The thread for all figure skaters rolling around

[Snorlax]

Hello everyone! Just leaving a little sign to show that I'm still alive! Still no hope for our local icerink reopening. I have 2 other icerinks that are further away but they only reopened recently and they are so far away that I can't fit it into my schedule/finances to go regularly

This means I'm still a rollerskating Snorlax. I'm still on 4x80mm inline skates, and I recently achieved my first one-foot 3 turns! I'm honestly sooo excited about it because I struggled with it on the ice so much. Now I can do it on inline skates which somehow feels much harder/scarier because there's so much friction on the ground. Backwards skating has gotten a lot better too AND I'm now workingon pistol squats and waltz jumps off-skates/off-ice in preparation for the future. It's so much fun! And I really, really hope that some of those new skills translate over/back onto iceskates.

How's everyone here? Are most people back to gliding around on the ice, graciously? Or are there still others like me who are stuck with the rougher roller-version of skating?

 

[WednesdayMarch]

Hello everyone! Just leaving a little sign to show that I'm still alive! Still no hope for our local icerink reopening. I have 2 other icerinks that are further away but they only reopened recently and they are so far away that I can't fit it into my schedule/finances to go regularly

This means I'm still a rollerskating Snorlax. I'm still on 4x80mm inline skates, and I recently achieved my first one-foot 3 turns! I'm honestly sooo excited about it because I struggled with it on the ice so much. Now I can do it on inline skates which somehow feels much harder/scarier because there's so much friction on the ground. Backwards skating has gotten a lot better too AND I'm now workingon pistol squats and waltz jumps off-skates/off-ice in preparation for the future. It's so much fun! And I really, really hope that some of those new skills translate over/back onto iceskates.

How's everyone here? Are most people back to gliding around on the ice, graciously? Or are there still others like me who are stuck with the rougher roller-version of skating?

Hurrah for your first one-foot 3 turns! That's fantastic! Are your inlines rockered or flat? If you managed those on flat ones, I'm seriously impressed...

Heard yesterday, at long last, that our old ice rink in Plymouth are planning to reopen, although there's no date set as yet. I heard a while ago that they were planning to open for Christmas 2021 but as they now have a few staff going in part time to renovate and sort paperwork, I'm really hoping it's a bit sooner than that.

In roller news, I've only been back on wheels for a few weeks but I bit the bullet and bought a pair of Roll Line Linea. They were ex-demo (although brand new; the moulding seams on the wheels were still very much intact and the wheels totally shiny) and came with Edea Overture attached. They were a bargain in my size, so I snapped them up. Tried them for the first time today on a new floor and was totally thrilled. So much nicer without the long back, which I used to click against the front far too often for comfort as I wore dance blades for years. Eventually managed some RFI 3s today, too, which I'm pleased with as I completely forgot to take the bag with my padding in it and therefore felt very vulnerable and nervous.

I've been able to rent our village hall for the princely sum of £7 an hour, so I have a private practice one day a week there, and join the rest of my skating chums outdoors in Plymouth one morning and in a sports hall on Sundays. I'm still hoping to keep up with it even after we get our promised ice back, as now I've got the Lineas it's much more fun and motivating!

The Off-Ice ones will be for sale tomorrow, once I get my boots off them, along with the spare Edea Overture 245s!

 

[Snorlax]

Hurrah for your first one-foot 3 turns! That's fantastic! Are your inlines rockered or flat? If you managed those on flat ones, I'm seriously impressed...

Yes, I have them rockered now, I'm not a lunatic! Took me a while to get used to it but I also like trying slalom stuff so the rocker was inevitable!

Even with the rocker, the friction is crazy. Just not the same as on the ice! I'm still far away from doing my 3turns comfortably and my posture/form sucks BUT I can do them now without hugging a lamp post Just need to drill, drill, drill now!

Heard yesterday, at long last, that our old ice rink in Plymouth are planning to reopen, although there's no date set as yet. I heard a while ago that they were planning to open for Christmas 2021 but as they now have a few staff going in part time to renovate and sort paperwork, I'm really hoping it's a bit sooner than that.

