Hi all, as the rink I usually go skate will be closed for good on Monday and I have to travel a really long way to get to the new rink, I wanted to start this thread. The soon-to-be-closed rink is the best and the closest (about 10 mins from where I live) in Thailand (that's where I live by the way). I just feel sad and annoyed that it has to be closed and that I have to travel so far to the new one so please make me feel better by sharing your experiences of travelling to and from the rink. By the way, this new rink will take me about an hour to get there, anyone has worse?

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** Skate 'til You Drop **

Takes me 45 minutes without traffic. up to an hour and 15 with lots of traffic.

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that depends. one is about 5 minutes from my house, open only on weekends or school holidays. i had a dream the other day that they said they were going to be open every day, and i was all excited, but then they said the ice wouldnt' be available. that makes no sense though because all it is is an ice rink. but i was also an incredibly good skater in my dream.

the one that i go to when i'm at school is about 20 minutes away by car, if i leave from my dorm room. if i go to that rink from home it's about an hour drive, no traffic.

The rink where i take my lessons at is about an hour 15 minutes to an hour and a hlf on the train and bus. To drive there would probably be only about 35 minutes, but the parking is mad expensive. So i sit on the train and then get on the bus. Course, now that hte winter is coming, the buses are going to of course slow down and not show up for a long long time, but c'est la vie. you do what ya gotta do.

Daily practice/teaching rink is 45 minutes in the summer, 1 hour in the winter. So a 1 hour practice takes a total of 3 hours of my day.

Once a week, I drive 1 hour plus up to 30 more minutes to get to the rink where my coach is for my lesson. On the occassional week when I decide to take a second lesson, I drive 1 1/2 hours to another rink.

There, do you feel better? I skate 5 or 6 days a week, & have been doing so for 10 years now!

ETA: My dream would be to be able to afford moving closer to the rink!!!!!

My rink is about 35 minutes away by train. Although last week when it was extremely windy it took me an HOUR! I almost missed my lesson!

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Synchro rink, non rush-hour: 30 minutes
Synchro rink, weekday AM during rush hour: 40-45 minutes
Afternoon rink (home rink): 25 minutes

There are rinks with fifteen minutes of my house in either direction, but one I don't like (too crowded sessions with beginners who have no concept of right-of-way) and the other one is ok in the morning (I skate there sometimes before school) but it's more a recreational rink, several of my friends who are novice-senior level have had management give them a hard time about stupid things (one of them was looking for extra ice before Nationals and was basically told "we're not interested in having high-level competitors on our sessions ) so I avoid that place in the afternoons.

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Shae-Lynn and Victor: We knew you were champions, and on 3/28/03 the whole WORLD found out! Thank you for twelve wonderful years!

My usual rink through the winter is about 20 minutes away, the Wednesday morning rink is a 1/2 hour drive. Summer rink is also a 1/2 hour drive. I actually have at least 3 rinks closer to home, but I am happier with the folks I know at my usual rink. I know several people who regularly drive 45 minutes or more to get to their favourite rink.

I'm sure it must be disappointing to have your local rink close. They become our home away from home.

My rule of thumb is that if the drive to get to the rink is longer than the time I'll be on the ice, then I won't go!

Luckily, I'm within ~30 minutes of 6 rinks. (My 2 singles and pairs training rinks are 12 and 20 minutes away, respectively.)

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Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
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-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

I'm only 20 minutes away, but I have several friends that travel 1.5 to 2 hours each way to skate.

about 9 miles...takes about 15 minutes at 6AM in the morning, 20-25 minutes in late afternoon.

The rink here in North Miami closed for good last May.It was a 5 minute ride for me.There are 2 other rinks which each take about 45 minutes on a sunday morning to get to.During the week it can take over an hour in traffic to the same rinks.
Regards,GoldSeals

Synchro - 10-15 min, depending on traffic.
Fall/Winter lessons - 30min, 45 if there is an accident backing up traffic, which happens often.
Spring/summer - 10 min.

My rink in my hometown was less than 5 min away. Those were the days!

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~No thinking, breathing, or hesitation!~

I have had the pleasure to visit your beautiful country but I did not get to see any ice rinks except the show I was in at the time.
I wanted to skate as a kid but the closest rink was 600 miles away and all I could do was watch you all on a black and white TV.
Now Im only 50 minutes from my rink here in the states. I wish you the best of luck.

My coach lives and works in a different city from me (we can't move until the summer), so about 3 times a week I travel 2-2.5 hours one way . But once I get there, its worth it. The other days of the week, it takes me about 10 minutes to get to the rink... I used to work with a coach there, but as of about 3 weeks ago, I don't. I have been going to the coach in the other city for a while though, and like it alot. Just don't like the car rides... the things we do for skating eh?

