May seem a funny thread to start. Ever have a question about what everyone else does with their skate laces, pant legs, protective pads, or what-have-you?

Here is what I want to know:

1. What do you do with your hair, if it's long? I noticed today during two-foot spins that as I turned, my hair flew! I had to tuck my braid into the back of my jacket so it didn't fly, as I was afraid it was going to put me off balance (my hair is knee-length and very thick...it makes a braid that is fat and goes to the bottom of my butt, so yes, it's a concern!).

2. What do you do with your stuff? I usually lock my wallet, cell phone, etc. in my glove box. I have not seen lockers at either of my rinks. (At the rink I go to attached to a school, they'll put my stuff behind the desk for me) However, as the weather gets hotter, I'm not so sure it's good to leave my cell phone in a hot car...but I'm not trusting enough to leave it in my skate bag rinkside either.

1. What do you do with your hair, if it's long?

I pull mine back tight at the nape, then twist it upwards, wrap it around itself and clip it down with a thin little clip. The clips I like are hard to find, so I buy them whenever they turn up. They last a long time, but I don't want to be without one when I need it. That twist of hair gives me a nice pad on the back of my head in case I fall. You could take your braid and wrap it up and round and round like a snail to make a nice pad also.

2. What do you do with your stuff?

On freestyle sessions, I put everything in my skate bag and put the bag in a hockey box on the far side of the rink. During busy public sessions I use two lockers in a non-public part of the building. When it's not so busy I just put my bag in a gated box (used for hockey, officials maybe?) near the rink entrance, where there's usually a security guard and there are often beginners creeping by holding the wall. Many of the coaches put their stuff there. Some put their stuff in the music box, but I don't like that because it opens to the walkway with benches, is often left open, and anyone there could just reach in and grab something.

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1) I just got my hair cut so it's a cute shorter ponytail length, but before it was longer (not even close to yours though!), I would put it in a ponytail and loop it under (not pull it all the way through on the last time around with the holder). Lots of the kids at the rink who have longer hair do buns to keep it out of the way.

2) I usually only skate at club ice or on campus, so I just leave my wallet in my bag (knowing the risk I take - but during rink ice, my bag is sitting there with a board member who knows whose bag belongs to who; on campus, there are usually only ever 5 people max in the rink ). My cell phone comes on the ice with me (just in case something happens at work...hasn't happened yet *knock on wood* but there is a remote possibility of a fire, death, etc. that I would get an urgent call about). I am supposed to be the only skater (minus the coaches) who can have their cell phone on the ice because of the nature of my job.

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Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

1. Long Hair--I don't have long hair, but my solution would work. I wear a stocking cap. Most people would find this unattractive, but it works for me.

2. My stuff---I take a different route, I wear a vest with pockets and put my cell phone and wallet in the pockets. I have a half dozen vests in different colors, white, pink, black, red, blue (my favorite). Since I can get cheap gloves at the dollar store, I like to have them match my vest. Nothing screams 'old lady' like matching vest and gloves.
I've left small amounts of cash, camera's and other stuff in my bag then stuck it on top of the lockers. No one ever touched it. I know theft must occur at rinks and I wouldn't leave more than 5 bucks in a bag, but I've never heard any stories from anyone.

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Great forum quotes:
On Falling: '...it doesn't matter, it's what you do AFTER you fall that's more important' ISK8NYC

1. What do you do with your hair? My hair is long and sometimes I leave it down, which really irks my coach (but I keep a band so I can pull it back so she doesn't get twitchy). Sometimes I pull it back and clip it with a barette, but because it tends to curl & go crazy in the humid rink air, it gets loose and I look like "crazy skating lady" so I can't win....

2. What do you do with your stuff? I usually leave any valuables locked up in my car, other stuff is placed in my Zuca bag.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

1. Hair. Ponytail. Even though I'm over 50. I feel like I should be too old for a ponytail by now (I'm a grandmother, for heaven's sake!), but I haven't figured out anything better yet.

