Episode 13: Year In Review

[Music] Hello and welcome to Unlaced with Trock and Bates. I'm Madison Trock. And I'm Evan Bates and we're Olympic Ice Dancers for Team USA. If you're into sports betting, bet online is the fastest and easiest way to bet all your favorite sports. Head to their new updated desktop or mobile website to sign up today and receive your 50% welcome bonus on your first deposit. Just use our promo code believe50 to receive your bonus. Thanks Maddie. I just might do that. It's a great time to do it. The end of the year, the beginning of a new. Lots of college football, bowl games coming up. In fact, one very important game coming up on Saturday. Maybe you've heard me talk about it a little bit. Just a little bit. Michigan, bowl, bowl, and the college football playoff. Anyways, back to our figure skating content. Yes. Well, we've made it to the end of the year. If you can believe it, this year has been. Go Blue, baby. Okay, it's not over yet. Okay. Let's go. He played blow. Okay, you were saying. Yes, this year has been an absolute whirlwind. Full of some crazy things, unexpected twists. Like what? Lots of ups and downs. Well, for starters, I didn't expect to start a podcast this year, but here we are. That's very true. That wasn't on the radar. No, but I'm happy it is now on our agenda and docket of things to do for a week. We're podcasters now. Unlaced with chocolate baits. Madison Chalk. And Evan Bate. Podcast host. Yeah, well. Sounds good. It sounds good on you. Your host. I'm a host. We're hosts. You're a natural. Oh, thank you. As are you. You do a lot of the heavy lifting on this pod. Well, you do a lot of heavy lifting in real life. IE of me. Not heavy, but thank you. But lifting. Heavy than I would lift. I mean, I don't lift anyone. Health. Right. Setic. Toodles. Right. So, 2021. Great opportunity for us to look back on and reflect on the year that was. Jumping that time machine. That hot tub time machine. Right. Yeah. All the way back to January 2021. All right, January. Let's recap. Well, do we want to go back to January 2021? It wasn't really that fun, to be honest. I think we should start there because that's where the year began. Right. Okay. Well, it was at the end of that season of skating. Everybody was so happy to get through 2020 because we thought 2020 was this this anomaly of in a year that was just a horrible year. And then when we turn the page to 2021, expect it everything to be better. It was like 2020. To. To. Yeah. 2021. AKA 2021. Yeah, but it just felt like an extension of 2020. It really did, especially at the beginning of the year. Mm-hmm. And kind of again right now. But we'll get there later. In the middle was great. Yeah, the middle was super fun. Anyways, well, this time, well, not this exact time. But January of this year, we were training for the U.S. Championships held in Las Vegas. And we were training our snake dance, one of our faves, in a fan-fave too, hopefully. And we were actually, you specifically, we're battling a little bit of a back injury. So this was kind of a tough time for us at the start of the year. We had to make some modifications to our programs. And we were just, it was just like a 2020 thing I imagine. Just all bundled up, you know, why not? One more thing. Right, looking back, it was, it was a difficult time. It wasn't feeling very good physically. Mentally, probably wasn't feeling really great either. It hadn't seen my family in a long time. It hadn't competed in 10 months. It was really nervous going to that competition because I had been off the ice for a few weeks. Yeah. There were no fans at that competition. So hold on. There were cardboard cutouts of fans. How dare I? How dare you? They paid good money for those cardboard cutouts. That's probably true. But anyways, we made it through Nationals in Vegas. It was an experience. And then we went and visited your family in California. And I think that was maybe the first time that we had visited them since they moved out to California. So that was that was the highlighted of month for me. Oh, it was wonderful. It was also the highlight of the month for me. Obviously because it was my parents and and you had to see their new house and hadn't seen them. It was just so nice and filled such a big hole that I had had in my heart after not seeing them for such a long time. And then to cap that trip off, which was amazing. Then we popped over and visited your family in Michigan. We got all, we got to see all of our family members in January. So all in all, a very good month. It was a good month given the circumstances. What did we do in February? Well, there was no four continents. So we didn't compete. We, I had a birthday. Woo! So happy birthday to you. I turned to your older, which happens. What did we do for my birthday? We hit the quarantine when we got back from visiting our family. And we did some Zoom workouts and Zoom training because we were still getting ready for worlds and Stockholm. And at that point in time, we still had to do a two-week quarantine when we're entering Canada. So that's really all I remember from February. I know, right? It seems like if you do a two-week quarantine, that's half a month. That's half a month. So, you know, time just has been distorted by the pandemic, I feel. And when you do a year in review, it's even weirder because you look back at things that happened at the beginning of the year. They could feel like a lifetime ago. Or they could feel like it was yesterday. And it's completely random. And