Want to wish everyone a SAFE trip tomorrow/Saturday...

I'll be at rink by 7AM to set up food etc.... "hospitality is us"...

Does the Dulles tollroad have a number? Or will there be a sign saying Dulles Tollroad?

thanks,
Pat

It's VA route 267.

For sure the sign says Dulles Airport. It may say "Leesburg" also.

The first toll is 50 cents. The toll to exit on VA Rt 28 North (Sterling) is 35 cents.

At the main toll plaza, if you have an EZ-Pass or Smart Tag, stay in one of the the leftmost 2lanes. Otherwise, you have to queue up in one of the other lanes. There is at least one lane for EXACT CHANGE only.

The signage at the toll plaza is improved but not ideal yet.

At the exit for VA Rt 28 North (Sterling), if you have an EZ-Pass or Smart Tag, the RIGHT-MOST lane is for EZ-Pass/Smart-Tag only. The middle lane is Exact Change only, and the left-most lane has a cashier.

If you will be getting to the Toll Road and VA Rt 28 North during Rush Hour (anywhere from 3:30 to 6:30 or 7pm), be aware that both carry a LOT of traffic these days.

Finally, on the TOLL ROAD only, during rush hour (4-6 PM I believe), the left-most lane is HOV-2 only.

The Dulles Toll Road exit off 495 (Capital Beltway) is 45A (according to my Mapquest directions, which worked last year). It's VA 267 West.

Thanks, jenlyon for posting the directions for the new traffic pattern. Mapquest doesn't have that stuff yet.

Hi all,
I'll be practicing in the morning and see how it goes. In any event, good luck to all!

I'd like to wish everybody the best this weekend at the New Year's Invitational competition.

__________________
Tim David's Website

Skaternum and I have completed phase I of our evil operation. Can't wait for tomorrow!

And it appears that quite a few competitors turned up this afternoon to skate on non-official practice ice. Let the games begin!

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Thanks to all who showed their support in keeping NoVa from scratching- he praticed his program yesterday afternoon, and will skate on Sunday!!

__________________
Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

What? I never said that I wasn't scratching. Tsk tsk.

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Went to pracatice this am, and decided to withdraw. The skates just hurt too much to give a good performance and enjoy the experience, and that's why I skate. I even trird to borrow a friend's pair. They were so comfy I didn't want to take them off! I could spin in them, but didn't have enough time to get use to the blades for jumping.

Dissapointed to miss everyone, and wish all the best of luck.
Another trip to the skate shop tomorrow, and fitted for a new pair, and these in the mail!

flo... it's a very WISE move!!! Your health is more important than being in any competition...

Good luck to all competing at New Year's!!! Go kick some ice butt out there!!!

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Went to the official practice #3 this morning.
The ice is very springy

They did not even know that they were suppose to play music during the practices So on my session, they end up not playing anything. B/c it would be unfair to the practice session # 1 and 2.

In the gold event the roster for Gold Men, only had Ross Luxton, Dennis P. and Kelton Brown. Unfortunatley I did not attend the competition this afternoon. I have to rest from this morning's practice. I think I am catching a cold. I will be there to compete tomorrow. I also met with the other Tim's. Tim Fisher and Tim Convington.

__________________
Tim David's Website

Any reports from the first day of competition?

Well, it was win #4 for Loops and NoVa! Inside Axel had a awesome freeskate!
wastsonks did a great, hysterical program showing Oksana Bauil at 60.
Me? Well, I handed beads out all day and cheered everyone on. When it came time for Interp, I was #1 in what I called " the flight from hell".
I had a clean program, but it was lyrical (read: the judges wanted to be entertained) so I was 8th out of 9. It wasn't as scary as I imagined it would be!

__________________
Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

New Year's was great today! I got to meet NoVa, skatingatty, InsideAxel, dcden, Ellyn, skaternum, and I'm sure there are others that I'm forgetting right now. It was good to see Terri, sk8pics, LoopLoop, starskate6.0, and the other adult skaters I've met through these comps.

NoVa and Loops did an excellent job with their pairs program, winning the Silver Pairs gold. Skaternum and her partner did the same in Gold Pairs. It was the first time I'd seen an adult pairs competition - the programs were fabulous. I'm looking forward to seeing NoVa's much-talked-about FS program. Loops did a great job in her Silver FS comp - winning the silver with 1 1st place ordinal. Her interpretive to Josh Groban's "To Where You Are" was amazing - I am in awe of her spread eagles - and she wuz robbed by the judges, IMO.

Terri's interp program was also great to watch - good job on the spread eagles! The judging for the Interp events seemed odd, but oh well, I guess adult competitions are about skating for yourself, right? I've been trying to practice an inside spread eagle with my lead leg bent (sort of an eagle/Ina Bauer combo) and I have zero turnout. Loops gave me a tip about pushing with the inside of your ankle which I'll try next week.

I also got the chance to see sk8pics's interpretive - great job! Especially given the lesson and coaching unpredictability of the past week. I love the music, and sk8pics interprets it well. I left before those results were posted. Skaternum's interp was a hoot - I was wondering why she was warming up with her arms folded - I won't give away anything else - you have to see it for yourself - maybe at the Peach Classic?

InsideAxel was fabulous in winning Gold Men - wow! So many doubles! Starskate and dcden skated great as well.

Skatingatty's spins are incredible (I think I'm running out of superlatives to describe everyone!) and she did a great job with her FS and Interp programs. Unfortunately, the rink is having a problem with its sound system and a large number of skaters (at least 10) had their music stop in the middle of their programs, and skatingatty's Interp was one of them. But she did a great job of continuing her skating and staying with the music despite the obstacles.

