I've been trying to take advantage of this good snow we've got on the ground, so yesterday the whole fam-dam-ly (minus the cats) headed up to Davis Hill for a bit of XC skiing. I had Emmazilla in the pack and Lillo and K following letting me break trail. Even the dogs gave up trying to lead the way as for them pushing through almost two feet of snow was a bit much. It was a good ski, explored some spots that I hadn't seen before and we ended up skiing out on the beaver pond that is always a stopping point during our rides out there. Got in a solid two hours, and the last two K's I ended up pulling Lillo as well as carrying Emmazilla. We ended up skiing by another family and I think they thought we were nuts- but it was fun and a good burn on the legs.
After we got home I watched a bit of the NASCAR Busch race and then grabbed the Surly and headed out for a spin on the road. Within a few minutes I passed (going the other way) two different people out on their bikes- one was the guy with the crazy light setup that we always see out on 302 in the dark- I wanted to spin around to catch up with him to find out what the lights were- but by the time I got spun around after waiting for a couple cars to go by he was well up the road. I wasn't quite in the mood for a chase- so I just went on my merry way. Ended up riding up the backside of Davis and the road had begun to soften just a touch making for quite the grind. I wasn't feeling all that strong- so after the climb I spent the rest of the ride enjoying flat terrain. But I got in an hour on the bike and it felt good to get out.
Today I grabed the xc skate gear and headed over to Whitaker Woods. It's good to see so much snow in there and that they are actuall putting in some effort with the groomer. For those Conway residents, it's worth swinging by Ragged to get you pass- they're free (there's a set up charge if you don't have last years- but it's like 5 or 10 bucks)- but the skiing is really good in there right now.
That's it from here. It won't be long now before we start getting out on the roads pretty regularly to build up those base miles. I know we should be doing it now but I'm calling my XC skiing my base work.
As a side note my two new frames are on order- both from Salsa- I'll update with pics soon.
later,
DEA
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2 comments:
Hey DEA, the XC skiing sounds like a blast and certainly is a solid way to train in the winter.
If you do head over to Sugarloaf, also consider the Outdoor Center for XC Skiing in addition to the Backside. It's a little more "rustic" than the hustle and bustle of the main Sugarloaf lodge... a great place for families. Its groomed for classic and skate and they even allow dogs on one of the trails. Not sure about cats though so you would probably have to leave them home again.
Funny you mentioned Andy B on my blog. I've actually been skiing with him and Pavel Tcherkassov over at Stowe (Trapp Family Lodge actually - absolute favorite place for XC). Andy was also in my Macroeconomics class and always was sucking up to the professor!
looking forward to seeing the new frames. my oldest son (jackal) was at frostbike this weekend in bloomington, minnesota and said that salsa has some kick-ass new stuff coming out. something about a two tone green cross bike. sounded pretty slick.
be safe.
peace out, yo!
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