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- From: adchen@garnet.acns.fsu.edu (Tony Chen)
- Newsgroups: rec.sport.skating.inline,rec.skate,rec.sport.skating.misc,news.answers,rec.answers
- Subject: In-line Skating FAQ: Central NA (5.2)
- Followup-To: rec.sport.skating.inline
- Date: 20 Sep 1996 14:27:10 GMT
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-
-
-
- _r.s.s.inline FAQ: Where to Skate - Central North America_
- _________________________________________________________________
-
- WHERE TO SKATE - CENTRAL NORTH AMERICA
-
-
-
- Last modified: Monday, September 16, 1996
-
- Recent changes include:
- * Added Chicago, IL skating Web link (7/2)
- * Added Toronto, ON info from Orlando C. Fernando (8/16)
-
- Table of Contents
- * Illinois
- * Indiana
- * Iowa
- * Michigan
- * Minnesota
- * Missouri
- * Ohio
- * Oklahoma
- * Ontario
- * Texas
-
-
-
- Other sections of Where to Skate are:
- * Western North America
- + California
- * Northeastern North America
- * Southeastern North America
- * Abroad
-
-
- _________________________________________________________________
-
- General Notes
-
-
-
- George Robbins' "Roller Skating Rink List" can be found at the URL:
- http://www.netaxs.com/people/grr/Roller/.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
- Illinois
- * Chicago
- * Urbana/Champaign
-
- Chicago
-
-
-
- Web sites for Austria info:
- * Skate! Chicago:
- http://www.skaters.com/
-
-
-
- From: RRATEICK@vma.cc.nd.edu
- Date: Unknown
-
- There are cycle paths which go both north and south of the "loop" (the
- downtown), along Lake Michigan. I have skated up north, starting at
- Lincoln Park. I have also skated through the downtown both on
- sidewalks and the streets, although, not during the business day (too
- many cars). From downtown, a nice skate is up Clark Street north to
- Wrigley Field. This is an interesting area, with used book/CD stores,
- etc. You can judge distance based on address numbers: 800/mile. For
- more information on where to skate (and not too), call the folks at
- Londo Mondo (sorry, but I can not remember the address). Remember,
- Chicago does have some really bad neighborhoods. For example, I would
- not go west of Wells, in the area around Division Street.
-
- From: thomasd@tt726.NoSubdomain.NoDomain (Tom Depke)
- Date: Tue, 19 Jul 1994 17:21:22 GMT
-
- [...] is there anywhere REALLY cool to skate around Chicago? I've
- read the FAQ about places to skate in Chicago but didn't see
- anything really outstanding...is there?
-
-
-
- It depends on the type of skating you are looking for. Is it speed,
- tricks, or scenary? I like the lakefront down by the Shedd Aquarium
- and Adler Planetarium for tricks and further north for scenary. The
- problem is that it gets too crowded in peak hours and you can not get
- a good workout in. So for that I go to Busse woods 53 & Golf. There is
- a smooth bike path which goes for 8 miles and never seems to get too
- crowded.
-
- From: snyder@ssd.comm.mot.com (Fred Snyder)
- Date: Mon, 12 Sep 1994 22:07:28 GMT
-
- Having recently moved to Schaumburg, IL, I have discoverd the Busse
- Woods bike path, in Rolling Meadows. Best accessible from Higgins just
- east of 290, it's a 7.8 mile loop through surprisingly scenic terrain
- with a good surface, not too crowded, frequent water pumps, everything
- I could ask for except perhaps getting rid of the bicycles. It's no
- Lake Shore Drive, but now that I've moved to the 'burbs, it will do
- quite nicely. It still irks me that I have to _drive_ somewhere to
- skate.
