News - Local - North Coast

Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008

Morro Bay local Denise Lee travels more than 100 miles to an Oxnard ice skating rink to satisfy her passion for the sport of ice skating and to prep for a nostalgic competition

Morro Bay local Denise Lee travels more than 100 miles to an Oxnard ice skating rink to satisfy her passion for the sport of ice skating and to prep for a nostalgic competition

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Denise Lee won’t abandon her lifelong hobby of ice skating, even if there isn’t a rink anywhere close to her Morro Bay home.

So Lee, a part-time nurse, started commuting to an Oxnard skating rink about once a month shortly after she moved to the Central Coast 10 years ago.

She raised a family, including two sons who are captains with County/Cal Fire, and lives with her husband James.

Aside from spending time with family and working, Lee makes time to go to Oxnard as she prepares for an ice skating competition at the same Burbank ice skating rink where she learned to skate at 14.

Having skated in several ice skating competitions throughout California, Lee, 56, said she was too dedicated to let distance interfere.

The closest ice skating rinks to San Luis Obispo County are in Oxnard and San Jose, according to Lee.

Her passion for skating started when she skated at Pickwick Center in Burbank, where she took lessons to skate competitively.

Two of her biggest wins were championships in Las Vegas. Now she’s looking to broaden her medal and trophy case with the Burbank competition and another in Valencia at the end of September.

“I really am very excited because of the memories I have there,” Lee said, referring to the upcoming competition in Burbank.

She made hamburgers at the Pickwick arena to earn money for ice skating, she said.

That meant working at a snack bar there so she could pay for lessons, admission and gear.

She also rode her bicycle six miles from her Glendale home to the arena because she didn’t have a car.

Now she spends $65 for a tank of gas. That’s aside from private lessons, admission to the rink and paying for hotels and competition fees.

But it has all been worth it, she said.

“When you just step on the ice and you can glide, feel the cold wind, spin and jump,” Lee said. “There is no other feeling at all.”