All fingers crossed your rink reopens as soon as!! With the rink in Edinburgh - there's some weird stuff going on around the building being historic/art deco (under protection) and so they can't just renovate or re-build the interior, and apparently working around this costs a lot, even with the government funding. Personally, I've given up hopes that this rink will ever reopen...

Eventually managed some RFI 3s today, too, which I'm pleased with as I completely forgot to take the bag with my padding in it and therefore felt very vulnerable and nervous.

Ohh I know how that feels! I had a nasty fall, really slow but somehow managed to hit both my knee and tear my shoulder a bit, it still hurts! Of course that was on the day where I had forgotten my knee pads
I'm much braver with pads on generally. I even dared to go on skate ramps twice - all shiny forwards going down and up, but let's not talk about backwards

I've been able to rent our village hall for the princely sum of £7 an hour, so I have a private practice one day a week there, and join the rest of my skating chums outdoors in Plymouth one morning and in a sports hall on Sundays. I'm still hoping to keep up with it even after we get our promised ice back, as now I've got the Lineas it's much more fun and motivating!

Oh wow, that's nifty! It's so hard to find nice smooth surfaces here in Edinburgh and there's only really one nice place and that one is often very crowded. Basket ball courts are a good option but not reliably available We also have an indoor rollerskating rink but it's really tiny and I feel like a hamster in a wheel, only going one way! It's meant for quad skaters who aren't going as speedy as inline skaters I think.

Because of that situation, I've now ordered tri skates with 110mm wheels. Will be better for urban skating/pothole disasters as well as my new commute (have to travel every now and then to another site for work). It's about 8km between two towns along a cyclepath, quite rough but rollable and I always feel like the coolest noodle when I zoom into our work area (it's outdoors mainly) in the morning! Plus it's a very good workout, hit 2 birds in 1 stone!

 

[WednesdayMarch]

You most definitely ARE the coolest noodle! I have to admit that I am really impressed and tempted by the skates with the massive wheels. There's a guy who skates on Plymouth Hoe on them occasionally when I'm there and they look so smooth and speedy. I'll be taking my Lineas up there on Wednesday morning for the first time, so I'm hoping they'll be easier on the tarmac than the Off-Ice ones. The idea of commuting to work on skates is just fabulous but Roaring Mouse House is literally up 3 steps and then about 5 metres across a sloping lawn from my front door so that's not really an option.

We're really delighted that our rink is (hopefully) going to reopen, but it really is only a matter of time before it closes again. It's been totally neglected for years as an unscrupulous businessman who owns a chain of hotels was allowed to buy the entire site (including the old swimming pool and auditorium) for the princely sum of £1, provided he put the remainder of the market value of the site into building a new ice rink for the city. Now he's run our building down and totally failed to provide the promised new one. We've been to Court over the issue once. Plans have been passed and the new site fenced off but Covid stopped all work and the last we (and the BBC) heard was a short statement saying that they were "currently talking with our partners in the scheme about how and when to safely restart". That was last summer. Since then, nothing... We know perfectly well that he's trying to make it look like there's no interest in skating in the city/area and that it isn't a viable business. He'll no doubt be delighted to pay the rest of the market value of the site at the time of purchase, ie well over a decade ago, as a "fine" to the City Council and carry on with his hotel building plans. He's already closed the car park and is building a hotel on that part right now. We're going to have to start a high profile and noisy campaign...

Don't give up on the Edinburgh rink. Start a campaign. You're not the only one missing it. It's a beautiful and historic building - just as Richmond was - and surely even a crowdfunding campaign could help secure the financial support the owners need to reopen? Unless there's something shady behind the closure, ie wanting to use the land for something far more lucrative...

