POLL: How far do you have to drive to get to your rink?

[jebnolte]

I just wanted to take a poll to see how far everyone traveled to get to their ice rink. We have to travel 30 miles (45 min. without traffic and about 1.5 hr. with traffic) The rink is right off the interstate so there are always traffic jams in the early evenings. Right now we will only be going 2 times a week since my daughter is a beginner, but that will be very expensive on gas when if she stays in it and we have to travel 4-5 times a week! If someone drives further than me it will make me feel a lot better! :)
Thanks,
Julie

[flippet]

This will probably get more replies in this forum. :D

~flippet

[TaBalie]

Less than 1 mile right now, and when I move back to SF, it will be maybe 2-3 miles (about 10 minute drive due to regular traffic).

[phoenix]

I go to a few different rinks in a week. The closest is a 45 min. drive, the farthest is about and hour & 15 min. That's if there's no traffic.

[jazzpants]

Half hour drive to my home rink. 45-50 minutes to my weekend rink. Half hour to my alternate weekend rink. (I know. Why don't I just make my alternate weekend rink my permanent one? It's USUALLY TOO DARN CROWDED and not as big, that's why!!! :twisted: )

Natalie? 10 minutes to YB!?!!? YOU LUCKY DOG!!! :twisted: :P

[LoopLoop]

I'm pretty spoiled. My main rink is 3 miles from my house, and the rink I go to sometimes on weekends is 7 miles away.

[Skate@Delaware]

My home rink is 8 miles away-usually presents no problem unless the big honkin' combines hog the road :evil: (that is only briefly in the fall & spring).

My summer rink is 2 hours away, through beach traffic :giveup: and a very boring drive.....with tolls.....

[skaternum]

To get to my main rink, it takes me about 20 minutes. However, to get to work from there, it takes me about 45 minutes if the traffic isn't too horrible.

[sue123]

The rink by my house is maybe a 15 minute walk. But I don't go there often, it's only open on weekends and is way too crowded, and full of hockey kids. The rink by my school which I usually go ot is about 20 minute drive. In the summer, I go to 2 rinks, one is about 45 minutes, the other is 1 and a half hour train and bus ride (parking at htis rink is horrible, they make you pay and it's way more than I'm willing to dish out, plus tolls, it's not worth it)

[sunshinepointe]

There are about 5 major rinks within a 15 mile radius in my area, and then another one about 45 minutes away either north or south. So 6 rinks within a 45 minute drive - but *MY* rink is only about a 15 minute drive.

[Debbie S]

One rink I go to is about 30 miles away, which can take anywhere from 35 minutes (no traffic) to 1 hour or more (afternoon rush hour). 2 other rinks where I also go are closer - 1 is about 15 minutes and the other is about 20-25, depending on how many red lights I hit.

[FrankR]

To get to my main rink, it takes me about 20 minutes. However, to get to work from there, it takes me about 45 minutes if the traffic isn't too horrible.

I'm in a similar situation as skaternum. My home rink is only 12 miles from home and I can get there in twenty or thirty minutes. However, I work about 35 miles away from home. Driving from work to the rink takes me about 45 minutes as well.

Frank

[dbny]

December - first week of March: only 15 minutes

The rest of the time, I give myself an hour. I usually make it in 45 minutes, but on occasion have taken more than an hour.

[MissIndigo]

When I get back into skating... :giveup:

My primary rinks are a 10-minute walk from work and a 20-minute walk from my home.

There's also another facility about 20 minutes down the interstate I will probably use.

[Raye]

OK: Here's mine. 8-)

Home rink is 10 minutes from home three mornings a week before work, which is also within 10 minutes from my home (the joys of a small town)

Second rink - two evenings a week is about an hour and ten minutes from here in good traffic and between 1:20 and 1:45 if traffic is ugly. (about 20% of the time)

Saturday rink - with my Granddaughter in her small town two and a half hours away from my small town.

[slusher]

Also a small town.

Rink 1 - 4 blocks from home
Rink 2 - 2 blocks from work

I skate at rink 2, it's closer!

This is in the winter season, summer is a different story, I drove 1.5 hours each way for 1 hour of ice all summer.

[pedonskates]

I don't post often, but...

We lost our ice "temporarily" I hope.

