Have skates, will travel
It was an effin' gorgeous day today, so an outdoor skating session was a must. My only problem was finding a place to do it.
When I first got my outdoor wheels during our inexplicably warm January, I just skated around my complex's parking lot. It was far from ideal though, since it's on a hill and was therefore a bit ambitious for a n00b still learning how to stop and trying to keep her skates from flying out from under her. Then the weather turned crappy for two months so the outdoor wheels were shelved.
I was determined to find a better place to skate--preferably someplace flat and where I wouldn't be menaced by the mailman's truck or people's dogs. I scouted around and found what looked like ideal conditions on the top level of the Nordstrom parking garage at the Columbia Mall. It was close to home, it was level, no one ever parked up there and it was big enough that I'd be able to work on getting my speed and endurance up. I skated there last week, but was chased off by a security guard after only an hour.
Today I checked out every damn parking garage in downtown Columbia, but the only one that had the right combo of huge, flat and empty was the Nordstrom garage. I said to hell with it and decided to try it again. I'd only been skating for about 20 minutes when security showed up. This time I didn't even wait for the guy to come over and yell at me. I skated back to my car, tore off my helmet and wrist pads, and threw them in the backseat. The security guy circled me in his SUV while I took off my skates and glared at him. He drove away once I got my shoes on, but I found him at the bottom of the ramp to the top floor waiting for me to leave. Whatev.
So I called my mother. The Joan has absolutely terrifying amounts of knowledge about the greater Columbia area, so I figured she'd have an idea about a public tennis court or something where I could go. She recommended the secluded tennis courts in Cedar Lane Park off of RT-108.
What I found there looked promising. One of the courts was in use (and boy did they look at me funny when I walked up there, skates in hand, still wearing my knee pads and fiddling around with the iPod I'd stuffed down the front of my sports bra for safe keeping), but the other two were free. I got my gear back on and set to skating again. The court was weirdly bumpy and there were big patches of dirt all over the place, but it was working fine for my needs.
I got maybe a half-hour of skating in before two maintenance guys in a Cushman rolled up and wandered onto the court. They were nice though. They didn't particularly care that I was skating there, although it was technically against the rules. They acknowledged that the rules hadn't been posted, so it wasn't like they were going to give me a hard time. They did warn me, however, that a woman who gives lessons there would be showing up soon and she would definitely raise a stink about my presence. The guys had some suggestions: Either I could head over to Centennial Park just down the road and skate on their jogging path around the lake or I could go over to Alpha Ridge Park and use their roller hockey rink there. One of the guys even called in to his office to see if the rink was open to the public today, which it was. I had no idea there were any outdoor skating facilities anywhere in the county, so this sounded like a great idea.
Alpha Ridge Park is somewhere in West Bumfuck, Howard County, nestled in the imposing shadow of, well, the landfill. It's actually a pretty nice place, truth be told. I drove up the hill to the park and lo, there near the port-a-potties was an outdoor rink with a wide-open gate beckoning me. Choirs of angels and frogs sang me to this roller skating Eden. It was flat, it was concrete and it was empty. Hot damn!
So excited was I that after donning my gear for the third time today, I decided to try a skill I hadn't practiced much, namely running on my toe stops. The running part I actually did okay with, it was the transition to skating that I didn't have down. I hadn't realized the concrete would be so slippery. My skate came out from under me and I fell down hard on my left buttcheek. Ouch.
It was all downhill from there. I got maybe another half-hour of skating in, but I was frankly worn out and famished, and my butt hurt. A pretty steady wind was blowing so skating into it was a hell of a workout. I was loving this rink though, so when the wind was at my back I'd try getting up a lot of speed and taking some really fast turns, just for fun. I was spent though. Time to head home.
But yeah, if you find yourself in Howard County and want to get some outdoor skating in, Alpha Ridge is definitely the place. As long as no roller hockey leagues are playing there, the rink is open to the public. I'll definitely be stopping by there again the next chance I get, and I'd love to have some company!
