Let the sun shine.

Took a trip down to Massachusetts this weekend for a work related conference. Lucky for me, there is a rather substantial trail network nearby. My friend Marc called me as I was leaving work ( about 45 minutes after I wanted to leave) and he said he wanted to tag along. So, I met him on my way South and about 3 hours later we were checked into the hotel and I was off to my first meeting. After the meeting, we drove to the "alleged" trail head (I had never been to this area before, but a couple of friends told me the street to park on and where to look) We got the bikes out of the car, road down an access road, and right into a foot of snow cover. We cut the ride short and went home and watched Man v. Wild.

Next day, more meetings, then riding in the afternoon. We decided to try and get to the trails from a higher point, because we could see how dry the ridge was and it looked like good terrain for biking. About 2 minutes into the ride, my front brake felt really squishy, and I looked down and noticed my brake pads were popping out of the caliper. The little bolt/C-clip combo that holds the pads in on the Elixirs decided to disappear, and I had to ride DJ style. Not much of a hardship, as we couldn't find any good, bike friendly trails, and we ended up riding roads/bike paths and some walking trails.

The last day of the meetings, I was done at noon, and only had time for a quick ride. We decided to try the main trailhead again. We parked next to a former VT local, a current Framingham local, whose GF is an Amherst local, so we knew we were in the right spot. We found dry trails, lots of rocks, and had a good ride, but anything is better than pavement at this point of the year. check out the vid here: http://www.vimeo.com/21254441

Spring is un-sprung

Rode outside yesterday again. Lots of melting snow and temps in the 40s made for a tolerable ride outside. The forecast today is for more rain, turning to snow, with snowfall amounts in the 8-16" range. Maybe a little vaca on Monday and some more of this......

Timber likes it, you should too.

The Eternal city and the beginning of the year

Rome. It is fun to be a teacher. The kids are always entertaining and I get the opportunity to be a geek about the things that interest me. We took a trip to Rome and it was excellent. No crises, good food, good company and lots of old, old, old buildings and art. Italy is a very laid back country, people are friendly, and there are a lot of bikers. Both the moped variety and the pedal variety. I prefer the latter. I was constantly wishing that I had access to a bike so that I could ride. Rome was a bit traffic heavy, but Sorrento had lots of hills and a sweet seaside highway with hills and incredible views. I was a bit skittish (even on the bus) when I looked over the 2,000 foot cliff two feet off the road, but I think I could have handled it on a bike.

Being a classics dork, I was very excited to see Pompeii for the first time. All the pictures I have been staring at in Latin books over the years were there, right in front of me in person. I got to walk down the streets I have read about and imagine what it was like to live 2000 years ago. And then, I climbed in an oven to get a goofy picture.

On another note, only a month to go until the first bike race, singlespeed-a-palooza. It is going to hurt. Hopefully I can get out and ride a bit before then.

Take off, to the Great, white North.

Just signed up for this years Ultimate XC race. Did last year, and it was one of the best races I have ever done. The race director is the one and only Dan Desrosiers, formerly of Jay Challenge fame. This course is reminiscent of Jay but has better singletrack and a cooler finish line, the village of Tremblant.

This is the closest picture I could find of the last mile of the course. After climbing up the backside of the mountain, then descending part way, and climbing back to the top, you descend down a truly rugged downhill run. THEN, you climb back up and descend the final mile to the lake on the other side of the village.

There is lots of single track and paths and some paved road before this, and this race and the atmosphere is truly different.

And, if a enough people sign up and ride single speed, Dan will give us a category!

Any takers????

3 feet of slow.

Trying to motivate to ride rollers when there is three feet of snow on the ground is like trying to lasso kittens with dental floss. People look at you funny when you try to do it, and it isn't very gratifying. I have been skiing, and stuff. This goofy video proves it.

Single-speedapalooza is two months away. It is going to be ugly.

CHRISTMAS TIME!

Guess what I got................A helmet camera!

SNOW DAY!!!!

It took its sweet ass time, but winter has finally arrived here in VT, and hopefully it will stick around for a while. The current storm started Sunday night, made the drive to school more stressful than necessary, and is still spitting snow here and there in the Green Mountains. I woke up this morning, hoping beyond hope to get the call that school was cancelled. I went through the motions of getting ready and was about to get in the car when Wifey called to tell me that my school was closed for the day! I couldn't believe it, so I turned on the TV and saw the proof myself. Then, I got the call. An automated phone message saying that school was closed for the day!! Needless to say, I was elated. We haven't had much winter up here yet, and friends out West have been sending snooty messages about the killer season that has started out there. Well, today was my turn.

I hung out at home, fed chickens, watched some SNL on the computer, and then headed out. I was one of the first cars in the lot, and one of the first up the hill. I guess that is the benefit of having to get up at 5 for work everyday, when you don't have work, you have lots of time. The skin up was blustery, to put it mildly. There seemed to be pretty good coverage, although there were still quite a few waterbars open and some patches of grass large enough to graze cattle on. When I got to the top of the double, the main trail was untouched. I was in my happy place.

The snow was DEEP, and then very shallow. It was the first time I have ever skied bottomless to bottom in two turns. I was a bit sketched out that there were rocks lurking under the deep, deep drifts waiting to tear my leg off, but I kept the tips up and skied the first run like a true gaper between the waist high drifts and patches of inch deep snow. I hit a traversing trail and realized how much snow actually fell. Although I am short, VVV this is still pretty deep.

The lower half of the trail wasn't quite as wind affected, and I could turn without fear of breaking my kneecaps. I finished up and headed to the tippy-top. It was very worth it.

I ripped off the skins and headed down so the guy I passed on the way up couldn't poach the liftline before me. I headed out and choked on the first 8-10 turns, as the drifts on the skier's left of the trail were substantial. I tried to link the drifts together all the way down the trail, but took a few diggers on buried snow snakes and from the deep snow tripping me up. I guess it is hard to ski powder this early in December.
I made it down without injury and took this (very cold) picture of myself in front of my handywork. It probably doesn't look that handy, as I was all over the place. I took another run with a guy named Matt, and then headed out, in a very good mood now that winter is here.