I used to drivd 3 hours and 15 minutes to my rink everyday. It took the life out of me, but I did it for a long time. I now only drive about an hour each way to the rink, and it's a perfect length away from me. I don't like living too close to the rink, it seems like being an hour away, you can get home easily even when you're tired, but you're far enough away from any politics, snarking, and all that stuff going on. The rink is its own little world far away frm my home, and for me that is the absolute best mental mindset for a training center to be. By the time I get to the rink, I'm ready to go. I like my hour to myself mornings, actually. Not so much in the afternoon traffic, but it's not that bad.

I'm 20-30 minutes (non rush-hour) away from THREE ice rinks (one of them being my home rink) from home. And 45 minutes from my weekend rink and another rink in the area which I rarely go to (b/c it's not in a safe neighborhood...)

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
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Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

My main rink is 15 minutes in good to no traffic, 20+ if people forget to drive.
There is another rink that is 10 minutes away from me, but it is not regulation size and VERY COLD,so cold that I call it the meat locker.
There's a third rink that is 45 min away, but I rarely go there because of traffic issues.

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Count me as another one of the 45-90 minute each way crowd (depending on traffic, lights, railroad crossings, and weather). It's 35 miles each way, but not all highway driving. I spend WAY more time in the car than on the ice.

I'm 7 minutes from one very nice rink, as far as the ice facility itself, and it's super cheap ($5/hour). But I can't stand how they run their sessions: kids doing triples on the same ice as babies with helmets and jeans learning crossovers in the corner. I tried to skate there for a while, but got sooooo frustrated playing human dodge ball that I didn't skate well there. Also the parents there drive me crazy, and the coaches teach terrible technique from all I've witnessed. I wish their skating program was better so I didn't have to commute as far (and could sleep in later!), plus save some $$$.

Now I drive 25 mins non-rush/50 mins rush hour to a rink in the burbs which is more expensive ($9/hour). But frankly the sessions are better, the people are nicer, the coaches are amazing and I'm surrounded by serious skaters of all levels who train hard. I accomplish more there, and for me that's well worth the extra time and money.

There are tons of other rinks too in other 'burbs all about the same driving distance away, but I don't skate at those rinks too frequently. I really love mine!

I'm about 12 mins away from my home rink, but I used to travel about 40 mins to one rink, and 1-1/2 hrs to another

I'm really lucky as I live just 3 minutes away from the rink!

Nicki

Less than 10 minutes to my home rink, which I love a lot and visit often, with hard ice and the not-so-hot zamboni that doesn't smooth the ice as well as one might hope...

45 minutes to an hour to a rink farther north, which I occasionally visit on Wednesday nights...only 3/4 size and much more crowded, with softer ice that gets rough quickly.

45 minutes to an hour northwest to a really really amazing rink, where I've never skated and am frankly quite scared to because I'm nowhere near good enough (everyone who skates there is amazing). It also requires a $70/month membership...ahh...my long-term dream rink.

45 minutes or so northwest to another 3/4 size rink, where I've never skated but might one of these days.

45 minutes east to a lovely-looking rink that I've been meaning to check out sometime soon. I've never been.

I like the home rink because it's, well, close. The one farther east might be closer to work though...need to research. I also like going to the home rink because I feel my money is contributing towards keeping it open. I'd be very upset if they had to close.

In the car on a Sunday morning it takes about ten minutes - in the bus on a wet Thursday night, it can take an hour! I suppose it's about 5 miles away, perhaps not as much.

The rink we go once a month - ooh, we have a new great-niece, born yesterday (the news came through in the middle of this message!) - is 15 miles away, but takes an hour as it's directly across London from here. And the rink we occasionally go to on a Monday night is also about an hour away by car, but we go separately, and it takes me probably 2 hours to get to from door to door, allowing time to buy train tickets and catch a train. But we normally come home in the car, though!

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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!

I know you asked if anyone had worse, and some certainly do.

I'm of the very lucky in that the small town that I live in (Wolfeboro, NH, USA) is a summer vacation area and reaps the benefit of the money it brings in. We have a town ice arena that is only 5 minutes from my house.

Better yet, as a town resident I purchase a season family pass for the three of us at a cost of $50.00. That entitles us to all the public skates, which in the middle of the week are sparsely attended. My wife is the mid-week beneficiary of that.

I work in another town almost 30 miles away. But here again I came up lucky. This town also has a public arena and it is about 10 minutes away from work. The noon time public skate usually has 3 to 15 people there and costs me $2.

Because hockey is so popular around here, ice arenas are prevalent.

I wish you luck. Although not the same, have you considered Pik skates (wheeled). A friend of mine has them and thinks they're great. Much better than other types of inlines for figure skating moves.

Our local rink is about 10-15 minutes away, but the synchro rinks are a good 45-60 minutes each way. Now that Sectionals and Nationals are on the horizon, we're traveling to even further rinks to get ice time, at the wierdest times - like tonight Icy skates at 9:30-11:00 Pm, at a rink about 70 minutes away. We won't get home until after midnight!

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