Our rink has begun drastically cutting our ice time, only giving us an hour per weekday some weeks, without actually telling us why. Many of us are going to have to start driving 1.5 - 2 hours for a 45- 60 minute session. We're going to try to do more than that, but it just depends when we can get away and what ice time they have available where.

Oh, the 1.5-2 hours is each way.

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"Without a struggle, there can be no progress" ~ Frederick Douglass

Well, the rink I go to most often and for lessons is about 40 miles one way driving, which takes about 45-50 minutes usually to drive there.

Another rink I occasionally visit is about 28 miles, or about half an hour driving there.
Another rink I used to go to, but haven't been in awhile, is about 45 miles one way and 1 hr or maybe 1 hr+5 mins to drive to. Partly because part of the route has a slower speed limit than the other two I mentioned.

Unfortunately, I normally spend a bit more time in the car than I do actually skating, when I go to my main rink. My mom still drives me, because I still haven't got my license.

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Andrea

I feel your pain. My home rink did the same thing this summer. We are only going to have ice from 6-8/9am Monday through Friday. That is not feasible for someone like me who has to be at work at 7am. While I do get one weekday off a week and I will skate there then, I'm angry and upset that rink management did not respond to my e-mail addressing my concern and while the rink I'll be practicing at is closer to home and cheaper, it's not a regulation surface, as that rink's surface is smaller.

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

I have no car. I normally walk to my rink, but it's closed for the summer. I could, I suppose, take a bus to another rink (probably about an hour dealing with the bus) that isn't all that far away... but for me, at this point in my life, it's not worth it.

I'm skating for fun and exercise; it comes secondary to a lot of other things in my life, so this summer I run, lift weights, do elliptical training, and I've just started a yoga class. Sometimes I rollerblade, too.

Casey S
Glad the tips were helpful. 4 miles in 20 mins is not bad at all, especially if the terrain if rough! I don't know what kind of rollerblades you have, but I've been reading on the internet about rollerblades that are built for figure skating. At this point, these skates would be useless for me, but for a more experienced ice skater they may help out. The PIC inlines are a good example of an artistic inline. The Triax brand is priced in the same range as a high-end ice skate set ($300-$700). I'm not sure what the cost is for PICs, but here is a link -->

http://www.skate-buys.com/picinline.html

PIC skates (http://www.picskate.com/) are quite expensive - I want a pair but no way can I afford it (and even if I could, I'd have a hard time bringing myself to spend that much on roller skates). I got my pair of standard el cheapo rollerblades (the ones that are under $100 new) for $1.50 on a half price day at a thrift store (regular price: $3.00). They work out well since I can't afford to fix the brakes on my car, which are in a really bad state.

They're in the same price range as Triax, but from everyone I've heard from who has used both or either in addition to ice skates, PIC is a much better choice than Triax. You can spin and even do double and triple jumps on them (assuming you have the skill).

We have an electronic sign on the side of the road that shows what speed you're going - if I skate on the road past it, it says 12 (mph) so that works out to be consistant with the time it takes to get to the rinks. The only thing that sucks is that theres's a pretty steep downhill grade right before I get to the rink - I've never figured out how to deal with hills - I can come up them okay, but going down is another story entirely, so I usually walk along the grass (which keeps the wheels from rolling) instead.

I'm not much of a rollerblader - I don't really like them and can only do basic forward movement on them, but they're good cheap transportation, and since I've gotten used to the transition between rollerblades and ice skates (which took a while to get used to), I don't require any warm up time at all when getting on the ice.

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

Thank you everybody for your replies. Part of my reluctance to travel so far for ice (not so far compared to some of you! ) is that I've never skated through the summer before. Skating has always been an outdoors winter activity for me, it was even weird skating after March, indoors, wearing shorts to the rink, so it is a culture shock.

I've decided to pass on the stinky rink, but am going to do the big drive to the out out out of town rink for a once a week skate and lesson. I also found out that there is a public session about an hour after the figure session, so if I'm going to drive all that way, I'll stay a while, eat, and skate two sessions. However, it's not all gravy, because public in Canada means hordes of counterclockwise lap skaters, no fancy figure skating allowed. But it's good for fitness so, yeah I'll admit it, I'm an addict.

I'm also riding my bike already, and doing some new stretching things. Believe it or not, I've never rollerbladed, that's just too scary, having a fall on concrete. Ice is much more soft.

Well, I travel 30-45 minutes a lot of times to go up to Everett, which is considerably cheaper (we have a family membership, 6 months unlimited public sessions for 4 people for $150... which works nicely because the morning sessions are pretty empty ). We also drive down about an hour both ways to have my brother go to a speedskating class... but then it's not just ice, it's a class with an awesome teacher. I don't know, personally I wouldn't mind traveling quite a ways, but my parents definitely think otherwise.