Why you do NOT leave your skates in the car ...

I am sort of a skate whore. I love skates. New skates. Tall skates. Short skates. Purple suede skates. Silver skates. Even one I time had plaid skates.

A while ago La Petite Morte from Fast Girl Skates got a custom pair of Riedell 965s. The most beautiful skates in the whole world. Totally custom. Silver and black. Custom custom. She even had the big ol' padding removed from the inside. Well folks, turns out when you order your size in a skate but you have them remove the padding they are too big. Soooooo - TA-DAH! They fit me. I traded a few pairs of older skates I had for an even swap on these puppies.

I loved them. I used them for a few years. So super happy with them.

Then one night - I had them in my car. Right in front of my house. I live in a pretty safe neighborhood but I normally don't leave my car outside, but the garage was messing. And I normally don't leave my skates in the car but I thought, one night won't be a big deal. I was watching the TV and I was tired from a hard practice. I said, I will get them later but later turned into me falling asleep on the couch.

The next morning I woke to my husband saying, "Did you know your visor is down and all your papers are outside the car?" WHAT!?! NO!!!!

I ran outside (not in my jammies but smelly yesterday's derby clothes I had fallen asleep in - ewwww) and there was my car. Someone had broken in. They took my skate bag. Inside my lovely custom skates, two sets of helmet covers, all my pads, mouthguard, skate tools and a bunch of other random stuff. They also took my $100 compression pants from CW-X. I was heart broken.

I cried on the Facebook about it and the most amazing thing happened. NO - I didn't get my skates back but a lovely woman - Windy Rodger Bailey aka BeatHer Bailey from Viva Las Vegas Skate Company (http://www.vivalaskates.com) messaged me and sent me a whole new set of pads!!! NO  JOKE! What a wonderful person. I was super happy because replacing everything at once SUCKS. (and blah blah blah - insert 2011/2012 poor got no money story here, most of us have one.)


I tried the Crazy Skates and they didn't fit my feet right. I loved the DBX plate. So I traded the Crazy Skates for some Reidell 195s and kept the plate. I am SO in love with these skates. For the main reason I had broke by leg my first year in derby and the pins on the outside always rubbed on my skate. 
WELL NOW THERE IS NO OUTSIDE OF THE SKATE!! I F*ING LOVE THESE SKATES!!!

my 195s

Wait! WAIT! I am getting off topic.

DON'T LEAVE YOUR SKATES IN THE CAR!

The moral of the story is NOT you get free shit and better skates... That took MONTHS.

The months in my ol' crappy skates that tore up my feet, the hours and days of missed practice while i had no skates cuz I forgot I had the crappy ol' ones were horrible. The feeling of uneasy I had for months after every night as I went to be knowing people were coming to my house and stealing things was unsettling to say the least. Like I like in one of those neighborhoods where you have a short driveway - so only one car fits then road, no bushes, there is a street light even, these criminals were so gutsy they just walked up and took what they wanted. AAAHHH TERRIBLE FEELING!!!!

I hear about it all the time. Gear being stolen from cars. Think about it, we have back packs or roller bags which to a thief look like a lap top or something else cool. I am sure they got home and were like, oh crap, when they opened it up. I looked on Ebay and Craigslist. I never saw them for sale. I wonder if they ended up in the woods by my house. Cold and alone.

Here are some simple steps to keeping your skates safe. They are your little buddies and it's your job to protect and care for them.

1. Don't store your skates in the car. They get scared.

2. If you must for any length of time make sure you have something random to cover them up with. Like a small blanket and tuck them in for a little nap. Not a shopping bag. Thieves like those too and the skates might suffocate. Bags are not toys. 

3. If going into a pub/eatery after practice I now carry my skate in with me. Keep them by my side.

- if you do this don't leave them alone in a booth or in a corner. You are better leaving in your car with a blanket. Get them a fake ID and party it up with them. 

4. Take a good photo of your skates. After mine were stolen I realized I had no close up photos of my skates to show people what they looked like. Do some skatey skate skate glamour shots. 

5. Glue them to your feet and never take them off ever. That is the best way to never ever lose them.

If you happen to see some custom Riedell 695, silver and black, no padding with a name burnt into the bottom under the plate (you can just barely see the name, Riedell burns the person's name on the bottom and it has Morte's real name on there) please contact me. I can tell you the name on the bottom to prove they are mine. Again, you can just BARELY see the name under the plate, but it's there.

Thanks and skate hard!