Clumsy

I got so cold on yesterday's ride that it took all day and about 4000 calories to warm me up, calories I guess really are units of heat, how many BTUs is that? Now I get warm for a few days, life is good. Fresh snow today, I felt lazy, no ski to work, it would have been perfect. Good coffee and a big dinner have the ague from yesterday fading into thoughts of sand and sun and SPF break out the running shoes and try to avoid getting hit by blu-blocked octogenarians no bikes that would be asking to become the new hood ornament on a Buick. Whole Foods down the road, for the danish and coffee and plenty of lazy time. The trick is getting the work done, not always when I want it, but when it can be finished.

Perfect

I want to visit this place. Anybody want to make a pilgrimage to witness such a Utopian concept?

Grinding

Bloody cold commute today, superlatives aside, one speed cross bike for about an hour to get to the office. What it should be mid winter; cold and filled with penance. Not the cozy pleasure of skinning up the mountain in the peaceful morning air, diesel trucks and asshole cops getting too close to my left shoulder. Lead by example? Not them. I need more burly shoe covers too, the toes are just feeling normal now, an hour plus after thawing. I feel good though, tired and drained and full of chills. My feet still hurt from Sunday's ski in the crappy boots. I feel the soreness sooner when it's this cold and I don't do what I should, like ski to work. I needed more layers today, my mistake, the engine didn't even fire up that much until the last 20 minutes. Peets warmed me up fast.

Iheart

I love cycling more than any other athletic pursuit, I seem to pretty good at it too, skateboarding is far more fun to watch, the best I can do is ride to the top of a hill and not be that tired or go over a set barriers and remount smoothly, nothing compared to this... Please take the time to watch, Rodney Mullen is exceptional.

Worlds

If you are following cross here is a video that explains the unfamiliar results near the top of the sheet at the end. Great work by Page to capitalize on the opportunity.

coffee and clif bars

Easy breakfast of climbing skins, coffee and a clif bar. Early out of the house over to the pay lot that wasn't staffed yet, I guess they want you to pay on the way out, I found that out as i tried to leave the lot and the attendent wanted her $10, I guess she should have put the tollgate down, I drove home. I started up not knowing exactly where I wanted to go, my telemark technique sucks so I thought I'd get up there and poach a few runs on the chairlift above where they check for passes. My freeheel skills still suck but at least I got in a handful of turns, mostly earned, some poached. The best part was the early up and the steady effort, I feel a little less lazy. I skipped the nordic race yesterday, that's not free, skinning up is. Solo climbs are the best for the head, you can't hide your pace from yourself, not slipping yet. Different winter for a different summer. Next I'll try a splitboard tele boots suck. Better days ahead. bit of sand next week, warm for a few days.

Vail

The only thing missing was a few feet of fresh snow, aside from that the snow that was there was pretty perfect, this is looknig across at blue sky basin, pretty fun runs in the trees, good terrain for a real day on the board. Rocco is fast, fun to follow and try different stuff after a few years off the board on a regular basis. Life is good. Ready?

 

Better days happen but not much better than this

Alt

With the snow on the ground and the moonlight refracting off of it, the night isn't so dark. Easy tours are what will make the difference in March. Nothing else is an option, rollers to get hours? No.

Crack

I think somebody laced my peets with pcp or crack today. I'm less than a vat into it and I feel like I'm about to watch my monitor melt into a pool of tortilla soup. T.C. Boyle has nothing on my crack-fueled visions. Fixed and free after the current blast form Canadia fades away into proper winter training grounds. In the meantime it's penance on the two skinny planks b4 tomorrow's fun on the sideways oner. The point is that the Front Rangers are going to be slower than the mountain folks this spring. Read it like this; they aren't adjustable, we improvise and adapt. Sounds like a recruiter who tried to get me to go fight a war I wasn't in. March is sprinting to meet me and I may be less ready but at least I'm out on it. Fixed and free this week, next week who knows.

I hope my living room room looks like this by Easter. How great is that, new guns right in time for Holy Weak. I can start my own faction of the Freemen, or better yet, a new religion. Maybe another Crusade, march across Asia and slaughter everyone who disagrees with one way of thinking, oh shit, Bush is already doing that. Duck and cover motherfucker.

