A "Foggy" Day at Valley

No, it wasn't foggy in the rink, it was foggy in my head this first day of skating after the big competition last weekend. I know from experience with other skating things that the first day back is kind of a waste - your body is so used to practicing whatever you were working on (and no longer HAVE to work on) that you kind of do it over and over again in circles, knowing you don't have to do it, reliving how it was and how it could have been...

It was one of those kinds of days at Valley.

The ice wasn't much better. The photo here (thank you, Spycam) shows a typical rut most likely made by a hockey blade and a not so great zamboni job (can we say "ice-cut?"). Since I wasn't really doing anything it didn't matter but it sure was different from the ice I experienced last week at both Lloyd Center and Sherwood. Makes you wonder why I spend my hard-earned $8 there (yup, their public session costs more than anyone else's - the public session is the same price as the freestyle and is the same price whether you rent skates or not [to which I think - "I'm not getting full value for my $8"] - they don't care, it just makes it easier for them to just charge everyone the same and then they don't have to monitor anyone or anything.

Or the bathrooms for that matter. Besides being kind of gross (kind of? - well, they are old and you can't really do anything about the rust on the sinks, but still...) - there was no toilet paper today in any of the stalls and there was only one roll in the closet where they keep it. I pity the person who goes in there this evening and finds... NOTHING!

So why do I go there? Well, you never know who's going to show up and sometimes you meet an unexpected friend as well as those regulars who are your friends and that makes it all worth it. We had a good time talking about the competition and all of that, so yes, it was worth it.

Next skate? Don't know yet... thinking about taking a class at LC just for a change of pace. We shall see... Stay tuned blog-readers!