June 2002
Week of June 2, 2002
New Wheels on a Smooth Surface
This will be my third season of outdoor roller skating in the park. Although I do not skate year-round, and only about two or three times per week during the summer months, I have never found the roller rink in this park open. The gate is usually secured with a chain and padlock. The facility is probably reserved for community roller hockey leagues and private functions. Recently, I saw it used for a children’s party.
To my amazement, the place was not locked when I arrived this week. I intended to head for the basketball court, where I usually practice freestyle inline skating. What a treat! Not only did I have new harder wheels on my boots that would supposedly facilitate turning and spinning movements, I had a decent surface to test them. The basketball court is not bad, but it does slope gently allowing runoff of rainwater. This may not bother basketball players, but it is noticeable to a skater.
The roller rink was wonderful. It has a coated surface, probably some type of painted blacktop material that felt smooth under my new wheels. I skated laps as though I were in an ice arena. Hockey lines invited lobes of edgework. My forward outside edges are becoming good while the inside versions lag behind. I have not even explored backward edges yet. I did figure-eight crossovers forward and backward then power pulls down the length of the rink. Roller pulls require more vigor than on ice. My change of edge is also not as dramatic. Wheels seem inherently scarier to me than blades, and I tend to skate conservatively, probably because I am not used to them.
I also tried spins, without much success. The sweet spot must be further forward on rockered inline skates than ice blades. As a devoted ice spinner, I cannot adjust to this difference, nor is it especially important to me. I also practiced waltz jumps, tiny little things. Jumping on concrete hurts my landing leg, not initially, but hours later my left shin feels sore. Concrete cannot give, as ice yields to a blade. Spinning and jumping on inlines is not my priority anyway. I find rockered inline skates useful for stroking and basic skating, fundamentals that always deserve attention. Wheels are less accommodating than steel blades, allowing little leeway for sloppiness. Technique must be precise to generate a turn on wheels.
Psychologically, skating in a roller rink made my inline workout more fun than usual. If I had brought a radio, I might have skated for hours. I cannot be certain whether the new harder wheels are an improvement over my old ones. The rink was probably the dominant variable in this experiment. I loved that outdoor roller palace. Unfortunately, the gate was probably left open by mistake and will be impenetrable again when I return next week. How I wish I could use that delightful surface all summer. I might actually inline skate enough to make some progress!
Read about my first trip to the park and see a photograph of my basketball court roller rink.
Week of June 9, 2002
Things That Bug Me
Lots of things bug me, referring to skating in particular. I have spent plenty of bandwidth griping about how poorly I do this skill or that, how slowly I improve, or how disgusted I feel with the overall quality of my skating. Of course, there are good things about my skating too, and improvement is more or less within my control. The more I practice, the better I can become.
I have also shared many colorful stories about the usual external irritants: snotty attitudes, cancelled sessions, and lousy treatment of adult skaters by rink management. Lately, I have been spending most of my skating time at another rink with a different array of nuisances governed by the incompetence and disregard of its personnel. As much as I love ice skating, I get sick of all of the crap that comes with it.
The Ice is Not Ready on Time
On a disturbingly regular basis, the Zamboni man cleans the ice just as the session is scheduled to begin. Inevitably, his work consumes at least ten precious minutes of ice time. Then he makes a point of telling us to let the ice “settle” for another five minutes. Fifteen minutes of practice gone. By the way, dumbass, ice does not “settle”; water freezes. And for this, I studied chemistry. Why can’t this rink get its employees to perform their duties in a timely manner? In the real world, the boss reprimands anyone who is habitually late for work.
Hockey Session Skaters are Allowed to Start Early
A couple of days a week, the session I attend is followed by a hockey session for kids and self-proclaimed macho men. The guy who mans the counter is also a hockey jock, and has apparently taken a few pucks to the cranium. He lets the hockey skaters on the ice fifteen to twenty minutes early. This curtails my practice time. When six people wielding sticks join a group of adult freestylers, the adults’ fun is essentially over. Combine this with a late start due to tardy resurfacing and our session has been reduced by a half-hour.
A couple of us complained about this. The moron who unleashed the hockey dudes claimed we are skating a public session, after all. Since when are sticks allowed on a public session? Since when did the rest of us get to skate for free? Those hockey players did not pay for the public session, they paid for hockey ice that did not start for twenty minutes. Fat load of good our input will do. The counter guy had his skates on and was whipping around the rink with the kids. He also promptly shooed us off the ice as soon as the big hand reached the twelve. Sounds like a good, old-fashioned double standard to me.