maybe that's just my scattered brain. But time is so strange. Thank you Evan. I agree. Time is so strange. I think just in general, like the last two years have been particularly bizarre. And so, going back and reflecting on them, it just seems so abnormal. Like looking back and seeing a two-week quarantine. Or I looked at my photos and we had a bunch of Zoom videos of like choreography with Sam. And we were just at home for half the month, which is just unheard of before the pandemic. So, a new norm, I suppose, for the moment. Anyways. It sounds like we didn't do much, honestly. At least in February. How about March? We did something in March. We did something fun in March. We traveled across the pond to Sweden for the world championships. Again, unfortunately, no live audience. But we did have the other competitors in the arena cheering everyone on. So, that was nice. And they did a great job hosting the event. It was a beautiful rank and really fun to compete at a world championships since the last one had been cancelled. Yeah, the venue was really cool. The ring was awesome. Yeah, March was really just all about worlds, I feel. And then after that, it was already April. And we went back to the States again and visited my family. Right from Sweden, we went to California. Yes. Yeah, because otherwise, then we'd have to quarantine again. We go to Canada and then come back. So, yeah, we went straight to California. I'm like reliving this. As we were speaking, yeah, I know. Yeah, and then we had another two-week quarantine. And so that takes us through April. It seems to be the theme of the year. Yeah, but I do remember at that time, it was like the end of the season. So, we didn't have a lot of new choreography to work on because we were just brainstorming new programs at that point. So, I was doing a lot of painting and drawing. And I think you were playing a lot of music. So, it was just more of a creative time for us to work on our hobbies, perhaps. It's really a nice time of year for competitive figure skaters. The first month of the offseason, it's precious. It is golden, golden month. And then in May, it would continue. I mean, it's the beginning of the offseason. We had lots of time with our friends. One of our friends opened a new restaurant. And so, I think we spent a lot of time there. I know I downed many, many coconut mint lattes or prachinos. And at this point, I think we've been vaccinated, right? Yes. And it felt like things were opening up. Really starting to turn the corner. This was like a really good time of the year. This was a great time for our social lives. Lots of branches with friends and fun little outings. May. May. One month. May is a lovely month. It's coming around again. So from May, it brings us to June summer begins. As do the brainstorm and concept creation of our skating costumes for the next season. That was really fun. I remember having meetings with Matthew outside in the warm weather with dogs. Oh, that was so fun. Lovely. Matthew really hosted us for a really fun meeting in his backyard. Yeah. Love that. He's a beautiful backyard. What else? Oh, hockey. We were really big hockey fans. We got swept up in some fandom. We're in the heat of it. Right in the heart of it. The Montreal Canadians made a very unexpected run. Go up school. The way to the Stanley Cup Final. Coup Stanley. Oh yeah, we were in the heat of it. We even went downtown after the game that qualified them for the playoffs. And wow, what an experience. We were just like rabbit fans hanging out right outside the bell center with the throngs of other people with noise makers. - I can't even breathe. - We saw flipped police car. We didn't flip it. - No, we didn't. Personally, just let that be known. We did not flip the police car. - But we saw the aftermath. And it was just like a moment out of a movie. - Yeah, it was pretty wild. There were fireworks going off in the street. There were police in Swat gear everywhere. It was crowd control. It was wild. I've never seen anything like it. But city was a light with excited fans. Everyone was honking. - It was buzzing. - Yeah, it was fantastic. Say goodbye to the dull gifts. Lightbox lab-grown diamonds are the brightest gift of the year. Using cutting edge technology and innovative techniques, they've cracked the science of sparkle, creating the highest quality lab-grown diamonds you can find at a light price of 800 per carat. Lightbox lab-grown diamonds are the gift they'll never want to take off and the key to making any outfit sparkle. - Enter July. - The most special month of the year because it is the month that Maddie was born. - Oh, golly. (laughs) It is one of my favorite months, not because of my birthday, but just because it's the middle of the year, summer, fourth of July, usually brings a lot of fun memories. And well, yeah, I guess my birthday too. It's fun to have a birthday. - Second of July and fourth of July rates. Your birthday is on the second. So you always have like a holiday weekend. - Yeah. - Which is so fun. And we actually booked a cabin for that weekend with some friends. And I think it was really fun. - It was really fun. The dogs came. It was a dog-friendly cabin and they really enjoyed it. I remember Henry was so amped about that pier, the little dog. He was running and sprinting. I'd never seen him act like that. I thought he was gonna fall in the water, which I don't think he would have been happy about, but he enjoyed the dog. - That was a fun weekend. We kind of lucked out because