2. Stuff. In skate bag, either in the lobby or the coaches' locker room. I guess it's taking a risk, but we all know each other here and there are skate moms crawling all over the place. In 14 years, I've never had anything stolen, and neither has anybody else that I know of.

1. Hair. My hair is fairly short, but even when it was longer (mid back length), I just put it in a ponytail and pin my bangs back. I use gel or wax for fly aways. Even though it's pretty short, it sometimes whacks me in the face, but I'm kind of used to it lol. Camel spins and donuts were really interesting with a long ponytail--it usually ended up right across my eyes. If I'm working on Biellmanns I usually loop my hair through my ponytail holder so I don't grab it along with my blade.

2. My stuff. Honestly, I guess I'm pretty careless with my stuff, but I skate at a really small rink where everyone knows everyone. If there's a super crowded public session I'll either bring my bag with my wallet and keys with me across the ice or put it in the pros room.


This isn't quite a "What do you do with..." question, but similar. What do you all bring onto the ice with you? I bring tissues, water, iPod/cds and a crash pad. I always feel like I bring so much more out that everyone else! I guess that's because everyone just uses my tissues. Bah.

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If I'm working, I bring everything and the kitchen sink with me. In my outside jacket pockets I have my cell phone, 5 clean tissues (to start me off), gloves, spare gloves for tots, a mini ball point pen, and a lighter (to fuse lace ends on the rentals when they get pulled out of the holes). In the inside pockets I keep my business cards, stickers for my students, a pack of tissues, and cash for making change and from lessons. If I'm at another rink and just skating, I only have tissues, business cards, and gloves. I recently added an MP3 player, but since it's playing my music way too fast, it's now out.

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In my skate bag I have blade guards of course, my knee and elbow pads, two pairs of gloves (one are the thin typical kind; the other are thicker with Thinsulate and such), a fleecy headband (though at the cold rink I've started to wear a full hat as I get a headache if my head/ears get too cold)...and I think that's it. If I forget to bring a kleenex, as I have been lately, I just grab a napkin from the concession stand or paper towel from the bathroom...

Oh, and my towel to dry my blades!

Hm, well for when my hair was long, I did as another person suggested: not pull all the way through on the last twist of the holder so the end of the hair stuck up in a little fountain at the top while the rest hung in a loop.

Stuff, I keep it in my bag rinkside. Once I'm on the ice I don't like to get off, so I can just lean over to get at things. It is a big risk. I put my bag under all the other stuff to sort of hide it.

And what's in my bag? Soakers, tissues, skate sharpening kit, drink bottle, my shoes, handbag. Also a separate bag that contains: skate tape, bandaids, blister plasters, scissors, sewing kit, spare laces, spare Proflex wires & tool kit, nail varnish (to stop runs in tights), spare blade screws, moisture-wicking headbands, arm warmers, gloves, spare stockings.
Yes, I am a mother.

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Katz

Saved by Synchro!
I was over it, now I'm into it again !

1. Hair - My hair is shoulder length - Pony tail with one of those elastic headband to keep those annoying fly-aways out of my face

2. Bag - Both rinks I skate at every one pretty much just leaves all of their stuff in their skate bag in the warming room. At one rink, the front desk people are in the warming room and they would notice if someone went into someone else's bag and at the second rink, the offices are in the warming room and they would notice. Basically, everyone is on the honor system.

3. Rinkside - Music, water, sometimes tissues.

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

Visit my skating journal

I put my hair up in a ponytail and keep my stuff inside my skate bag on the side of the rink. Our daytime patch sessions are generally very quiet and safe enough to do so.

Nicki

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1. I have waist-length hair, which is always tied up in a ponytail to skate. If I'm dancing with someone, I normally have to pull the ponytail up into a loop or a bun, because otherwise it gets trapped under the man's arm. I am used to the weight of the ponytail, and when I wear it differently it feels quite odd! Plus it provides a cushion if I fall.