Public Sessions Turn into Lesson Ice for Apprentice Coaches
No, they are not giving lessons to other skaters, they are taking lessons themselves in an effort to pass as many tests as possible to build their coaching resumes. I have no problem with anyone taking a lesson, but these young coaches get to skate for free. Although they pay for instruction, they are not charged for ice time.
This may not sound atrocious at first perusal; however, these people monopolize the rink. Their lessons can consume the entire two hours, meaning the rest of us (who paid admission) have to clear out of their paths. Sometimes they practice programs ad nauseum. Even without an instructor present, these novices will queue their music repeatedly working on routines, for themselves not their students.
On one particular day of the week, the situation has become so severe, that adults try to avoid the session if at all possible. Two of the young coaches, who are trying to add pair skating to their list of teachable subjects, take over an hour of pair lessons between them. They practice programs, lifts, and throws on a public session. One adult remarked that the session should no longer be called “public”. For the safety of its patrons, the rink should designate it “Pairs only”.
In my opinion, if agents of this rink wish to take pair lessons (or lessons of any sort), they should do so during off hours. However, if this is not possible due to conflicting schedules, they should at least be required to pay for ice time like the rest of us. As a college student, I took a Christmas job in a department store. Employees were expected to park their cars in the lower forty, availing more convenient spaces for customers. Why does this common courtesy not apply in ice arenas? It seems the only courtesy in rinks is an unwritten etiquette guide that completely unravels the moment someone aggressive yells: “Heads up” and plows on through.
Week of June 9, 2002; Part Two
Good Stuff
After venting earlier this week about the sundry things that bother me, I have to share three positive notes.
Outdoor Roller Rink Left Open
I have had the pleasure of three more visits to the outdoor roller rink in the park. Last Saturday, I found the front gate open and proceeded to skate. A man appeared later to set up for a hockey match, but he did not ask me to leave or complain about my presence. However, as children started to arrive, I switched to my quads and skated a few miles on the jogging path.
When I returned this week, the front gate was chained but someone had left the back door open. I let myself in and enjoyed the smooth surface. A father and his young son arrived after a half-hour to practice some slap shots. To the father’s credit, he restricted his child to one end of the rink, respecting my right to also skate there. The kid whined: “But I want to play the whole field!” The man explained that someone else was sharing the rink and he would have to stay out my way. Cool parent. Many parents I encounter in ice rinks perceive adult skaters as a waste of precious frozen real estate that stands between their little angels and a spot on the Olympic team.
No one disturbed me the next day, when I opted for roller skating rather than commuting to the ice arena for what promised to be a somewhat congested session. I skated happily, practicing moves in the field and stroking exercises. In only four trips to that paved paradise, my freestyle inline skating has improved dramatically. Although still lacking fancy turns and tricks, I am working on half jumps, including the half-lutz. My stroking patterns fill the rink with graceful fluid movement, something I never expected on inlines. This improvement transfers nicely to the ice.
My Very Own Freebee
In my last entry, I bitched aerobically about apprentice coaches skating for free and monopolizing the ice with their pair lessons and program rehearsals at the inconvenience of paying customers. Another adult and I also complained about hockey skaters allowed to invade our session fifteen minutes before the start of theirs. Maybe my complaint got around because the next day, I was given a free session.
The fellow at the counter (not the big hockey dope), did not punch my multi-session pass. He insisted this was a freebee. What a fantastic session I had with only one other adult and a few children taking beginner lessons! I skated for three hours. It is simply amazing how well I can skate without the distraction of people darting all over the ice expecting me to bail out of their way.
Stunts Done Well
While I doubt I will ever do backward inside three-turns at speed, they are improving significantly. I achieve decent flow and smooth, clean turns. My coach taught me a challenging pattern that incorporates several backward inside three-turns along with extensions and changes of edge. Of course, the pattern should be learned in both directions. This sequence may be complex; but I find it enjoyable, and its difficulty makes the basic backward inside threes seem much easier.
Two-and-a-half hours into my freebee session, I decided to fool around with double salchows. After a couple of sloppy attempts, I started landing the things. While my doubles are still ugly little mongrels, I completed several without falling and experienced the thrill of sustained aerial rotation. The secret for me is to kick the leading knee up high, as though ascending a steep staircase. This allows more airtime and a distinct snap into the backspin.