our water accidentally was turned off. But yeah, there was no water in the cabin. - Which was fun. - It was a totally fun weekend. - It made it more campy. - And then the host was, she felt so bad that she refunded us for the whole weekend. So we basically got to stay at this nice cabin for free. - Yeah, we only had to pay like the cleaning fees and something else, but she was so nice. I remember she felt so bad and it was really no problem. Like, so maybe all of us were like slightly thinking about the end of the week, but you know. - We were at the lake. - We jumped in the lake. - Jump in the lake and you have a nature bath, if you will. So July. - Oh, we also started. - Oh yeah, one more thing in July. - We started filming for the On Edge series. - Yes, the Olympic Channel, Ducky series. So fun. Another first for us. - The belief they've been following us for six months. - No. - Wow. - But anyways, July and August were the start of that. And we had a lovely show in Sun Valley. That was really fun in August. - In August, yeah. I remember that. - Yeah, that was, yay. No, that was so fun. I absolutely love Sun Valley. The weather was beautiful. Skating outdoors is always so special, especially in the summer because there aren't many outdoor rings that you can skate at in the summer. So Sun Valley is a really unique place, I think, for that. - One of the highlights of the year for me. - Definitely. - That weekend was so fun. - So fun. And then after that, we actually went our separate ways for a couple days and I headed to New York and filmed something really fun for Delta. So if you've been on a Delta flight recently, you may or may not have, depending on if you pay attention to the little video that plays at the beginning of the flight. But if you do, you may have seen me on that flight, skating on the little screen. So keep an eye out if you haven't seen it. - It's so cool. - It's skating in the smokeiest rink I've ever seen. - It was so fun. I was just a smoke machine. They didn't actually light a fire and blow smoke. - Oh good, I figured. Those guys know what they're doing. - Oh yeah, it was like a full, full play. - It was really, really good. - It was incredible. It was so fun. - I was like truly inspired when I saw it. (laughing) I was like, wow, I want to write down these quotes that these Delta people are telling me with their mission as because I want to climb a board. - It resonates. Yeah, I'm like, give me on a Delta flight. So I guess they're doing their job really well. - You're doing your job well too. - Oh gosh, thanks. August continues and we go to Champs Camp in Nashville. - Right, we go to Champs Camp in Nashville. Lots of excitement and buzz about it being an Olympic year. - We had a really inspiring keynote speech when they brought in many of the former Olympic champions and Olympic medalists to share with us about their experience. And I just remember. - It was all Olympic champions. - Oh my God, yeah, it was all Olympic champions. Scott Hamilton, Marilyn Charlie, Evan Leicichek, Sarah Hughes, Tara LePinsky. - Wow, oh my gosh, yeah, you're right. - That was like the-- - Soly Olympic champions, wow. - That was like the panel that spoke to us. And those are some A-listers. - Mm-hmm, I'll say. - It was very inspiring. - That was great. And then we left Champs Camp with some mixed reviews on our rhythm dance and we decided to change it completely. (laughing) - But first we took a little interlude and went home and visited your family one more time. - That's right, we went home. - Which was super fun. - We visited my family. We had a new niece in the family. - Got to meet the newest family member. - She was just a few weeks old. Wow, it was just wow. - I just wanted to hold her every moment. - So that was a big highlight. - And that takes us to September, which honestly, the start of the season, we're really just in full swing making our new rhythm dance. I think that took a lot of our time and energy, just making sure that that went smoothly and we were maintaining our free dance. - Looking back September and the beginning of October, it was probably the hardest period of the season for us in terms of like our stress level and how we were feeling and getting ready for Finlandia Trophy was challenging 'cause we were making a brand new free dance. I'm sorry, a brand new rhythm dance. - Well, ain't a brand new free dance, but just not all in the same month. (laughing) - Right. - But yeah, that's always like scary, exciting part of the season when you debut your new programs, especially program that's really, really new, like three weeks old at the time, but yeah, I'm happy to say that it went well and looking back on October, we had a really awesome month of competitions. We were in Finland for Finlandia Trophy and Las Vegas for Skate America, which was fantastic. That, I mean, we love Finlandia Trophy. Traveling to Finland is one of our favorite trips of the year. I think we've been what, four times now? - Yeah. - Four or five times in Finland and it's a really lovely country. We've got a lot of great memories there. - Love traveling to Finland. - And then Skate America and Vegas was also a really memorable event. It was the first time. - We got to spend families again. - Yeah, our families came to watch a skate for the first time in a couple of years. - Amazing. - I actually got to see Vegas a little bit, which we've made an episode about. It was very fun. (laughing) - Then after Vegas, we kind of parted ways again for a little bit and I stayed