-
- From: langlois@prairienet.org (Ana G. Langlois)
- Date: 24 Oct 1994 01:40:16 GMT
-
- First of all, Chicago is a huge metro area. So if you mean downtown
- Chicago I'll tell you that one of the hottest places is along the lake
- shore. My wife and I were there today. We had a little skate. It was a
- lot of fun. It was real windy. Good work out. Thousands of people
- enjoy walking, soccor. rugby, running, bike riding, softball, kite
- flying, etc., etc., etc.
-
- Park and skate. If you come in from the south, park around the Field
- Museum or the Shedd Aquarium and skate north along the lake. From the
- north parking may be easier. There are parks everywhere that have
- parking. The multi use trail is good, but not perfect.
-
- In the northwest burbs there is a vert park. I forgot the name. I
- think it's in Hoffman Estates.
-
- Pick up a copy of _Windy City Sports_ (free news magazine) you can get
- it at any sport shop in the downtown area. On Clark Street, north of
- the loop, there are a bunch of good stores: City Sweats, Londo Mondo,
- Rainbo. They can tell you where the inline scene really is. Londo
- Mondo (not on Clark actually) meets once or twice a week for fun
- skates, outside. Winter will _probably_ put an end to that though.
-
- I hope that helps a little. The thing is that if you are in the
- northwest burbs (for example) you may not want to fight traffic to go
- downtown. So call a shop in the area you plan to be (or are) in and
- ask them for help. If they don't know anything try Londo Mondo, City
- Sweats or Rainbo.
-
- From: VISEWAT@minna.acc.iit.edu (W. Viseskosin)
- Date: 20 Jul 1995 18:45:12 GMT
-
- I skate at North Branch Trail 4-5 times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat &
- Sun). The trail starts at Whealan Pool Forest Preserve (near the
- intersection of Devon and Milwaukee) and ends at Chicago Botanic
- Gardens. The trail distance is 20.1 miles. It's not overcrowded even
- during the weekends (the park might be crowded, but the trail is
- not.). I usually park my car at Linns Woods (about 1/2 mile east of
- Dempster and Waukegan in Morton Grove) because it's near my house. I
- like to skate from there to the Chicago Botanic Gardens.
-
- Please check "Chicagoland Trail Guide by Elleen Kelly" out. It's a
- great book about Trails in Chicagoland.
-
- From: tjmartin@prospero.er.anl.gov (Timothy Martin)
- Date: 9 Jul 1995 00:19:00 GMT
-
- SCRAP (Skateboards Cycles Rollerblades Action Park)
-
- It is in Hoffman Estates, and is part of the Poplar Creek Sports
- Center complex.
-
- 2350 Hassell Rd. (708)-884-0945
-
- Take I-90 Exit at Barrington Road. Go south briefly, then turn left at
- Hassell Road. Go only one block to a White Hen Pantry on left. Turn
- left into a parking lot behind the White Hen that serves the sports
- complex.
-
- Monday closed.
- Tuesday thru Friday : One session 5pm to 9pm.
- Saturday: Two sessions 1 to 5pm and 5:30 to 9:30pm.
- Sunday: Two sessions 11:30 to 3:30pm and 4 to 8pm.
-
- Entrance fee is $5 per session. Some modest package deal also that I
- forget about now. To use two of the big half-pipes you need to buy a
- one year "membership" for $20 in addition to entrance fees.
-
- A general mix of freestyle bikers, bladers, and boarders.
-
- Urbana/Champaign
-
-
-
- From: jms41276@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Clueless)
- Date: Unknown
-
- The [UIUC] Quad is a good place to do laps and play tag. (a group of
- us play almost every night starting between 9 and 9:30)
-
- The north quad has some nice stairs and a couple fountains to skate
- over when the water is turned off. Assembly hall parking lot and most
- of the other parking garages are good if you're looking for smooth
- pavement. (The later are also nice if it's raining :) We've been
- playing hockey in Assembly Hall parking lot, but there are problems
- with the sewars swallowing the ball. If anyone knows a better place
- where a lot of people can play (we had 13 tonight) hockey, please
- tell.