I received a compliment on my flying camel from another adult. She said the element looks beautiful with good height and speed. I have never seen myself perform this trick, though I know it is one of my best. It feels very natural and requires no contemplation, often inverting into an implausible spin position.
Building up to stars, I did a series of toe-assisted right forward outside three-turns and pushed directly into a scratch spin. This fantastic spin centered about thirty revolutions in a circle less than twelve inches in diameter. I don’t care how advanced the skater, there are not a lot of people who can do that. Unfortunately, I did not bring my digital camera. That tracing was a work of art.
Week of June 16, 2002
The First Three Years
The third week of June marks the three-year anniversary of my figure skating journal web site. I am surprised I have stuck with it this long. Sometimes I am actually amazed that I am still skating. Skating can be so aggravating both from a personal achievement point of view as well as dealing with the petty nonsense that occurs in rinks. But I love skating and the simple action of gliding over the ice gives me more pleasure than the sport elicits frustration.
In these three years I have become an overall better skater, not that I can document every achievement with a test report or an eyewitness. A brief flirtation with testing and programs yielded little satisfaction. However, serious moves in the field work has developed my basic skating and graceful coverage of the ice. I have learned to skate faster and approach jumps with more power and confidence. I have mastered difficult spin positions and explored various interesting combinations, some with more success than others.
In an almost universal quest, I battered my over-thirty body with axels. During in the 2000-2001 season, I was landing under-rotated amorphous axels with promising regularity. These might have eventually grown into something respectable, but nasty falls on overzealous attempts began to take their toll and forced me to reconsider my goals. I had better luck with the double salchow and can land beginnerish ones on a regular basis. This week, I began my jumping practice with single salchows and salchow-loop combinations then proceeded directly to the double. After chickening out a couple of times, I started landing. These are probably not improving in terms of overall quality, but what I can do has become consistent.
A recent coaching change has led to increased understanding of technique, which may contribute to further success with multi-revolution jumps. Hopefully, in June 2005 I will be able to describe how beautifully my footwork fills the rink accented with an attractive double or two.
Most of the topics discussed in this entry are highlighted in the journal sampler.
Read my very first journal entry.
Week of June 23, 2002
The Poser
This was the last week of the regular skating season before summer programs begin. Next week, I will be on vacation and will probably ice skate less frequently during the summer. My expectations for off-season skating are usually very low. My goal is maintenance rather than improvement.
With school out, I found the rink more crowded than usual. A different assortment of characters appeared, which I often enjoy if some of those people happen to be adult skaters. I like to evaluate the skills of various adults, often fascinated by their diverse array strengths. One particularly interesting skater impressed me with her artistry. She glided around the rink in attractive positions, hitting hydroblade moves and a glorious spread eagle that I would gladly exchange a couple of spins to own. The woman said she had not been skating long and does not know how to spin or jump. I had not noticed a lack of spinning and jumping tricks until she mentioned their absence. Her technically excellent body carriage led me to assume she could do all of the basic elements.
Aside from gliding around posing dramatically, this woman could actually do very little and struggled with preliminarily moves in the field making mine seem like championship footwork. I am absolutely amazed how impressive this skater looked without doing much of anything. She also possessed an ideal body type for adagio skating, long willowy limbs and a slim physique. Dressed in a sleeveless fluttering tunic and jazz pants, her ballerina appearance undoubtedly contributed to the effectiveness of each pretty posture, some as simple as a backward two-foot glide with her head tipped back and arms reaching upward. Such a simple theatrical thing never occurred to me.
Without a big stunt to her name, the woman inspired me to experiment with similar ideas, paying special attention to my arms and free leg. However, I highlighted my gliding movements with spins and jumps. The next day, I wore a sleeveless leotard, something I have absolutely never done. Although I am probably too large to display my armpits, wearing that leotard made me feel like a more graceful skater and forced me to concentrate on what my arms were doing.
This woman provided an alternate solution to the adult skating equation that does not require spins, jumps, or ice dance patterns. However, she does skate backward and forward with speed and confidence. She has also learned an assortment of turns and developed a nice spiral position. In terms of watchability, I found this person’s skating significantly more pleasant than an adult struggling with a difficult maneuver or flailing stiffly through basic steps. Whatever The Poser could do, she did well. Of course, I am not opposed to anyone working toward more advanced skills, but many of us may become so engrossed in learning complex elements that we forget the importance of good skating. I hope to see more of this whimsical skater this summer.
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