in LA and did a fun little project with my mom, which you guys will get to see. It's coming out in January, so I will keep you posted on that. You'll see it on social media and maybe on your TVs. - Oh! I've actually seen a sneak preview (laughing) because I'm a VIP in your world. (laughing) And wow, it's really, it's really professional. - Yeah, it is. - It's really, really good. - It's really cool. I've never done anything like it before and it was such a unique experience. I was just blown away by the amount of people involved and how efficient everyone was. It was incredible to see. - And Barb crushed it. - Oh my God, my mom is amazing. Yeah, she's a natural and absolute natural. So, can't wait for you all to see that and I will share more about that very soon. - That brings us to November. - Woohoo! - We ventured over to Tokyo to compete at the NHK Trophy. Our first time doing the NHK Trophy together, it was a really fun trip actually. I think the whole entire time, we were just so excited to be traveling back to Japan. - Mm-hmm. It was a bubble. - It was a bubble. - Yeah, it was a bubble. So we were like, oh, we're not gonna get to see Tokyo, but it ended up being really fine. Like, we had a really good time. - The hotel had an amazing view, I would say. Every time we had a meal, it felt like we could see all of Tokyo because we kind of could from the top of the hotel. And we spent a lot of time with the TMSA, with the other athletes. That was fun. I think we just made the most of it. - Yeah, it was great. I love traveling to Japan. Even though it's a long trip, it's always so, so very much worth it. - It was just inspiring. Like, being back in front of a full house. - Yeah. - Really passionate skating fans. Back at Yoyogi Arena, which we've got a lot of fun memories from that place doing world team trophy there. - Yeah, one of my favorite rings to compete at actually. It's so beautiful. The ceiling, the way it arches up. - It's actually, I think it's a pool that they used for diving. And I think that they actually used it for handball at the most recent Tokyo Olympics, if I'm not mistaken. - Yeah, it always has a faint hint of chlorine pool smell, which I personally love. I walk into the ring and I'm like, I shrink mixed with pool. I love it. - That's unique. - Yeah, it's a unique scent, but it's a good one. And that's November onto December, the holiday season. We were planning to go back to Japan again. Unfortunately, plans changed. The Grand Prix Final didn't happen, so we didn't go. - And we fully immersed ourselves in the spirit of Christmas to make up for that. - We dove into our affinity for health culture. - Yeah. - We, you made gingerbread house. - Yes. - Which was amazing, by the way. You have a-- - Thank you. - A hell of a fun. - A hell of a fun. Yeah, that was really impressive. It tasted really good too. Very yummy. I'll have to take a word on that. Eight too much of it. We went to the Christmas market. So fun. Which it was something that we had been dying to go to. It was on our list. We would drive by it frequently and it was just so charming to be able to experience it with the snow and the magic of the holiday spirit all around us. So really enjoyed this December month. And now we're gearing up for the US championships. Were you skipped over Christmas? Oh, so skipped over Christmas. Oh, Christmas was great. Did Santa Claus not find you this year? No, he definitely found me. I don't know how I skipped over it. I guess I've just got a bed. You want the bad list? I'm not on the bad list. I don't know if you guys have seen that video that's been circulating Instagram but if you haven't, it's hilarious. I posted it on my story a couple of weeks ago. It's this adorable little British boy and his dad's telling him that he hasn't been good so he's on the naughty list and then he says he's got an uppercut Santa and he's just the most animated guy. He's so funny and his little British accent gives it in so much character. Oh, I love that video. We have watched it a ton of times. It makes us smile. Sometimes you need a good laugh in that little war. It makes me laugh every time. Every time. But yeah, so Christmas was amazing. We had a very lovely Christmas just the four of us here at our apartment watching Christmas movies, making brunch, making a lovely Christmas dinner and just enjoying our family set of pajamas that Evan gifted us all for Christmas which are honestly the most comfortable pajamas I've ever owned. So thank you for that. I'm wearing my now. Yeah, and you look amazing. Thank you. So adorable. I mean, I wouldn't necessarily go out in public like this but it's a podcast. Nobody can see what I look like. Yeah. So I'm okay with it. Well, I'm obsessed with your look. Thank you. So that means a lot. Good. So that brings us to now. I mean, we've been training throughout. We're getting ready for the US championships. We're going to leave the beginning of January 2022 and I don't know what we're going to do for New Year's but it probably won't be much. Hopefully you all will have a happy New Year and a great 2022. Hope you achieve everything that you want in this New Year and are kind to yourselves and kind to others and we look forward to seeing you guys. Hopefully in some skating events in the future next year. This has been an episode of Unlazed with Chalkin Bates. Make sure you subscribe for future episodes. You can follow us on social media at Chalk Bates. We'll talk to you in 2022. Have a very happy New Year, everyone. Bye. [Music]