-
- There's a trail out near Windsor Road made for bikes and blades which
- is a good place to go if you want to skate distance.
-
- From: yesfan@uiuc.edu (Eric Adams)
- Date: 26 Apr 1995 03:54:35 GMT
-
- There are several other places to skate around UIUC.
- 1. parking garages are always fun
- 2. the philo-Windsor trail/sidewalks
- 3. the Champaign city bike trails (to get to these, go south to St.
- Mary's road, go west, across Neil, hop on the Boulware Trail, then
- at the end, pick up Devonshire road for a ways until you come upon
- a trail that goes up through a bunch of Condos, this trail then
- crosses Mattis and continues west along a creek for quite a ways
- and ends up at a big park.) I haven't gotten around to finding a
- way around Devonshire (it is a little bumpy in sections).
-
-
- _________________________________________________________________
-
- Indiana
-
- Indianapolis
-
-
-
- From: Fred Pfenninger (pfenning@indy.net)
- Date: Sun, 16 Apr 95 20:20:53 -0700
-
- In Indianapolis there is a skatepark called TA (Travel Alternatives).
- It is presently located at 25th and Arlington, but in October [1995]
- it will be moving about a mile from there. They have an 8 foot pipe,
- two 6's with a spine, a quarter pipe, and a wedge. In Oct. they will
- be getting a lot more stuff. The cost to skate is $5.00 for the day.
- Check it out!
-
- From: GSchmitt@Indyvax.IUPUI.edu (Gary Schmitt)
- Date: Unknown
-
- Anyone wishing to skate during some bad winter weather is invited to
- Indianapolis to skate at the RCA Dome. For those not familar with the
- dome-type skating thing, it's done indoors on the concourse (the
- circumferential hallway behind the stands). This makes for a smooth,
- 1/3 mile circuit, with just a few relatively mild expansion joints for
- excitement.
-
- There are usually a fair number of beginers within the group of rec
- skaters and there are always speed skaters training as well. The Indy
- Inliners have club night on Wednesdays, 5-9 p.m., whenever the Dome is
- open on Wednesdays. This season, most Wednesdays are skate dates, but
- call (317)824-DOME beforehand. There are also many other skating dates
- on the schedule, so call to check.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
- Iowa
- * Ames
- * Iowa City
-
- Ames
-
-
-
- From: nwood@iastate.edu
- Date: Thu, 25 May 1995 09:24:00 -0500
-
- _Iowa State University, Ames, IA_
- The campus area in Ames is really the only decent place to skate in
- Ames. Head to the library and Durham center area and you'll probably
- see a bunch of us hanging out jumping off of the ledges there. During
- the summer the parking lots of the dorm parking lots are nice also.
- Towers and Maple- Willow-Larch are mostly empty in the summer. A new
- skateshop just opened on Lincoln Way in campus town(Skatesport) which
- is nice to have.
-
- Skate West in Des Moines has Inline Hockey leagues several nights a
- week.
-
- Iowa City
-
-
-
- From: Jason D. Lycke (jdlycke@wrdmail.er.usgs.gov)
- Date: Tue, 18 Apr 1995 09:09:18 -0500
-
- For those that are into recreational/distance/excercise skating, check
- out City Park on the north end of town. It's got a lot of good paths
- right next to the beautful (sort of) Iowa River. If you're into
- street/extreme skating, the U of Iowa campus isn't a bad place to go.
- Check out the IMU (Iowa Memorial Union) and the Pentacrest, and skate
- through the ped mall once just for fun. Also, I've heard that some
- people skate in front of Currier Residence Hall, but I've never been
- there myself.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
- Michigan
-
- Detroit
-
-
-
- From: dianne@cbi.com (Dianne Marsh)
- Date: Wed, 27 Apr 1994 13:29:31 GMT
-
- It really depends on where you are going in Detroit. I recommend the
- "metro" parks in the suburbs. If you are staying in the city, the
- closest metro park will (probably) be Metro Beach, ... nice because
- the path briefly goes along the water, but flat. One of my favorite
- metro parks is Stony Creek (trail: 6 miles), which is about 30 miles
- north of the city near Rochester/Utica. If you are visiting farther to
- the west, Kensington Metro Park (near Milford/Brighton) has 8 miles of
- very hilly paved trails. Both Stony and Kensington encircle small
- lakes.