In town the rink is 21 miles from my house. It takes 30 minutes to an hour depending on the time of day. Early am I can get there in half an hour and then it's only 15 minutes to work.

Right now I'm commuting 117 miles each way once a week to skate. That takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes each way. Often I have a hard time getting myself out of the car once I arrive home.

[techskater]

Pedonskates - that sucks!

I am 9 miles (about 17 minutes) from my primary rink which is 3-4 miles from work (7 minutes at rush hour) and about 8 miles from there to home. My "other" rink is a good hour away but the only place to get night time ice once a week

[TiggerNSkating]

The rink I skate at is about 65-70 miles away- about 1 hour and 15 mintutes most of the time since it is straight interstate driving. It's the closest and just reopened not to long ago, thankfully! I try to skate twice a week for now, but last week I came down with strep throat, so I didn't get to skate at all... :cry: oh well... I am looking forward to being back on the ice!

[icedancer2]

My main rink is 10 miles away -- takes about 20 minutes to get there in the mornings.

The rink where I take my dance lesson that has actual dance session is a five-minue drive from my house.

One rink is about a 40 minute drive and another is 15 minutes from my house in the opposite direction.

8-)

[sceptique]

My best time is 23 minutes, but that would be breaking a few speed limits. Overall, about 25.

[Thin-Ice]

This should make you feel better jebnolte:

The closest rink to my house is 40 minutes and 30 miles away. The next closest is 23 miles and 45 minutes away. But they are both EAST of my house. The rink where I skate one day a week with my moves coach is 50 minutes WEST of my house, and a 20-minute drive from work (I go after work) but since someone has broken into my car there twice in the last 15-months, I now take public transit. (And I'm even more irked because the local cops told me "well maybe you shouldn't go to the rink any more".. as they took the crime report in the rink parking lot! -- I would put the "evil/devil" smiley here, but I can't get it to drag over.) So now it takes me an hour to get there (That includes taking a 1.5 mile walk each way.. at least I'm nicely warmed up by the time I get to the rink.. but on days I take a bad fall, that walk just PROVES how hard the fall was) and an hour to get back to work where I leave my car, and then 45-minutes to drive home... if there is no traffic. I used to go to that rink 3 days a week.. but the entire break-ins/public-transit-time-consuming hassles have soured me on that (for now).

The rink where my primary coach teaches (and I take 2 lessons a week from her) is 75 miles away; it takes me about an hour and 15-minutes to get there from work, if there's no traffic... but since I drive there right after work in the morning commute (I work a graveyard shift 11pm-7am) there is ALWAYS traffic and it usually takes at least 90-minutes. Of course, going home, it takes me more than two-hours.. without traffic.

Now do you feel better? (I still think SKATING itself is worth it... but my husband thinks I'm crazy.. especially with the cost of gasoline going up-up-up. He MAY be right.. but don't tell him I said that.)

[aussieskater]

Perspective from a different continent - I live in Sydney Australia, and when we train for synchro (at 5 am on a Sunday morning - where's that evil smiley when you need it!!), it's only 8-10 minutes away by car (there is no public transport to this rink at all from our area at any time. It's the car or nothing.)

This is my home rink and the one I go to 99% of the time. During more normal times: at peak hour (when I travel to the rink on a Monday and Wednesday morning), it can take from 30 min to 1.5 hours. Depends on the traffic. Then I have to find a park, but before 10 am on a weekday morning it's not usually too bad.

Out of peak hour, I normally allow about 20 min, plus 10 min to find a park. (Especially on a Thurs night, when it's late night shopping here, and the shopping centre where the rink is located is crowded.)

[jenlyon60]

14 miles each way, about 15-20 minutes drive. No public transport available if I wanted to use it.

[Mrs Redboots]

Ten minutes in the car on a Sunday morning - can take over an hour on the bus on a Thursday night! :( It's about 3-4 miles (an hour's walk, although I never do walk more than half-way).

The rink we go to once a month is about an hour's drive across London, so probably 15 miles. And the rink we sometimes train at if the Husband is working on something with Other Woman takes about 2 hours to get to by public transport, and a good hour's drive. Probably 30-40 miles away.

