Skating Fridays

Have Skates, Will Travel (plus a camel spin video)

My coworkers are often surprised when I tell them that I bring my skates when I travel (for work). It’s fun to visit new rinks and skate with new people around the country.

A few weeks ago, I went to Orlando for an overnight work trip. I researched rinks in the area and found one that wasn’t too far from my hotel. The freestyle schedule felt a little spotty when I found it online, so I contacted the skating director to see if it was accurate. The skating director said that I could come in the morning to skate before my return flight home, so I took her up on the offer.

Turns out that the rink management opened the rink just for me. I had the entire place to myself for a full hour. It was glorious. I worked on moves, spins, jumps, and my program.

Here is a video of my camel spin. I’m working on getting up to 15 revolutions but am not there yet. This one is about 9.5 revolutions. Hopefully I can get to 15 by the end of the year!

For those of you who skate, do you bring your skates with you when you travel for work?

4 Comments

  1. Helin Shiah
    June 7, 2019 / 1:16 pm

    Absolutely! I also keep a list of all the rinks at which I’ve skated. It’s nice to have something that is both a change of scene (being in a different context while doing your normal skating) and a source of stability (having your normal sport during work travel, which is often stressful).

    Nice camel spin!

    • evabakes
      Author
      June 7, 2019 / 2:18 pm

      Yay – glad I’m not the only one that keeps track of the rinks I’ve been to or brings my skates on trips!

  2. June 7, 2019 / 4:43 pm

    Whenever I’m somewhere for an extended period of time, I try to look for rinks. That private ice, though, is quite a rarity! Fun to see that nice camel spin–that spin has really come a long way! Impressive!

    • evabakes
      Author
      June 7, 2019 / 9:01 pm

      Yes – private ice is pretty rare! I was fortunate enough to have private ice down in Dallas before too!

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