Getting to the Rink

[Sk8Dreamer]

I'm curious as to how far people drive to skate, and how often.

[Skittl1321]

Feel free to hate me now- I drive about 5 minutes including the time it takes to park (which sometimes isn't easy). In the summer I bike- it's about .8 miles.
Because it's so close I sometimes just go for 30 minutes, which is really nice because my knees don't do well with more than an hour. I'm at that rink 3 days a week, or once hockey is gone 4.

The other rink I skate at is 45 minutes away and I skate there only for club functions which right now means twice a week for show rehearsal.

When I lived in Ohio, one rink was 15 minutes away and the other 45 or so. I skated once a week then.

[Clarice]

My rink is about 15 minutes away, and I'm there 6 days out of 7 for one thing or another. I try to get in an hour of practice every day, but sometimes I only show up for synchro or to teach group lessons. My dance partner's rink is 2 hours away, so when we practice one of us has to make the drive.

[Isk8NYC]

I leave about 45 minutes to an hour before the session and that's enough time to drive, warm up, get changed and be on the ice early.

Some days, I make three trips to the rink, but I've been trying to cut down on that because of the fuel cost. One day a week, I try to make the coffee club session, then I just stay the rest of the afternoon working on my laptop and teaching privates/groups into the evening.

[fsk8r]

I'm a 10min drive from home (although it gets to 30min in traffic) and about 20min from work to the rink. The synchro rink is 1hr 15min coming home from and 2+hrs getting to. I really hate London traffic!

[Scarlett]

I'm another one who lives really close to the rink. My primary rink I leave 30 minutes before the session starts and for the secondary rink I usually give myself an hour. I usually don't need all the time but DC traffic is legendary in its badness.

[jskater49]

About 20 minutes away but if I want a dance lesson I drive about 3 hours and tweny minutes.

When my daughter was younger we drove 45 minutes for a 5:45 am lesson 3 days a week.

j

[sk8lady]

From late October to late March I drive 15 minutes to the rink 5 days a week to practice and to coach. One day a week I drive 1 1/2 to the rink where my coach is for lessons. Between March and early July if I want to skate I have to do that same drive as none of the local rinks are open. In early July the rink 1/2 hour away opens, primarily for hockey, but I can usually skate on weekends during the public skate, although no jumping or spinning if it's busy. If I want to skate with the adult group that's at about my level I have to drive to the rink two hours away so I stopped doing that when the price of gas went up. I only do that if I have something else to do in the area anyway.

[Mainemom]

Our main rink is about 20 minutes away, but it is only open October-March. After that we have to drive an hour to the rink that is open year-round but I carpool with other moms from our main rink, so it isn't too bad. The next closest rinks (where she needs to go to practice for dance Test Sessions with a guy that is tall enough for her) are 2 hours away. Yes, Maine is beautiful, but the only easily accessible ice is on the roads!

[Mrs Redboots]

About ten-fifteen minutes in the car - but it can be up to 30 minutes in traffic. Usually I drive home, which is just as well as I have more patience in traffic than he does. Half an hour on the bus.

I go 3-4 times a week; Husband goes more often as he goes on Tuesday and Thursday evenings as well.

[Thin-Ice]

I'm on the other end of the spectrum on this one. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings I drive about 50-minutes (after working my overnight shift) to skate at my home club's rink 8:45-10am.. and maybe stay for coffee club, depending on how many other people are there. Then I drive about an hour and 10 minutes to get home from there.

On Wednesdays and Fridays I drive an hour and 20 minutes from work to the rink where my coach teaches and then it's a two-hour drive home. Roundtrip, including from home to work and work to the rink and from the rink to home is about 230 miles... only some of it in traffic. I know I'm crazy... AND my coach is worth it!!!

[CoachPA]

Primary rink: 10.2 miles or roughly 25 minutes 7 days/week. I'm typically there for about 3 hours/day on the weekdays and weekends.

