. Also going to the zoo tomorrow morning to see some zebra and giraffe.

Went boarding last night and managed to link some turns in whilst riding switch, which is pretty damn sweet and I can now work on 180's. Also been gaining a lot more confidence riding regular and got some nice speed up last night.

I've come to terms with the fact people struggle to move on and get over things, funnily enough when they're generally not involved. Thankfully the people that matter to me have already moved on and got over it and are still there. So all is good right now.

Black or White

I didn't play any PS3 today, but I went for a 2.3 mile run, without stopping or slowing down, so I am very happy about that. Had a pleasant day, mood seems to be going up and down rapidly which makes everything a little more interesting.

Big wheel keeps on turning.

What is this

Life? really?

Just a bit of silliness really. Live amongst strangers, few familiar faces, die alone, afterlife of your own choice.

Right now I have come to terms that nothing is forever, nothing is set in stone, and things change over night. Your future is only partly up to you, you have little say or doing on your future. I believe your life is planned out before you're born, how could it not be? The idea of free thinking is just a novelty. Which is why I feel people should sit back and enjoy their journey, enjoy the beginning, enjoy the middle, and enjoy the ending. It will be bumpy, it will go up and down, it will be freewheeling downhill with the wind in your hair, but it will always end the same way. Appreciate the journey while your still travelling, and savour the bad times as well as the good, a happy medium of good and bad times is key to the karma of your life. If you're going through bad times, savour them, think about how bad they are, dwell on the sadness, the pain, the annoyance and anger, and soak it up, as one day it will go, and it will turn to happiness, joy, and positive feelings, which would be made so much sweeter and mean so much more if you appreciate the bad times as well.

And most importantly, make sure you like yourself, make sure that if you had to share a room, or an apartment with yourself, that you wouldn't give yourself a headache or annoy yourself. You are the only person you will spend your whole life with, so get to know you, and appreciate you, and have a good time with you.

Do it