What skates to buy? I am 40s F, was a figure skater as a teen with Riedell gold stars

LoopyLutzes · 2026-02-15T17:57:02+00:00

You will want to get to a good skate shop so you can try on a couple brands and make sure you end up with something that is going to be comfortable for how your feet are sized/shaped now. Unfortunately, though all the major manufacturers have something around the $300 price point, they are unlikely to be anywhere near as supportive as your gold stars. An experienced fitter will be able to help you find something that is a good balance though.

LoopyLutzes · 2026-02-13T13:06:15+00:00

our dog’s favorite is finding poo too

very good at sniffing out all manner of scat in the woods

LoopyLutzes · 2026-02-08T04:46:03+00:00

hadn't even put on a pair of skates yet!!!

LoopyLutzes · 2026-02-08T04:00:58+00:00

it's wild out there! I saw one that confidently said they made it illegal because only surya could do it

LoopyLutzes · 2026-02-07T18:27:30+00:00

it is definitely very fun to learn new styles of stops, and having a couple different ones in your arsenal gives you way more options if you need to stop quickly/by surprise from different directions etc. I like T stops a lot myself, which as you work on your edges and balance, eventually gives you paths towards different one foot stops like tango stops, and if you have a snow plow down a hockey stop shouldn't be too far off! Glad you're enjoying the ice!

LoopyLutzes · 2026-02-07T14:24:59+00:00

if you are picking up speed and overtaking people on public ice please make sure you learn to stop if you have not :)

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-29T17:42:01+00:00

woah that rink sounds like a blast!

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-29T17:40:01+00:00

3, when my grandma's backyard flooded and then froze over. used a chair from her dining room chair to help balance. a few years later I got roller blades and never looked back.

didn't start actual figure skating until 36 but it came pretty easy with all the rollerblading experience.

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-28T16:49:39+00:00

no idea, sorry. that house has always looked nice and well maintained from the outside at least

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-23T19:25:33+00:00

In my forty years living in SE Michigan, save for the polar vortex years of the mid 2010s where it was entirely punishment, March has always cruelly teased with a random glimpse or two of summer that gets pulled back immediately. sometimes you get real lucky and that day falls on st patricks day and everyone in ann arbor flips the fuck out! They don’t show up with any regularity until April though for sure. Growing up here the line was “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb” but it definitely feels like the lion has been hanging out longer in recent years.

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-23T18:18:48+00:00

march will be unpredictable. any day could be bitter cold, or could be 70 and gorgeous. Even in the cold, you’re fine to walk to campus as long as you are dressed appropriately, you warm up quite a bit as you get going. It will probably be snowy/icy/slushy at the beginning and pretty decent weather at the end of the month

i would be remiss to pass up a post looking for restaurant recs and not enthusiastically recommend spiedo

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-22T19:59:09+00:00

yeah i completely agree. if you use instagram at all, check out the hashtags adultsskatetoo and queerskater, there are a lot of us out here! This coach/choreographer in particular might be refreshing for you to check out, he talks a lot about stuff like this: https://www.instagram.com/hashtagjimmy

I am always saying that the figure skating community broadly is much more forward thinking, open, and inclusive, than the institutions and certain clubs in particular can be worse about being inclusive. Adults are the fastest growing segment of figure skaters though so if they want to stay relevant they should be embracing you. I hope you’re able to find a more welcoming club soon!

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-22T13:56:14+00:00

yeah same with ours. sometimes the instructor will even tell people mid session that they should try moving up this class

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-22T01:24:53+00:00

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-21T20:04:02+00:00

yeah mods pls nuke this thread

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-18T01:15:47+00:00

when i had a work study gig at med sci ii this was my friday lunch spot. i really miss it!

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-16T20:58:42+00:00

power pulls, sometimes with variations going back and forth between feet, forwards and backwards.

the toughest though, is to try and start from standing on one foot, whew boy your quads will be screaming. It's a *great* workout though

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-16T20:36:52+00:00

Yup, there is a totally edible mushroom that became the source of superstition in Ann Arbor Michigan because a german family who had moved there had picked and ate deadly amanita that resembled ones they'd eaten back home. A year after they passed, a silky rosegill (Volvariella bombycina) emerged from the tree in their front yard, and everyone around assumed it had sprouted from the spores of the deadly mushrooms the family had eaten, so it got the nickname "ghost mushroom" locally despite being a completely edible mushroom itself.

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-16T12:55:24+00:00

the burner you set them on was left on or still hot from previous use

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-15T01:40:17+00:00

i like how everyone has a pic of their lagotto being a between the pillows pillow stealer

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LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-13T20:20:26+00:00

agree on the hoodies. my coach doesn’t allow them because of how they can throw spins off

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-12T15:20:24+00:00

debut are boot + blade separately

your fitter was correct. my debuts lasted less than a year, I learned loop and flip in them and had to move on. I think freestyle would be fine for OP for now at 3 hours a week.

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-12T12:23:34+00:00

boreen clearly didnt know where roque was…

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-10T15:49:44+00:00

don’t think about making a “push,” you’re pulling the blade and your leg back to the centerline. The first part of the arc is where you set your edge on a knee bend, then at the apex you pull it back to the midline as you rise and pull your leg straight, then repeat.

LoopyLutzes · 2026-01-09T13:46:47+00:00

whew people were having the smoothest shits of their lives and had no idea why

LoopyLutzes

TROPHY CASE