Secondary rink: 25 miles or roughly 40 minutes 2 days/week. I usually spend an hour there on the weekday and 3 hours coaching on the weekend.

What I make in coaching at these rinks makes up for the long drive.

[Stormy]

My home rink is about 5 minutes away. That's really nice when I have to teach at 9 AM on Saturdays. The rink where I have my chorography lessons on Monday nights is 30 miles away and can take an hour to get there with traffic. It's too bad it's that far away as it's a very warm rink (temp wise) and I love skating there.

[phoenix]

Rink #1: 45 minutes away. I do most of my teaching there, & some practice. This is where I learned to skate & so this feels like my home rink.

Rink #2: 1 hour away without traffic, up to 2 hours with traffic. This is where I go for my lessons, once a week. It also shifts between 3 different rinks depending on the season, but they're all the same distance.

Rink #3: 25 minutes away. I'm relatively new here, I teach group classes & am starting to practice here because I earn free ice time from teaching.

[Skate@Delaware]

Home rink: 8 miles or 10-15 minutes depending on traffic; Open late August-first week of June. I usually go to public skates ($5/2 hours) instead of drop-in ($15/45 minutes). Then if i leave after an hour, I don't feel so guilty about the $$$$$$.

Rink where i take from my coach: it's 55 miles away....so about an hour each way once a week; it's a two-hour session so it is actually worth the drive as far as quantity of time on the ice.

[Rusty Blades]

It is about 50 minutes each way for me. Fortunately the rink is only 15 minutes from the office. It also helps that I leave the house at 5 a.m. and the longest part of the drive is through the country so I don't wake up until I arrive at the Timmy's at 5:50 8O

[Morgail]

I win! :lol: Year-round rink, where I do most of my practice, is a 2-3 minute drive from my house, depending on where the traffic light is in its cycle. Sessions there are 50 minutes, which I do 2-3 times per week.

Seasonal rink is about a 15-20 minute drive. I practice there 1-2 times per week on public sessions. I usually stay between 1-2 hours.

[RachelSk8er]

My main rink/home club is 5 minutes from home.

The other rink I skate at regularly (Sunday dance sessions) is about 40 minutes away; I used to actually live only a block from that rink so I usually walked there. Sometimes I skate there on early morning weekday sessions because it's the closest rink to where I work (about a 10 min drive) and city figure skating ice there is really cheap ($8 for a session, a session being 2-3 hrs).

The two other rinks I skate at sometimes (esp in summer) are about 15-20 minutes from home.

The past two years, I drove 2.5 hrs each way once a week for my synchro team, but I had to give that up.

In college I could throw a rock at the rink (Miami's old Goggin) from my dorm, it was so close...man I miss those days.

[TreSk8sAZ]

Rink #1: 5 minutes away - I used to be here 5 days a week, but I'm thinking about changing coaches so I'll only be here 2 days a week for 1.5 hours

Rink #2: 20 minutes away - 3-4 days a week, 2 hours each time

[vesperholly]

I live 5 minutes from my main rink, which is a big 4-sheet complex. There are eleventy billion little recreational rinks in my area. Unfortunately, the rink where I teach at 10am Saturdays is 25 minutes away. :yawn:

Rachelsk8er, I had the same thing in college (Kent State)! I lived across the street from the rink my freshman and junior years. Uh, it may or may not have played a factor in choosing that school... ;)

[Rusty Blades]

I win! :lol:

Well only because I don't have my backyard rink this year, which is like 10 steps from my back door! 8-)

[Bunny Hop]

We live just under 17 miles (27 kilometres) from the rink. It should take us 25-30 minutes to get there, but we have to allow a good hour to make the 9:30am patch session, as the traffic is just that bad. Occasionally we end up arriving massively early as a result, but those times would be rare exceptions.

[NickiT]

Just three minutes away. I'm really lucky and I refuse to move house hehe!