[coskater64]

My old rink was 2.5 miles away, a 4 minute drive, but the parking on a major university campus was hellish and expensive. Then I changed to a rink about 12 miles away but it didn't work for me either. So now I skate at a rink about 25 miles away and about 30 minutes by car but it's such a nice rink I figure it's worth it. The winter can be scary very large hills, black ice and a wicked wind that blows straight off the mountains seriously like 60 mph.

But isn't it worth it -- to skate :lol:

[StarshineXavier]

When I'm at home, it takes roughly 10 minutes by car to get to either of the 2 rinks I skate at. When I'm at school, it takes 5 minutes to walk to the on campus arena. When I have to go for synchro practice from being at school, it takes 45 mins to an hour by car depending on traffic/weather.

[Joan]

There is only one rink in the area, and it is not olympic sized, but at least it is convenient.

[Mel On Ice]

For my home rink it's 16 miles, or about 20 minutes of highway+road. It takes only about 12-16 minutes to get there from my office. For my summer weekend rink, which is closer to my house, it's also about 20 minutes.

[blue111moon]

Home club is 15 miles from home, 8 miles from work. Either route takes about 30 minutes.

I have been known to drive insane distances to skayte, though. One summer I drove to Boston 6 days a week - 50 miles each way ave. time was an hour (thank God for the Turnpike!) for 2 hours of ice. And a couple summers ago, I drove 65 miles each way (on a good no-cops day I could make it there in 55 minutes but coming home was usually closer to an hour and half) for two hours of ice.

My rule is that I won't spend longer in the car than I do on the ice. Which is why I avoid a couple of rinks that on paper aren't that far from me. One is only 22 miles from home but the roads there and back are horrible and when it started taking me 75 to 90 minutes to get home, I crossed it off my list. The other is 42 miles and not far off a major highway that should make driving a breeze but it seemed like every time I drove, there was a major accident that shut down the highway for hours. Plus their ice sessions are only 45 minutes long. After one trip took me nearly three hours to get home, I decided it wasn't worth the stress. Now my home rink is open year round so I don't have to travel. :D

[Kelli]

15-20 minutes, really closer to 15 with no traffic lights, at 6am. And I pretty much come from the FARTHEST distance of everyone I skate with.

[twokidsskatemom]

Our home rink 7 miles maybe 10 minutes
Rink in town 20 minutes
Rink at college , has some ice but mainly hockey 30 minutes

Then closest rink is 400 miles or so.

[luna_skater]

Synchro on Sundays - about 30 minutes drive.

Synchro on Mondays - about 10-15 minutes drive.

Practice Mondays and Wednesdays - on campus, so just a short walk from my art studio to the rink. Campus is about 10-15 min drive from my house.

Lesson on Thursdays - about 30 minutes drive (same rink as Sunday synchro practice).

[Figureskates]

10 minutes on foot.

Kelli will kill me, I know. :lol: :lol:

[sceptique]

My rule is that I won't spend longer in the car than I do on the ice.

That´s exactly the reason why I'm still unsure whether it´s worth adding one extra session during working week at Sheffield. The train journey from Manchester will take about 1.5 hours, so even though I'd make it to the opening of public session at 19:30, it would mean getting back quite late. I only have 5 weeks in Manchester left anyway (hopefully!), and although 5 days is a big gap between sessions, I'm not sure if it's worth the trouble.

[Scarlett]

Unfortunately for me..there are tons of rinks in the area but none of them are really close to my house. My lesson rink is about 25 miles away but involves hoping that nothing bad happened on the bridge. It can take anywhere from 30 - 45 minutes to get there unless water is falling from the sky and then I can just forget it. My two practice rinks are about 20 miles or 30 min away with minimal traffic.

[Kelli]

10 minutes on foot.

Kelli will kill me, I know. :lol: :lol:

Mind if I crash at your place the nights before the 6:15 sessions? ;) Actually, I'm more likely to be at the rink on time for a 6:15am freestyle session than I am when monitoring a 3:15pm general skate. Shows where my priorities are...

Seriously, I drive less than 20 minutes, and all the kids (pretty much everyone lives locally at our rink) look at me like I drive in from Timbuktu.

[N-square]

I can't drive and there are no buses to the ice rink, so I have to go by tram and it takes me about 50mins - 1 hr to get there.

[PattyP]

I'm fortunate to have 5 rinks within 10 miles of my house.