When I first got my outdoor wheels during our inexplicably warm January, I just skated around my complex's parking lot. It was far from ideal though, since it's on a hill and was therefore a bit ambitious for a n00b still learning how to stop and trying to keep her skates from flying out from under her. Then the weather turned crappy for two months so the outdoor wheels were shelved.
I was determined to find a better place to skate--preferably someplace flat and where I wouldn't be menaced by the mailman's truck or people's dogs. I scouted around and found what looked like ideal conditions on the top level of the Nordstrom parking garage at the Columbia Mall. It was close to home, it was level, no one ever parked up there and it was big enough that I'd be able to work on getting my speed and endurance up. I skated there last week, but was chased off by a security guard after only an hour.
Today I checked out every damn parking garage in downtown Columbia, but the only one that had the right combo of huge, flat and empty was the Nordstrom garage. I said to hell with it and decided to try it again. I'd only been skating for about 20 minutes when security showed up. This time I didn't even wait for the guy to come over and yell at me. I skated back to my car, tore off my helmet and wrist pads, and threw them in the backseat. The security guy circled me in his SUV while I took off my skates and glared at him. He drove away once I got my shoes on, but I found him at the bottom of the ramp to the top floor waiting for me to leave. Whatev.
So I called my mother. The Joan has absolutely terrifying amounts of knowledge about the greater Columbia area, so I figured she'd have an idea about a public tennis court or something where I could go. She recommended the secluded tennis courts in Cedar Lane Park off of RT-108.
What I found there looked promising. One of the courts was in use (and boy did they look at me funny when I walked up there, skates in hand, still wearing my knee pads and fiddling around with the iPod I'd stuffed down the front of my sports bra for safe keeping), but the other two were free. I got my gear back on and set to skating again. The court was weirdly bumpy and there were big patches of dirt all over the place, but it was working fine for my needs.
I got maybe a half-hour of skating in before two maintenance guys in a Cushman rolled up and wandered onto the court. They were nice though. They didn't particularly care that I was skating there, although it was technically against the rules. They acknowledged that the rules hadn't been posted, so it wasn't like they were going to give me a hard time. They did warn me, however, that a woman who gives lessons there would be showing up soon and she would definitely raise a stink about my presence. The guys had some suggestions: Either I could head over to Centennial Park just down the road and skate on their jogging path around the lake or I could go over to Alpha Ridge Park and use their roller hockey rink there. One of the guys even called in to his office to see if the rink was open to the public today, which it was. I had no idea there were any outdoor skating facilities anywhere in the county, so this sounded like a great idea.
Alpha Ridge Park is somewhere in West Bumfuck, Howard County, nestled in the imposing shadow of, well, the landfill. It's actually a pretty nice place, truth be told. I drove up the hill to the park and lo, there near the port-a-potties was an outdoor rink with a wide-open gate beckoning me. Choirs of angels and frogs sang me to this roller skating Eden. It was flat, it was concrete and it was empty. Hot damn!
So excited was I that after donning my gear for the third time today, I decided to try a skill I hadn't practiced much, namely running on my toe stops. The running part I actually did okay with, it was the transition to skating that I didn't have down. I hadn't realized the concrete would be so slippery. My skate came out from under me and I fell down hard on my left buttcheek. Ouch.
It was all downhill from there. I got maybe another half-hour of skating in, but I was frankly worn out and famished, and my butt hurt. A pretty steady wind was blowing so skating into it was a hell of a workout. I was loving this rink though, so when the wind was at my back I'd try getting up a lot of speed and taking some really fast turns, just for fun. I was spent though. Time to head home.
But yeah, if you find yourself in Howard County and want to get some outdoor skating in, Alpha Ridge is definitely the place. As long as no roller hockey leagues are playing there, the rink is open to the public. I'll definitely be stopping by there again the next chance I get, and I'd love to have some company!