Nicki

[jp1andOnly]

I take transit. Right after work I head to the rink which is about 10 min away from work. After work I head home about 20 min. So all in all the rink is 20 min from my house.

I skate at another rink that if I take transit it could be 1.5 hours. Luckily driving takes only about 50 min. UGH. I only go to that rink once a week and only do so because it has a very good adult session on a very good ice surface

[BatikatII]

The rink is about 5 miles away or 6 by the back roads which is usually quicker - 10 to 15 mins depending on time of day. Sometimes it's longer and in Ascot week (horse racing) it used to be impossible to go as I couldn't get back. I've now discovered a new route (only taken me 8 years!) which can get me home in 15 mins even with the race traffic.:D

If I had to go any further I wouldn't skate as I'm too lazy to go far! :lol:

I go for 45 mins to an hour 3 times a week and sometimes up to 5 times.

[jazzpants]

In my case, it's between 20 to 45 minutes, depending on the commute.

This morning I was REALLY lucky and got there in 20... DURING MORNING COMMUTE hours too!!! :bow: (It's usually the case that it's closer to 45 minutes!!! :twisted: )

[Black Sheep]

It takes me approx. 30-45 minutes to drive to either my practice rink or my club rink. After my Wednesday-morning lesson at my club rink, it takes me up to an hour or more to plow through the morning rush-hour traffic to get home (where I shower, sleep 'til lunch, and go to work in the afternoon). ;)

[BuggieMom]

You guys are lightweights! :lol:

Home club rink: 3 hours, 10 minutes from our home one way, round trip of 340 miles. We do this every week, staying for 2-3 days. Dd's coaches are there.

Secondary rink: In another state entirely, 45 minutes away one way, 84 miles round trip. We do this once a week just for extra ice time.

For a grand total of...
7 hours 50 minutes and 424 miles of driving for ice each week.

We have a beautiful rink about 10 min from our house, but we don't go there anymore...

[AgnesNitt]

The rink is 3 miles away. In the winter I drive, in the spring and fall I bike.

[ibreakhearts66]

My main rink is 11.3 miles away (google mapped it :)), and it takes me 20-30 minutes to get there.

I rarely skate on weekends, but one rink I do go to (if I actually skate) is 12.9 miles, and also takes 20-30 minutes. The other is 32.8 miles away, but if I go there it's on a Sunday morning with no traffic and I get there in about 25 minutes.

[sk8ergalgal]

Takes me about 5mins to get to my primary rink where I skate 6 times a week and my secondary rink is about 20mins away where i skate once a week.

[niupartyangel]

Before I got married, the rink I take lessons at (and still do) is a 5 minute drive away. After I moved away from that town to another suburb, it is a 15 minute drive on the expressway. I only take lessons on the weekends early in the morning so traffic isn't an issue.

However the condo that my hubby and I purchased actually has a rink right across the street. I do freestyle sessions there once a week (only once a week because the other days, their last freestyle ends at 5:30, and I get home at 5:15, bleh) and also go to their public skate (doesn't get too crowded) at noon on Saturdays. However, the facility itself is old and run down, plus the owner is supposedly "cheap" (lots of coaches in the area including my own coach used to teach here, but they all moved to my primary rink when it opened up)...i can't speak for the quality of instruction here but it's very convenient if i just want to practice on my own.

There is another rink (supposedly the Chicago Blackhawks practice there or one of them owns it) less than 10 minute drive away, but their ice time is super expensive, almost twice what I pay at my primary rink, but the facility is beautiful and large. Even the group lessons are more expensive as well. I only go here for public skate with my friends.

[Morgail]

In college I could throw a rock at the rink (Miami's old Goggin) from my dorm, it was so close...man I miss those days.

I loved that rink! Actually, I loved the fireplace in the lobby:lol: It was my favorite rink to compete at. The new one is great...but there's no fireplace:cry:

Well only because I don't have my backyard rink this year, which is like 10 steps from my back door! 8-)

So true! You can't beat having a rink in your own backyard.