2. During patch sessions, my bag stays rinkside, usually padlocked. If I skate on a public session, I leave it somewhere less obvious. I don't tend to carry valuables around with me anyway - and our rink is normally pretty safe.

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"Every revolutionary idea seems to evoke three stages of reaction. They may be summed up by the phrases:
(1) It's completely impossible.
(2) It's possible, but it's not worth doing.
(3) I said it was a good idea all along."
- Arthur C Clarke

Firstly, Kat12, I'm very jealous - I've always wanted hair like yours but mine is way too fine to grow that long, it gets too scraggly once it gets below my shoulder blades.

Anyway:
Hair: Also ponytail, but as I've just had it cut and the layers re-done, I also need hair clips to hold the shorter bits back. It sounds like your hair is quite thick. That and the length may mean a looped ponytail wouldn't help much. I'd actually stick with tucking the braid into your jacket. I used to do exactly that when I used to fence, and the braid covered part of the target area. For practice I'd just tuck it into my fencing jacket, and for competitions I'd put it in a low bun.

Stuff: As I currently skate on a quiet patch and public session following, I just leave everything rinkside, but once the school holidays start and the rink is heaving with people (or if I see people I don't know just hanging around) I put my wallet, keys and mobile phone in my skate bag and padlock it shut (I put the padlock through the zipper tags). There are also lockers available if I want to use them.

Hi Kat12

I just cut my hair recently, so I do not have long hair problem. I would suggest that maybe you tied your hair into a ponytail. I tried keeping long hair once, but my mom just said that with long hair, I looked like a hippy.

With regards to my stuff, the rink I go to has very big lockers, so I just put my handbag, skating bag (inside have blade guards, soakers, and my wallet there) and also trousers for getting changed into after my ice skating practice into the locker. People do put their stuff on the benches, and also behind the bench, but then as I have my wallet inside the skate bag, I do not feel safe putting them onto the bench. I do not carry my wallet with me inside the locker, as it is too bulky.

londonicechamp

What do you do with your hair?



Well, obviously not much.
I would like to have some color back, but that would like be painting over rust.

What do you do with your stuff?

I don't carry my wallet into the rink, but keep it locked in the car. I take only a little cash to cover skating expenses and perhaps a soda. I tuck my shoes under a bench, put keys in my skating bag together with spare tissues, aspirin, etc., and fold my clothes over the bag. It also gets tucked under the bench.

I don't take anything rinkside, or I'd forget it. That's another problem with getting older!

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Bill Schneider

Hair

I do not look good with my hair back.My hair's not long enough to get in my way, nor do I spin fast enough or jump high enough for it to be a problem - so it competition and for tests I wear it down. For practice I wear a winter head band.

Stuff - our club as a room at the rink and I rent a locker. I keep my music, practice plan and water on the boards.

Bill, thanks for making my day with a laugh!

1. When I had long hair I usually put it in a half ponytail or barrettes to pin it back, and let the rest of it in another ponytail. Now I had it cut really short so I've been wearing a headband. I'm interested in getting one of those Lululemon workout headbands that have the "grippy" things underneath that supposedly make them stick to your head even as you move around, for $12.

2. My rink is in a very affluent suburb and everyone leaves their purses and bags rinkside. Even when I was in skate school and all the parents, siblings etc congregated rink side while the group classes, were going on, I sometimes had my purse out next to my skate bag but I never had anything stolen (still stupid of me to do though now that i think about it) . However now I take private lessons during an early freestyle (6:30-8 am saturdays). I still leave my stuff in the rinkside, but now I just shove my purse inside my zuca and close it up, so it doesn't attract attention...even though there's hardly anyone waiting outside the ice.