-
- If you visit one of the metro parks, you can pick up a map (free)
- which describes all of them. The map describes which parks have paved
- trails and includes probably the best street map of the metro Detroit
- area.
-
- I believe that the entry fee is $3 daily or $15 for an annual pass.
- The pass allows entry to any of the Huron-Clinton Metro Parks. I think
- that Tuesday is "free" day.
-
- For more information on the Huron-Clinton Metro Parks, call
- 1-313-227-2757. The phone book also lists 2 toll free numbers, but
- they are under "Metropark Golf Courses". Try them if you like:
- 800-234-6534, 800-477-2757.
-
- From: SNL1104@aol.com (Larry Sylvain)
- Date: Sun, 11 Feb 1996 14:10:33 -0500
-
- I didn't see a mention of Indian Springs metropark in White Lake, MI
- in any of the "where to go" listings. Indian Springs has an eight mile
- ashphalt bike trail (approx. 4 feet wide) that runs through the woods
- in a river headwaters area. It costs $3.00/day or $15.00/year for
- entry, which includes entry to all other Detroit area metroparks. The
- surface is smoth to moderate with very few wide cracks and is cleaned
- regularly. There is an approximate 1/2 mile gradual hill at the course
- start/end making for a nice, fast start and a good workout on the way
- back. Be sure to wear sunglasses as the trail goes through the woods
- and there are bugs! There is ample parking and, as a bonus, a way-cool
- playground area near the parking area for the kids and a set of nature
- trails about a half-mile away from the parking area (a nice, romantic
- walk to cool down after blading). Indian Springs is my personal
- favorite as a roller blade site.
-
- From: THECMGKID@aol.com
- Date: Sun, 20 Aug 1995 17:07:23 -0400
-
- There are two indoor rinks for inline skating in the detroit metro
- area. The first is U.S. Blades located in West Bloomfield (810)
- 661-4200 which has many times in which you can skate along with being
- able to play hockey, get instructions on how to skate and your also
- able to rent the rink for private functions. The second is Joe Dumars
- field house located in Shelby Township (810) 731-3080. This facility
- is used for inline hockey along with housing other sports such as
- basketball and beach volleyball. Your able to rent the rink out for
- hockey only.
- _________________________________________________________________
-
- Minnesota
-
- Minneapolis
-
-
-
- If you want a _really_ great place to rollerblade, Minneapolis opens
- up the Metrodome to rollerbladers _only_ (I'm not sure about during
- the summer, but they do this all winter). It's about a half-mile (I
- think) circle of the smoothest concrete you've ever been on. There are
- two separate levels, one for serious rollerbladers and one for "the
- family." A "must-blade" if you're ever in the area.
-
- From: phil dudero (pdudero@ATK.COM)
- Date: Sun, 04 Jun 95 00:06:15 -0500
-
- I [...] was shocked to see that the Metrodome was the only mention for
- skating in Minnesota! This is really only true when the Twins aren't
- playing baseball (assuming the activity they are engaged in presently
- can be called that ;-). And as far as that goes it's around $5 dollars
- for a skate (extra for equipment rental), 1/4-mile of smooth concourse
- for one circuit (if I remember correctly), with two levels, the upper
- level for faster skaters. Unless you've got someone to talk to I find
- it boring after a short while, but what else are you going to do on a
- cold winter night? Don't answer that!
-
- When the snow isn't on the ground the place to skate in Minneapolis is
- around the chain of lakes southwest of downtown. During the summer
- Lake Calhoun
-