[Skittl1321]

I win! :lol: Year-round rink, where I do most of my practice, is a 2-3 minute drive from my house, depending on where the traffic light is in its cycle. Sessions there are 50 minutes, which I do 2-3 times per week.


That sounds about the same distance as mine- it takes me longer to park then to get there!

[airyfairy76]

I don't drive, so whereas my rinks are both relatively close, it takes me a little longer to get there as I rely on public transport.

As the crow flies:

My primary rink is 1 mile away. I can get there in about 15 minutes door to door, with one bus. I can walk it but I normally skate in the evenings, and I am not prepared to walk through parkland in the dark!!

My secondary rink is 3.6 miles away - this takes 2-3 buses, and I can do this in 45 minutes door to door, on a good day.

I skate at my primary rink 2-3 times a week, and my secondary rink 1-2 times a week.

[GordonSk8erBoi]

It's 12 miles from home to rink, and 19 miles from work to rink. It's about 45 minutes for so for either (one is city driving, the other rural).

PedOnSkates didn't post yet but I believe her drive is something like 120 miles. Gotta admire her perseverance!

[hanca]

I journey there takes 15 mins, back the journey back when is traffic takes 30 minutes. Unfortunately at our rink the ice is not flat, it goes uphill, so once a week I travel to a different rink. It takes me 1.5 hour, but the ice is flat and smooth.

[sk8ryellow]

The rink is about 15 minutes away by car, but I carpool, ride the city bus, and will soon ride a bike to the rink.

[pedonskates]

I have told this story before on other threads.
Gordon is close to correct on my commute.
It is 117 miles from my house to the rink in Scottsdale. It is then 127 miles from the rink to work. That is twice a week on the weeks I don't happen to be on call. My pager doesn't work that far, and I need to be able to get to the hospital within 30 minutes. I am on call approximately one in 3 weeks.
When we have ice in Tucson it is about 20 miles from home and about 5 miles from work. That is a luxury.
This time of year is fun because it's cool enough that I can take the dog with me in the car for company. Once it starts getting hot in the desert, she has to stay at home. She is not allowed in the rink. This has nothing to do with the time she decided to poop on the crappy ice.

[doubletoe]

I have told this story before on other threads.
Gordon is close to correct on my commute.
It is 117 miles from my house to the rink in Scottsdale. It is then 127 miles from the rink to work. That is twice a week on the weeks I don't happen to be on call. My pager doesn't work that far, and I need to be able to get to the hospital within 30 minutes. I am on call approximately one in 3 weeks.
When we have ice in Tucson it is about 20 miles from home and about 5 miles from work. That is a luxury.
This time of year is fun because it's cool enough that I can take the dog with me in the car for company. Once it starts getting hot in the desert, she has to stay at home. She is not allowed in the rink. This has nothing to do with the time she decided to poop on the crappy ice.

So what is it that drives you (literally) to get up so early and lose sleep to do this? I mean, it's hard enough for me to get up at 5:00am to skate at a rink that's just 15 minutes away, so it just boggles my mind. . . I really want to know!

[rlichtefeld]

Not sure if I win or not. My closest rink where I take lessons for singles is 20 minutes from my house.

My current pairs partner and I practice at a rink that is about 50 minutes from my house. (I actually pass my closest rink on the way there).

However, my last partner lives in another state. I live just outside of Atlanta, GA, and she lives in Baltimore, MD. So, for us to practice, my wife would pick me up at work, drive me to the Marta station which I would take to the airport. Then, after the flight, flo would pick me up. The next morning, flo would drive about 25 minutes to the rink.

Looking at Google Maps, and if I were to drive it, it would be 550 miles!!!
And, we did this about every other weekend for 4 months!

Rob

[flo]

And I got to know the Atlanta airport well!