Treats

We are eating dinner last night when Shaubie mentions that the English Beat are playing in Breck, WTF? Doesn't anybody advertise? How are we supposed to know that one of the biggest bands responsible for the sound of music is playing in town? It was unreal, Dave Wakeling sounds like he did in 1982. He's a bit thicker but overall he handled playing a show at 9600 feet really well. Not bad for a guy pushing 50. I only got around to listening to them in '86 but, holy shit, they sounded good. Ranking Roger's son; Ranking Junior was great. Roger is no longer with the band. All of the big songs were played as well as General Public's hit, Tenderness perfect sound in a place with crappy acoustics, ska is good in the right doses. what a special thing to see, musical history. I used to know a guy who was bummed he would never see the English Beat again, things change.

Odin

Life is good, a few k of double poling yesterday and the bike is coming together. Pretty pictures tonight, no more spy pics, the machine will be a roller very soon. Check this out, sushi last night and today I feel like a fish out of water. Odd, I feel the salt/sodium in my system gathering into my dull headache. Kind of like a hat that fits too tight and gives an ice cream headache that's too much for the cranium. Even though it's warm. Eat more. I'm trying to.

Photos

We went to church and repented for our sins. L'Chaim!

Free Beer

Out of touch. Back from the tundra. Saw a few coyotes while we were running, they looked at number one and thought he might be a meal but that changed when they saw that he was bigger than they were. I had the honor of visiting the New Belgium brewery, what a great place. Free beer, enough said. Good beer too. We got to sample the new Mothership Wit, La Folie and Abbey nothing like walking into church for instant salvation. Not to be confused with instant karma. Pictures tonight.

Gullet

4k of double poling, a big sandwich, cookie and an Izze, what could be better, I'm on it. The furnace is on. Ready? I am.

Ped

Look around and smell it coming after the heart of winter passes, that tunnel vision comes around and the rest is autopilot, another few weeks and it'll be here. Longer days and a run. That's right a run. It was awful, I'm not comfortable on foot. Having spent years setting my body up to do one thing reasonably well and go and throw curves b/c I have the bone density of a bird from outer space. The pod and the latest show got me through it. I feel better now but it does feel good at some point right?

Sabbath

Sunday was a good day to ski, just a bit scenic.

Music

So the kid likes to listen to Danzig and White Zombie we were playing the Spiderman Matching Game and he didn't want to listen to the mellow stuff, he wanted to hear the good stuff instead. Does this look like a future visitor to the pit?

Huh?

Sneaking around the woods, not fast, slow enough to hear the silence. Perfect. Better to be slow and quiet now, loud is later.

Nocturnal

Nocturnal mission last night thru fresh snow with number 1. I didn't last that long out there, only an hour but gliding thru the woods in the dark made the trip perfect, deep snow on touring skis, can't ask for more mid-winter. More of that today, I'm not in silent sport shape, it makes me feel old the way cross never does. Old or out of shape, pick one. It is good to keep after it. News this week. Ready?

Moust

I'm not allowed to have one, I'd like to rock the stash but I also want to stay married. This guy is lucky, I want to be him. Maybe then I could walk around as though I don't have a care in world. People with moustaches have it pretty good. I can't complain, but how cool would it be to have a caterpillar chillin' on your upper lip like this guy. Man, someday I'll be like him, or maybe not, either way this guy rocks hard. Fast guys from all around are gathering.

Postsecret

I stole this off postsecret and couldn't resist posting it. Some of the posts are pretty dark, I like that. Nothing today, too many crackers to put away to get out on the skis, if it snows more than a few inches I'll ski to work. Friday is a good day for that.

Only the Beginning

I see the new daylight where it wasn't a week ago. I still need to buck up for a new headlamp for the after dark missions, that always helps. Not being limited by daylight adds a whole new facet to the program. It makes number one happy too, the dog needs his time. Another little mission tonight before the full moon goes away. Anybody wanna go? Faster. It's here.

Ready?

Now that the new year is really here and I got the amateur night behind me, the break is over, three weeks of minimal stuff, only enough to ski and play, I can now push the door to the new season open. We'll see if the fenders are needed to get out on the roads this coming weekend, between now and then it'll be the game of hide and seek with the sleep ghosts. It'll feel good to get the first day of 150k in the legs since summer. News coming this week...

Lightweight

An almost full moon tonight for a little ski tour after the snowmachines managed to glaze over the trail. The new skis were too fast, straight line trail and I still had to slow. The thought of going off into the woods and hitting a tree I couldn't see meant more slowing. Perfect weather, pretty sad that I managed to New Year's Eve it and I still skied twice while nursing a bit of a hang. Lightweight. The Grand Traverse is not for me. I like to sleep too much.