I've been skating regularly again, and last night I finally (10 years later...wow.) went to a rink I had not previously been to: Lynwood Roller Rink. (To read my previous reviews, click here. They're all from 10 years ago ( Read more... )

Seems to have been built about the same time as Coachlite. The floor is the same sort of stuff as at Funway, which now that I'm looking at it, may be the same as Skateland Savoy, if Savoy were actually maintaining it. There's a slightly worn groove near one entry that shows the same sort of look as most of the Savoy floor. About the size of ( Read more... )

Seems to have been built in the mid-80s. The floor is about the same size as Fleetwood, and layed out in an octagon, but it's made of short strips of wood, like parquet. It's got a pretty thick coat of polyurethane, but it's still not as nice as full-length boards ( Read more... )

The Orbit is part of a very large complex. There's a blade hockey rink, separate from the general roller rink. And an indoor soccer pitch. And a bowling alley ( Read more... )

Built in the 50s or so. It's a Catholic school gymnasium/cafeteria/auditorium. It was built to be a skating rink as well, from the beginning. Not sure if it was intended to be a public service "keep the kids off the streets and away from cigarettes and drinking" thing or as a fundraiser ( Read more... )

The building looks like it was built as a banquet facility. The entryway and snackbar have an indescribably municipal feel...like you're walking into a publicly-owned building ( Read more... )

Very modern; looks like it was probably built in the late 80s and has been regularly updated since then to stay trendy. The floor is about the size of Fleetwood, and is made out of some sort of continuous, maybe poured substance. Very smooth and plastic-y. Good grip. You step down a step onto the floor, which somewhat prevents people zooming off ( Read more... )

The week after I first went skating at Fleetwood was Thanksgiving, so I was out of town in Champaign. A bunch of us -- at my suggestion -- went to the rink there ( Read more... )

This is the first rink I went to ( Read more... )

I've been roller skating a lot this last month or so.
So far, I've been to 6 rinks...trying to get a feel for what each one is like, basically.

I figured it couldn't hurt to post my impressions of each of them; sharing knowledge is good.

( A word about my hat )