LOL, don't be...it can be a pain as well. There are people who can do anything to their hair and have it still look nice. I'm one of those people who can do anything to my hair to be nice to it and still have it get dry and damaged. Oh well.
My hair in a ponytail still goes to my waist or bum... Tucking it into my jacket seems to work if I don't fee like putting it in a bun, though.

LOL Bill! I actually think silver suits you, and it's a nice shade of silver. I hope when my hair goes, it's just that color....

I always have my hair in a bun. I don't stray hardly ever from doing that. A rare occasion (if I am running behind, a ponytail). I use WhirlaBun to keep it in place. That thing is the best!

I have a membership and a paid locker...so all of my stuff goes in there.

Rinkside, a bottle of water, my binder with testing info and coaching instructions, iPod, and a couple of kleenex.

Hair: Normally wear it short. When it gets long enough to be a nuisance, I put it up in a Stylee Comb, of which I have far too many! I don't like doing that, though, as it makes all the grey show.

Bag: As I don't skate public sessions, it's safe enough to leave my bag by the side of the rink; I don't bring any money or valuables unless I'm going shopping afterwards, and if I do, I bury them in my skate bag. The sessions are such that a stranger is quickly noticed and spoken to. If I were worried, I'd leave my stuff in the coaches' room.

Rinkside: Water, coffee, CDs of music and/or my MP3 player. Tissues if necessary.

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

Hair: Only shoulder length but I am one of the headband crowd - don't like eating hair after spins

Stuff: My regular session is "early morning competitive", maybe a dozen skaters at most, nearly as many coaches, so my stuff is in my skate bag in the player's box. There is no 'general public' and everybody knows everybody else.

At summer school, there will be LOTS of skaters and lots of strangers so the valuables stay in the car and the keys buried in my skate bag. At one rink where I used to skate, the ladies left their purses on the boards (on the far side of the rink) until one lady had her purse stolen, with her car keys, and went out to find her car gone.

I wont skate with hard stuff in my pockets, not after seeing a skater fall on her keys and nearly puncture her side.

Nice hair Bill!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

My hair almost always goes into a bun for practice if it's long enough for that (it's been anywhere from shoulder to waist length). If it's too short for a bun, then a ponytail.

I take my purse (containing wallet, keys, cell phone, gloves, tissues, my walk-on punch card, checkbook if I need to pay for ice or write my coach a check, you name it) and stick it in the back side of our boards while I'm skating along with my music and water bottle. There is a ledge to hold our stuff on the back side of the boards (facing in the hockey box) where we have to keep everything, since the coaches at my rink hate stuff cluttering the boards. The rest of my stuff (clothes since I come before/after work, suitcase, shoes, etc) stays in the lobby where we all keep our stuff. If the rink is busy because there is a hockey tornament on the other ice surface, we all move the rest of our junk into the hockey boxes just so it's not in the way. Otherwise no one touches it if we just leave it in the lobby.

We used to have our own club room where we could change and keep our junk (complete with our own bathroom/showers, couches for parents to hang out, a club office and a coaches' office and plenty of off-ice space)...but then the minor league hockey team decided to use our rink as their practice facility and our room got taken away and converted to a locker room/PT area for them. Boo.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

1. Hair - ponytail! I have long, thick hair, too, and any other style would require a million bobby pins to keep it in place. I'm used to it flying out behind me on spins and jumps.

2. My stuff - If it's a non-general public time (meaning only figure skaters and hockey players are around), I just leave my stuff in the lobby. If there's a public session going on in the other rink at the same time, I put my bag on the bleachers on the side of the rink. If I'm skating a public session, I leave valuables in my car or at home, and I either leave my bag on the bleachers (if the session isn't crowded) or put it in a hockey box. I've heard of thefts happening at both rinks where I skate (and both are in nice neighborhoods), so I'm definitely wary.

3. Rinkside - I bring my water and my CD, if I'm planning to skate my program. I usually end up draping my jacket somewhere and leaving my skate guards somewhere else. It's like playing hide and seek at the end of the session when I go to collect all my stuff