I went to Bryce yesterday to kick off our skiing/snowboarding season. I also wanted to test out my new gears to make sure I can ride them. Since we are getting serious about these sports, we might as well invest into new equipments.

Over the past several months, I sold my used gears and replaced them with new ones. Although they were brand new, they were at least 50% off. I took my time to do my search.

For snowboarding, I bought a 2023 Salomon Super 8 board ($265), 2020 United-G1 Rome bindings Rome Bindings ($110), and 2021 DC Men’s Laced Lace snowboard boots ($164). The whole set was $539.

For skiing, I bought 2023 Fischer RC Fire SLR Pro skis with RS 9 SLR bindings ($215) and Lange RX 120 ski boots ($355). The whole set was $570. Both set for just a bit over a $1000 is not bad.

Since Bryce is running an early-season discount on lift ticket for $40, I decided to drive an hour and 45 minutes to test out my equipments. Unfortunately, the condition was icy hard yesterday. I couldn’t initiate or turn my board at all. I was falling on my ass and knees. Fortunately, I had my Soared 3D Protection short pants on, but my knees were brutal. I need to put on my knee guards. The board performed well despite my horrible skills—I couldn’t get my front-knee steering down. This will be the technique I will learn this season. The DC boots worked really well. The stiffness held up well. I didn’t feel any pain at all.

I also tested out my Fischer skis, but I couldn’t do much under the hard-ice condition. They worked. I can’t wait to spend a week at Stowe starting this Saturday.

One of my favorite rollerblading techniques is the ability to drop in. The highest I can do is an 8-foot, curved ramp. Anything higher than that is just out of my league. Đán, on the other hand, has mastered his dropping techniques and he has the confidence to pull it off. Here are some of his awesome drops:

1. Wakefield Skatepark (1)
2. Wakefield Skatepark (2)
3. Reid Menzer Memorial Skatepark (1)
4. Reid Menzer Memorial Skatepark (2)
5. Powhatan Springs Skatepark (1)
6. Powhatan Springs Skatepark (2)
7. Scott D. Eagles Skatepark (1)
8. Scott D. Eagles Skatepark (2)
9. Scott D. Eagles Skatepark (3)
10. Scott D. Eagles Skatepark (Slo-mo)

I admire his skills and confidence.

Skiing season is coming soon. It’s time to prepare all the equipment. Tighten up all screws. Grease ski bindings. Install snowboard bindings. Check all boots to make sure they fit and are secured in bindings. Scrape off excessive wax.

I’ll be off work early mid December and return early mid January. We’ll head to Stowe in the third week of December. I can’t wait to get back to skiing and snowboarding. I hope I will be able to get some of the snowboarding techniques down. I have been watching them all year long.

It’s going to be a great winter.

Xuân asked me to take him to Wakefield this the evening. Of course I complied. He had been making progress on his scooter. He dropped in from the eight-foot ramp. He rode around the bowl. He hopped over the spines on the quarter pipes. Watching him flying over the ramps was just so satisfying. I hoped he continued to love the skatepark.

I did my usual routines such as riding in the bowl and hopping out of the bowl. I rode around the quarter pipes and did a bit of jumping and backward skating. I also dropped in from the eight-foot ramp. Things went fine until I decided to drop from the eight-foot ramp before heading home. I had to drop in from the bowl area so I could get the speed to get by ass on the eight-foot ramp. The bowl is about 5-foot high and I dropped in plenty of time. Unfortunately I was being careless and my left foot slipped out of the coping. I fell on my butt and hit my head. Thanks to the helmet for saving my head once again. It was a hard hit.

My head seems to be OK for now, but my butt is in pain. I am heading to bed and rest. I hope tomorrow will be a better day.

For many months, Xuân wanted to drop in from the eight-foot ramp at Wakefield. Every time he stepped on the coping with his scooter, he backed down. He didn’t want to bust his chin for the third times. He kept asking me if he should do it. I told him that I had no doubt that he could do it, but I didn’t want to put the pressure on him.

My issue was that I couldn’t get myself on the ramp to see how steep the ramp was until a couple of days ago. When he saw me dropping in with my aggressive skates, he was motivated to do the same on his scooter. We talked some more and I assured him that he shouldn’t have too feel any pressure. He could do it when he was ready. As a father, I was conflicted. I wanted him to go for it, but I also didn’t want him to get hurt.

Even though I assured him that he shouldn’t do it until he was ready, he said he was ready. As he stood on the ramp, I prayed my mother to keep him safe. I didn’t want to spend another night in emergency room while my wife was out of town. He went for it and aced it. I could see the joy on his face as he overcame his fear.

Why the hell are we getting into this aggressive sport? It has to be the thrill of overcoming our fear.

When Wakefield renovated its skatepark a year ago, I wanted to drop down from its highest half pipe. The only way to get on top of the ramp is to get enough speed to pump up. Unfortunately, I hadn’t been able to get my fat ass on top of the ramp until this evening. As expected, dropping down was not too scary since I had all the protective gears and a helmet. I overcame the challenge of climbing up. Now I can join Đạo and Đán for the thrill. I am a year behind them, but better late than never. Check out the clip.

In his live coaching session, “Improving Your Heelside Turn,” Nev Lapwood from Snowboard Addiction, pointed out that you need to keep your weight on top of your board by bending your knees (like you are sitting on a chair) and lifting up your toes.

In “Improving Your Toeside Turns,” Nav suggested the opposite. You still needed to keep your weight on top of your board by bending your knees and pushing your hips forward. He didn’t mention lifting your heel up or pushing down your toes down. Pushing your hips forward should do it.

In “Improving Your Carving on a Snowboard,” Nav suggested flowing your body into your turns. Using your front hand to point to the direction where you wanted to go.