Other than the sound problem, the event seems to be well-run, with everything on schedule and the ice well-kept. It wasn't overly cold in the rink, probably due to the 50-degree temperatures outside. I think I'm going to go ahead and wear my non-FS dress, which is sleeveless, for my MIF event tomorrow. My FS program dress is long-sleeved.

I asked the comp organizers at the check-in table if there was anything they could do about the music fading out and they said that the problem was with the rink's loudspeakers and not the actual CD/tape player. The music that seemed the most prone to going out was softer music, and given that my program is the Adagio (slow) section of Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 2, I give my music a 50-50 chance of going kaput tomorrow. It's a good thing I often run through the program without music.

flo, I'm so sorry you couldn't skate, but it's better that you give your feet a rest and get the boot problem taken care of. I'll look forward to seeing your FS program at your club's spring show.

Off to get my things together for my events tomorrow.

Congratulations! Sounds like everyone 'represented' skatingforums in great fashion:] Kudos to you Terri for presenting a program that you wanted to skate without worrying too much about the judges. And kudos just for skating an interp; that's something I doubt I'll ever do:]

Is the starting order for Silver Men up?

__________________
Tim David's Website

Hi everyone,
I'm back at my sister's house in Vienna, VA after dinner and window shopping at Fair Oaks Mall (I'm smelling delightfully of Estee Lauder's Beyond Paradise from the perfume counter). Sigh... it was a bit of a disappointment for me. I came in 4th in all 3 events entered, and I didn't land my opening axel, so I didn't want to risk messing up again and didn't even attempt the 2nd one. Lo and behold, for the 1st time ever, I had too much music at the end and had to improvise, throwing in a flip and doing an aborted scratch spin that I had to end when the music stopped. Afterwards, a fellow NC skater who is a judge said I needed to work on my speed and extension and finish off my spins. She also didn't think the choreography was well-spaced. Sure enough, I looked back on the videotape and I was rushing so much during the program that I fell out of my spins or didn't push out of them well. Aaargh. Anyway, it was great watching everyone skate today. Heather Hilgar, the one who won the Silver I free, landed 2 axels. She also won Interp- a very smooth and sure skater. The person who won 2nd also landed an axel. I can't remember who won the Silver Spins, but Tim Covington (or whoever the man was) was very fast and had great positions. I got 7th from one judge and two gave me 2nd! In Interp., my Michelle Kwan "Field of Gold Program" went pretty well, given that I hardly practiced it. Plus, as it did during many people's skates, the music kept fouling up. I agree that Looploop (always beautifully dressed!) wuz robbed in Interp.-- guess you have to find a comic schtick with a cool costume to get on the judges' side!

So let's see... looks like Terry and Debbie have given info on others' placements. InsideAxel, aka Kelton, had a great skate with a double lutz, double flip, axels, etc. with just one fall on a dbl toe at the end. Skaternum, aka Lori, and David also performed well and won the gold pairs title! The 2nd place team had great skills too, but their music faded out at at least one point, and he fell on something, causing the back of his outfit to either rip open or become unzipped. Lots of great interp. programs, including Karen Watson's "elderly Oksana" routine, complete with a replica of Oksana's white Olympic exhibition outfit and all the little moves Oksana is known for. Tomorrow I have to go back to pick up my cassette tapes, but I'll have to miss Silver Men's b/c I'm meeting an old friend for lunch. Kelton, if you're reading this, one of the organizers said you left your tape too, so I will get that for you. I must go back to Raleigh and keep plugging away on the axel and basic skating!! Good luck to everyone skating Sunday.

Flo,
I'm sorry you weren't able to compete. What brand/kind of skates are they, and are they just broken down? My skates (custom Klingbeils) hurt at times, but I've only had them a year and hope they'll last at least a couple more before I have to shell out more $$ for another pair. Hope the new ones work out for you!

Flo, I'm so sorry to hear about your misfortune. I was looking to see you skate!

Hope you heal and that you get your boots soon.

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

It was great to finally meet you ... and thanks for the kind words. Loops and I didn't do a *completely* clean program, but we managed to incorporate 3 different elements successfully. I'm afraid I was feeling a bit voidy/lightheaded during the performance, and I had a "where the heck am I and what comes next" moment during the program. This time around, I didn't get a chance to see the other pair teams.
HA! Well, I'm kinda sorta looking forward to performing it. I'm still trying to decide on my costume (do I want to go with rhinestones AGAIN?), and I'm still working out some of the choreography and spins. I hope practice tomorrow is productive in this regard ...

More reports from others later?!

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Congratulations and commiserations to all concerned - it sounds like you're having a wonderful time. I wish I was there instead of being at home with a virus, can't even skate, can't even do my off-ice.... sigh....

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Thanks skatingatty! We got to Potomac Mills and remembered it. Kim called skaternum's room and left a message asking her if she could retrieve it. Thanks to both of you!!

Good luck to everyone today!

Kelton

Congrats to all! So sorry I missed you. I decided to stay and help out with the kids and give the feet a brea.
More later - my feet have a 1pm appt. with the skate fitter!
My problem boots are 6 months old.

1. Tim Convington 1 1 3 1 3
2. Tim Fisher 2 2 2 5 2
3. Tim David 4 4 1 2 1
4. Stephen Trzaska 5 3 6 3 4
5. Robert St. John 3 5 4 4 5
6. Tim Mizerak 7 6 5 6 7
7. Michael Cruz 6 7 7 7 6



* I was happy that I skated cleanly and how I fought througout the program. Congratulations to all my competitors that was a good skate *

__________________
Tim David's Website