Winter Came and Went or A New Season Begins

Somewhere in the midst of the onset of winter I stopped doing a lot of things. I just about stopped riding bikes altogether. I got out once in a while but I'm pretty sure I managed at least a three week stretch without touching a bike. Mental recovery is what I'll call it, maybe it was just laziness. You may have noticed I also stopped maintaining the blog too. It's been quite a while since I've written anything down, to state the extremely obvious fact. Being that spring is approaching rather quickly, I think it's time for a little winter recap.

January rolled in, and I rolled onto the couch. The temptation of my roommate's PS3 got the better of me and I found myself playing Call of Duty for an hour and a half longer than intended on a rather frequent basis. Life wasn't all about cuddling up and fighting cabin fever with video games though. There was skiing too.

During the Presidents' Day weekend I joined a number of friends in renting a house just off the slopes of the Stowe ski resort. We had to walk maybe a quarter mile to the lift, but we were able to ski right into the backyard of the house. I put two full days of skiing in; only stopping for bathroom breaks.

March seemed to roll in like a lamb and stay that way. I took advantage of the really nice weather on a few weekends to wash up all the bikes real good. They hadn't been that shiny in a very long time. The headset in the 'cross bike sounded like a cross between a really squeaky hinge and sandpaper rubbing together. This last 'cross season was extremely harsh on the bikes.
I took the bike into the shop and got it fitted with a nice new Chris King headset. I also got the Dura Ace shifters that I'd bought on ebay mounted onto the handlebars. I was then able to return the right hand shifter back to the road bike and got that in working order.

All of that work led to a minor amount of riding. Skiing was not done until this past weekend though. A group of us stayed at our friend Tom's (family's) condo at the Okemo resort in Ludlow, VT, then spent a day skiing at Killington. Spring skiing, I found, is rather enjoyable. Bundling up like an Eskimo is not required, sunglasses however, are. The snow is soft, if a little wet. It was one of the most fun days I've had on the slopes ever. It was the perfect opportunity to try the trail Outer Limits. This trail is normally above my skill level, but on soft snow it was worth a try. I fell 4 times at least, but there were no spectacular wipe outs. I did learn that day, that if a mogul is soft enough, your ski will not ride up over it like normal, it will spear through the mogul and throw you forward on your face.

And now here we are, March is coming to a close. Bike racing is just around the corner as are a few exciting travel destinations. The cycle keeps going.

Some pictures that we took at Killington; from me, from Tom, from Dan.

Skiing Stowe

The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend took me to the Stowe ski resort, near the town of Stowe, VT. I joined a number of friends at a house that we rented in Morrisville, VT. We spent two quality days on the mountain skiing, despite extremely cold weather. The first day we pulled into the parking lot with sub 0°F temperatures. The second day was warmer at 11°F when we pulled up.

The skiing was fantastic, especially on Sunday after an overnight snow left some fresh white stuff on the mountain. While it can be relatively easy to just glide down the mountain, we didn't take it easy. We really worked the turns at a fast pace, leaving my legs rather tired by the end of day two on the mountain.

There are a few pictures here.

I also captured a video during one of our runs. I almost had a giant yard sale on the mountain when I hit a small patch of ice followed by some bumps. Skiing with both poles in one hand and a camera in the other, not the easiest.

I suggest clicking on the option in the lower right of the video screen for HQ (high quality) when watching. It takes a little longer to load, but allows you to see a much better image.

Gone Skiing

Saturday, Derek and I made the decision that we had to go skiing that night or conditions might not be very good. Rain was the forecast for Sunday and temperatures were to be in the mid 30's all week, neither of us desiring slush or icy conditions so we headed for Holiday Valley. It was a wise decision. Most of the trails were open, the snow was good, and there was hardly anyone there. No lines, no waiting. We got some great runs in, and some quality time with each other trading stories and catching up.