 

[Snorlax]

You most definitely ARE the coolest noodle! I have to admit that I am really impressed and tempted by the skates with the massive wheels. There's a guy who skates on Plymouth Hoe on them occasionally when I'm there and they look so smooth and speedy. I'll be taking my Lineas up there on Wednesday morning for the first time, so I'm hoping they'll be easier on the tarmac than the Off-Ice ones. The idea of commuting to work on skates is just fabulous but Roaring Mouse House is literally up 3 steps and then about 5 metres across a sloping lawn from my front door so that's not really an option.

Haha well, I guess you can always just replace other journeys with a round on wheels! I wouldn't commute to my usual workplace inside Edinburgh, the centre is way to busy, narrow-pathed and cobblestoned, but anything with somewhat okayish paths will be fine on those babies:

Tried them out yesterday, I wouldn't want to do any crazy maneuvres on them but for distance/speed and a very good fitness workout, these will be fab

We're really delighted that our rink is (hopefully) going to reopen, but it really is only a matter of time before it closes again. It's been totally neglected for years as an unscrupulous businessman who owns a chain of hotels was allowed to buy the entire site (including the old swimming pool and auditorium) for the princely sum of £1, provided he put the remainder of the market value of the site into building a new ice rink for the city. Now he's run our building down and totally failed to provide the promised new one. We've been to Court over the issue once. Plans have been passed and the new site fenced off but Covid stopped all work and the last we (and the BBC) heard was a short statement saying that they were "currently talking with our partners in the scheme about how and when to safely restart". That was last summer. Since then, nothing... We know perfectly well that he's trying to make it look like there's no interest in skating in the city/area and that it isn't a viable business. He'll no doubt be delighted to pay the rest of the market value of the site at the time of purchase, ie well over a decade ago, as a "fine" to the City Council and carry on with his hotel building plans. He's already closed the car park and is building a hotel on that part right now. We're going to have to start a high profile and noisy campaign...

Oh god. This sounds similar to some rumours I heard about our rink (not throughout the pandemic, but beforehand). It never happened (good luck or bad luck, I can't decide?!).

Don't give up on the Edinburgh rink. Start a campaign. You're not the only one missing it. It's a beautiful and historic building - just as Richmond was - and surely even a crowdfunding campaign could help secure the financial support the owners need to reopen? Unless there's something shady behind the closure, ie wanting to use the land for something far more lucrative...

Oh, we actually had a campaign already! There was a whole petition going on and some of our skater group even met our local MP who then wrote to the government, I think we were a part of the movement that got Scottish icerinks the funding support that they received a while ago!

But it looks like our capital city rink is a different story and it's not enough money. I have no idea how true that is - I am not at the direct source and there's been mumbling here and there about reasons and theories, but I'll try to not get entangled in that. If Murrayfield reopens, I'll be one of the first to storm their gates and throw all my money at them, if they don't, well...I guess I'll keep rolling and hopefully someone will have the enlightening idea to open up a new icerink in the Scottish capital!

When it comes to numbers - let's just say the Edinburgh rollerskating groups on Facebook grew from a handful of members to 500+ within the last 12 months or so, and most of those people actually come from an ice skating background. There definitely is a scene for skating, it was just tricky to lure everyone out into the public spotlights! I wish you best of luck with your local skating scene and rink. Maybe they need a similar push!

 

[WednesdayMarch]

Yes, the Plymouth roller skating group has bloomed throughout the last 12 months. There's definitely a skating scene in Plymouth and it would be a dream come true to have a roller rink as well as an ice rink. Happily, I'm pretty certain that quite a lot of people who have tried wheels would now like to keep both sports.

I tried my Lineas on Sunday on the smoothest sports hall ever and they were just amazing. And again on Monday in my village hall, where they were still fabulous. My Off-Ice ones are up for sale now as I know which I prefer, although it's very much a personal preference. I'm so lucky that the village hall are happy to rent the space to me as there really is nowhere to skate in the village. I live high up on Bodmin Moor and apart from the road surfaces being more than a little iffy, there's a definite lack of pavements (lots of country lanes) and some major inclines where it goes from chuffing hard work to ohmygodimgoingtodie in a matter of 2 pushes...