Old friends

 I've been having some reunions this week.

Though maybe not the way you might expect

First, some silliness. I've been a hockey goalie for almost 30 years, and still have the equipment I used when I was back in highschool. Having spent the last few months acquiring and trying to learn to use the schmancy new technology - like pads designed to rotate on your leg and slide across the ice, and new skates with narrower blades and taller runners - I decided to see what it would be like to go back to my old kit for our weekly Wednesday night game.

Here's one of my new pads, with a big knee guard under my hockey sock, and just a few velcro straps.
You can just barely see my skate, with it's 3mm replaceable blade.

..and here are the old pillows and skates, from 1994 and 1995 respectively.
About 800 leather straps on each pad, and big plastic cowlings on the skates with 4mm non-replaceable blades.

I fully committed to the bit, pulling out as much vintage kit as I still had. My old jill was gone, as were my old hockey pants, but everything else was going to be oldschool!

My ancient Bauer one-piece base layer, elderly velcro shorts, and knitted hockey socks with stirrups. I even dredged up an old stick from the garage and gave it a (mostly) fresh tape job - that thing is a serious piece of lumber!

Fortunately we got to the rink early enough that I had time to think through & remember how it all goes together; the leather straps also luckily still have their kinks in them to remind me where I liked to buckle them. I couldn't believe how heavy the old pads felt, even though empirical testing shows me that my new gear is only about a 1lb total weight savings versus my old kit!

I wore my old chest protector (which is actually lighter than my new one, but not nearly as protective) and even the jersey from the goalie school I attended in both 1994 and 1995

I wasn't at all sure how it was going to turn out, but since we don't even really keep score in our games - it's basically just pickup hockey, but with the same folks each week for 10 weeks - I didn't have much to lose, unless I managed to hurt myself.

Which - after stepping out on the ice in my old skates - felt like a very real possibility!

Nothing else for it, though - I had punched my ticket and would take my ride, with my little action camera suction cupped to the glass behind me to record the carnage.

Highlights (and low lights) from which you can watch right here

I will say I actually played better than the final score would suggest: a goalie has to rely on their defensemen to tie up players in front of the net and take away cross-ice passes, but since it's pickup hockey with a group who are mostly there to learn and develop their skills, things can be a bit chaotic. I do totally own a couple of those goals, though! I couldn't believe how awkward and clumsy I felt, despite this being the kit that I have played 99% of my hockey in lifetime.

Still a hilariously good time all round, though!
(and I don't actually seem to have hurt myself!)

I don't think it's an experiment I'll repeat any time soon, though: maybe pull it all out again next year for a skate, which would be the 30th anniversary for the pads, chest protector and gloves (I had a pair of goal skates I bought used for $10 from the late 70s until my dad bought those Bauer Supremes for me in 1995). While I may not be very good at butterfly style goaltending, the practice I've put in to work on the new techniques has changed the way I move such that I'm not really compatible with the old gear anymore: I truly hated the way my old skates felt (even apart from them making my feet hurt by being too narrow), and despite the pads not being built for it I was trying to slide anyway. That goal that went in over my glove as I tried to slide across? If I'd had the big, flat landing spot for my knee that my new pads have, I would have been able to keep my balance instead of falling forward, which would have kept my glove up and given me a much better chance to make the save.

I won't say I'm a good goalie in my new kit, but I'm better when the equipment isn't getting in my way

Someone in a vintage goalie gear group to which I belong commented that "it's just like riding a bike, right", to which I agreed - in that it can be a little painful if you haven't done it for awhile!

While that reunion was amusing but less than enchanting, I've just had the chance to get together with another old friend today that has been much more exciting.

SHE LIVES!

It's been almost 2 years - July 14th, 2021 - since the last time I got to ride my motorcycle. She'd fallen victim to a number of electrical issues, and wouldn't start at all. I had difficulty finding time to work on her, and eventually realized that her issues were beyond my meagre mechanical knowledge to fix. Then it became a matter of money: I figured it would probably be around a thousand dollars to have a shop work out the issues, so she sat in the garage like an accusation until I finally managed to get her in to a local dealer in mid May. They messaged yesterday to say that - after a stator & regulator replacement - she was ready to go, so I did the 90min bus trip from home up to Waterloo with a bag full of leathers to pick her up.

There's my girl! All naked without her saddlebags, windshield, or backrest..

I won't say she's running perfectly, because she's a little old and worn - I've had her since new in September 2005, and have put almost every single one of the 71,500km/44,430mi on her - but she's definitely running strong, and it felt so good to be back in the saddle!

WHEEEEEEEE!

I've only got a quick ride down to the office in Kitchener in so far, but she behaved herself well, and I sincerely hope this is just the first few of thousands of more miles together.

I brought the backrest with me so I could be more comfortable for the ride home

Now, if you'll excuse me....BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP awaits!