My home rink is only 15 minutes away from home, but it's 25 miles to work which can take 45 minutes in traffic.

[Skate@Delaware]

I'm fortunate to have 5 rinks within 10 miles of my house.

My home rink is only 15 minutes away from home, but it's 25 miles to work which can take 45 minutes in traffic.
Sounds like a nice place to "retire" to!!!

[roza]

My nearest rink is 50 miles away and at least a 75 minutes drive, or 2 1/4 hours (and £22.50!!!) by public transport. I would love to skate seriously, but the logistics are simply prohibitive since I don't have a car.

Needless to say I cannot wait until I've done all my pre-MA work experience and can move to a more skating friendly town.

[Skate@Delaware]

If gas prices go up and stay up next summer-I won't be driving up north to skate; I will instead skate on my PIC skates and go to our roller rink (30 minute drive) or at lunchtime near my office (sidewalks & old unused basketball court).

I can't skate in town-local regulations are against any kind of rollerskating! :evil: (because of the skateboarders)

[NickiT]

I'm incredibly lucky as I live just a 3 minute drive away from the rink.

Nicki

[Holiday]

40min


00000000000000000000
:giveup: because it was to fricin short(will one of you admins change that it is very annoying :giveup:

[The Ice Demon]

Geez now I feel guilty - I have NOTHING to complain about.

I travel 10-20min to my local rink (depending on traffic & time of day) and 20-45min to the other rink in town. My work is about 5 min further on from my local rink too. (Thats why applied for a job there8-) )

I didn't realise how lucky I was!

[Andie]

My main rink is about 35-37 miles away and takes about 45 minutes to a little over an hour to get to and back from, depending on traffic and how fast you go. Going about 55mph on the service road, with a few intersections and stops, it takes a little over an hour. Going 65-70mph on highway makes the time closer to 50 minutes.

One other rink I occasionally go to is 22-23 miles and I don't like that one as much. Unfortunately it's the closest and the one I like least. Another rink I've gone to and used to take lessons at, is about 40-42 miles away (it's the St Louis Blues hockey team's former practice rink too).

I'm trying to get a job in the area of the rink that's 22 or 23 miles from me. Maybe I'd somehow be able to squeeze in practice the same day as work, if I get the job I want in that area.

Oh *slap forehead* I've also skated at a rink about 50-55 miles away, the same ice surface the Blues practice on now.

[blisspix]

I don't drive. You can imagine this makes it difficult. It takes 10 mins on the bus, then 10 mins walk to get to my nearest rink, but I don't like that rink very much.

The other one is a little closer to my work, takes approx 1.5 hours to get there by train and bus, and then when I finish it's 30 mins to work on the bus.

aussieskater - I understand the public transport problem. When I was in Perth I couldn't do early mornings (before say 8am) due to lack of public transport. Sydney is marginally better.

[blisspix]

(And I'm even more irked because the local cops told me "well maybe you shouldn't go to the rink any more".. as they took the crime report in the rink parking lot! -- I would put the "evil/devil" smiley here, but I can't get it to drag over.)

Someone was once murdered in the lane next to my old rink. It was a high crime area. I used to take the bus there, and people would throw rocks at the bus. Ugh.

[Mrs Redboots]

I don't drive. You can imagine this makes it difficult. It takes 10 mins on the bus, then 10 mins walk to get to my nearest rink, but I don't like that rink very much.I don't drive, either. And even if I did, I probably wouldn't drive to the rink very often, as ours is pretty easy to get to by public transport (either 2 buses, or a 10-minute walk and then a bus). All the same, when it is a cold, wet, dark Thursday evening, I sometimes bottle out of going to Dance Club - but then again, I might bottle out of driving under such conditions.....

[Thin-Ice]

Someone was once murdered in the lane next to my old rink. It was a high crime area. I used to take the bus there, and people would throw rocks at the bus. Ugh.

I will grant you this rink is not exactly in a GOOD neighborhood. But the only really violent crime we've had there was a few years ago when a woman was kidnapped while getting in her car right in front of the rink about 10pm on a Sunday night. They never did find her. :cry: We were still all doing figures at that point, so for the next few weeks no one would get out of their cars until there were at LEAST three people there so we could all walk in together.