In “Beginner Snowboard Lesson Pt. 5,” Nav suggested leaning downhill into your front foot instead of backward when riding down steep slopes.

I will keep his suggestions in mind when I snowboard this winter.

Sáng nay lại dậy sớm đi đá banh. Tiếc rằng sân vận động đã có những nhóm khác chơi. Đành phải trở về nhà. Ngồi vào máy vi tính làm đơn hồi phục lại bằng lái xe. Mất hết gần một giờ để chuẩn bị giấy tờ cần thiết.

Đến trưa hai thằng lớn đi lo công việc cho hướng đạo. Còn hai đứa nhỏ đi skatepark với ba. Ba cha con trượt cũng gần một tiếng rồi đi ăn trưa. Lúc về đến nhà, tôi thấy một cành cây khô héo bị rơi. Cành này đã bị gãy mấy năm trước mà tôi không đủ sức để kéo nó xuống. Sẵn dịp, tôi bắc cây thang lên tỉa và cưa thêm những cành đâm vào nhà. Thấy tưởng ít mà lại khá nhiều.

Chiều qua nhà chị vợ ăn tối. Thế là hết ngày Chủ nhật. Ngày mai tụi nhỏ được nghỉ lễ. Vợ cũng được nghỉ. Chỉ có tôi phải làm.

Sáu giờ sáng nhìn ra cửa sổ thấy mưa lâm râm không muốn xuống giường. Nhắn tin mấy ông bạn hỏi trời mưa có đi đá banh không. Mấy ổng trả lời vẫn đi nên cũng ráng bò ra khỏi nhà. Đá banh để nhớ lại ký ức của tuổi thơ.

Đến sân vận động trời vẫn mưa và chỉ thấy ba ông bạn người Việt. Còn đám người Trung Đông thì không thấy bóng dáng ai hết. Bốn ông Việt vừa truyền banh cho nhau vừa tán dóc chuyện đời. Gần tám giờ trời mưa trở to nên bốn người bạn chia tay nhau về.

Về đến nhà tôi ngồi vào bàn làm việc để hoàn tất một freelance project kiếm thêm chút cháo. Đến mười giờ xong việc, tôi xuống basement tập snowboarding để chuẩn bị cho mùa đông sắp đến.

Đến trưa tôi đưa Vương, Xuân, và một đứa cháu đi ice skating vì trời mưa ướt không đi skatepark được. Tôi muốn tập cho Vương biết trượt một mình không cần bàn tay nâng đỡ của tôi. Vả lại tôi cũng muốn tập lại những động tác căn bản của ice skating mà tôi đã học qua.

Gần hai giờ trưa mấy đứa nhỏ mệt và chán nên đòi về. Tôi gọi uber vợ đến rước tụi nó về để tôi được thong thả một tiếng đồng hồ luyện tập. Đến ba giờ ice arena đóng cửa. Tôi thu dọn mọi thứ ra về. Vô đến xe nhận được tin nhắn của một đứa bạn rủ ra skatepark trượt rollerblade. Tôi nhắn tin lại OK. Hẹn gặp một tiếng sau.

Cũng hơi đói nên ghé vào chợ Hàn Quốc mua sushi và một lon bia. Ra tính tiền, bà nhân viên hỏi bằng lái xe. Bà xem xong nói, “Xin lỗi, tôi không thể bán bia cho cậu”. Tôi hỏi bà, “Ủa tôi không đủ tuổi hả”? Bà đáp, “Không, bằng lái xe của cậu hết hạn rồi”. Đang khát nước và thèm một chút bia mà bị từ chối cũng hơi bị quê.

Đến skatepark gặp bạn và cùng nhau trượt đến khoảng năm giờ chiều. Ra xe lại nhận tin nhắn của vợ ghé qua chợ Tàu mua cá chiên về ăn tối. Thế là hết ngày thứ bảy.

Được một ngày cuối tuần như thế là quá tuyệt vời. Lúc còn bé, tôi không được những cơ hội như mấy đứa con tôi bây giờ. Đáng tiếc rằng bọn nó không biết quý trọng và tận dụng những gì tôi và mẹ nó tạo cho nó. Tôi không cần bọn chúng phải thật xuất sắc môn nào cả. Tôi chỉ cần tụi nó không bỏ cuộc là tôi mừng rồi.

Từ ice skating, rollerblading, skiing, đến snowboarding, tôi cố gắng tập để chung vui với tụi nó. Ít ra bọn nó có người để tranh đấu và để nỗ lực. Giờ đây chúng nó không còn hứng thú nữa nên có ép buộc cũng chỉ phí thời gian và tiền bạc. Dù bọn nó bỏ dỡ hết, tôi vẫn tiếp tục theo đuổi những môn thể thao này để giải trí. Không biết tương lai sẽ ra sao từ sức khỏe đến tài chính. Thôi thì trước mắt còn sức còn chơi.

I have been going back to the ice rink whenever I have a chance. I want to teach Vương how to skate. He can now stand and walk on his own without me holding his hand. He seems to enjoy ice skating. I also want to relearn figure skating.

I have been thinking of retaking group lessons to relearn the basics, but I am not sure if group lessons are necessary since I already know the moves. I just need to get them right. Private lessons would be much better for me to get one-on-one feedback. The rates for private lessons aren’t cheap and I also don’t have any goal. I am learning to skate as a hobby to keep me active.

I am taking the self-learning route instead. I am resetting my path. Instead of trying to learn the jumps, I am focusing on nailing down the basics. I am relearning the 8 variations of the mohawks as well as the 8 variations of the 3-turns. Once I nail these 16 skills, I will move on to the 8 variations of the edges.

I mapped out my lesson plan to relearn figure skating. I just need to follow up with it. Writing it down helps me to stick to my plan.