Christmas Ridn

Chance to escape work and enjoy our winter ridn activites comes with some days off.  All three ridn disiplines in four days is a year-end bonus.

Unexpectedly, Alix and Adam were able to spend a whole day with us the day before Xmas and we all went up to Gore to snowboard.  I have not been to Gore in over 10 years, but their non-holiday price and promise of enough terrain to enjoy were enticing.  Killington has plenty of mountain(s) open now, but their steep 'Peak' fee was a deal breaker for taking the whole family for me.  Donna did not get to snowboard all last year with moving and hockey taking her mountain time away.  So, it was a good chance to get her going again for the year. 

Adam is an avid snowboarder having put in 85 days in one season while he was in high school.  However, his board was moved to a location not suited to preserving the integrety of his edges when he moved out of his nuclear family home.  Luckily, my Burton Malalo was in good shape and he had fun 'surfing' the big-nosed board down the hard-pack, packed-powder conditions.  That board is unique in its ability to both carve edge and float in powder.  Under Adam's direction it got the ride of its lifetime.  Adam gave me some quick tips on getting air (more than an inch, but less than a foot still) without twisting my body and landing off balance.  Needs more pratice, but surprising what just a little advice can do to build the confidence to try new things.

We had a good day with everyone enjoying the pleasures of sliding, edging and gliding down the slopes. Gore was not crowded at all and had enough good blue diamond runs for all of us to have fun together.  We rode the gondola all day.  The clouds cleared around noon and the periwinkle blue sky opened up making the scene of ice, trees and Adirondack mountains and lakes special. On our way home we stopped in Glens Falls and had some Mexican at Raul's while watching the drivers negotiate the traffice circle downtown, then desert and coffee across the street.  It was a great day with A+A and to get Donna back out on the snowboard - I hope we can all do it again soon.

Christmas day and Alix came by briefly in the morning; Jesse, Lisa and Hector came over in the late afternoon/evening.  In between Donna and I got our outdoor activity fixes in.  Donna took Chance for a run up Summit Mountain Road, around the lake and down Dutchtown Road returning on CR-47.  A 4.7 mile 'around the block' run that has plenty of hills and views of VT's Mt. Equinox.  I donned the ice biking gear and set off on the Epic to see if I could stay on top of the snowmobile trails that connect the sheep pasture on Brennen Road Extension over to the other side of Bain road through corn and hay fields.  These trails were just hard enough to support the tires and riding was good.  There were some spots where the tires sunk in deep enough to up the resistence too much, but not too many.  Some places where truck or tractor tires had cut down to the ground saved the day.  In all I got a good 45 minute workout of about 5 miles of riding with good climbing and heart-pounding aerobic work.  The frost line was evident halfway up the mountain all day long making the scenery special, too.

Today, the freezing rain just stopped and it is now in the low 30's and cloudy.  I will check to see if the snow on the new trails is compacted enough to ride.  As it turned out the rain never let-up and I never went out.  However, Sunday I tried the new trails, but the thick snow and now soft mud made riding very difficult.  Around 3PM the skies cleared and the temperature soared to 42 degrees.  I dug out the clamp-on rear fender and put it on the Lemond cyclocross bike and headed out on the wet mushy roads to see what I could do road riding.  It was great!  I wound up doing 20 miles around Cassyunna Lake with the ice fishermen as witnesses.  On the east side two huge condors came out of the west sky and did a fly-by.  I put on the head and tail lights coming off the lake and climbed back over "Corgey" hill to home.  Donna thought I was out on the trails the whole time.

Snowboarding, mountain biking and road riding on the last weekend of 2009!  A great conclusion to a challenging year and hopfully a positive augur for 2010! 

Machette Instead of Board

Instead of heading up to Killington I stay home and build more trails.  I just could not get into the car after a 1000-plus mile driving week.  The conditions were good and more terrain open, but another 200 miles in the Outback were not going to happen. 

Instead, I get out the trusty machette and hack away at the trails needed to connect the two networks I had built over the summer.  It is a perfect time to attack the tangled brush and thorns as they are brittle and some are dead.  The snow is hard and crusty and about 6 inches deep, just enough resistance to keep it from being ridable.  But, stomping it down while clearing the small trees and brush will make it ridable if we get rain and freeze.  A good 2-hour plus workout too, on both Saturday and Sunday.

Killington First Day

Great day of snowboarding last Sunday at Killington.  Conditions were ideal with the only tough hardpack on East Fall Lower.  Chute, Rime, East Fall, Ridge Runer all in good shape.  Over on Skye Mountain, Bittersweet was good, but you had to fight a real balst of wind on the top.  Looking forward to more of the mountain being open this Sunday. 

Legs held up well for the first riding of the year.  Half way through the third hour my legs started to get rubbery, so I left Skye and came back to Snowden to take some final runs down Chute.  http://www.killington.com/winter/mountain/trail_map/W09-10_Killington_Trail%20Guide.pdf

The Express Card should be a good deal for this year as you only pay for the days you go, and Sundays are considered mid-week.  We will see if I get to other mountains or not; hard to beat K.

It started off sunny, but the clouds moved in after 2pm.  The ride home was very touchy.  As I went west from Rutland on Route 4 the rain turned to ice and the traffic slowed to 20 MPH, but my trusty Subaru got in the left lane and we cruised along at 50 MPH no problem.  A SUV flipped over and they were taking people to the hospital as I went by.  The rest of the ride was slow as the freezing rain turned to snow packed roads, but got home safe.

With travel and extreme cold this week, I did not get any other activity this week until tonight.  And that activity was spinning on the Y-foil in the basement.  Good tunes made the hour-long spin go pretty fast and managed to get good 'climbs' and 'sprints' mixed in.  Not ideal, but better than nothing or trying to do something in the dark at 7 degrees on frozen roads!

F the Y

Not that there is anything wrong with the Y, it's not Y's fault.  But, we decided that there are too many good things to do outside, and now we have room inside for setting up training equipment, why pay the dues, fight the roads, take the time to travel, go through the hassle?  Hence, F the Y.

As it is I am forced to use the equipment found in Holiday Inn Expresses and Comfort Inns across the Northeast and US when traveling at work.  I have my Y-foil on a trainer for indoor spinning, Donna will get a treadmill and we have free weights and mats for calestetics, what more do we really need?

However, it is the opportunity to push the limit on outdoor activities at home that is most appealing about F-ing the Y.  I just returned from a 14 mile ride on mostly icy / dirt roads around the house - out Coach, up Allen to Summit Lake - out and back on Dutchtown Road, and home.  It was 25 degrees with little wind and with the right gear, it was a comfortable 1:16 workout with good climbs, fresh air and georgous scenery.  I think I had one car pass me on Dutchtown,  that's it! 


My Epic has its Noikian studded tires on, and pink vet wrap to cover the white frame so some over-zealous deer hunter doesn't see a flash of white and shoot me.  For me, a hoody under the helmet, two technical shirts, my winter riding jersey and yellow wind jacket, CamelBack filled with warm water (under the wind jacket) on top.  Below: cycling shorts, midweight cycling pants and wind pants I bought for $2 at a bike store in Bennington, VT.  On the feet: wool socks, Seal Skin waterproof socks and Shimano winter MTB boots.

Last Sunday I did the annual Lake Desolation MTB ride.  A set of pictures and description can be found here:  http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/album.php?aid=45506&id=1424203679&ref=mf.  While the loggers have made a mess of this area, it is still fun to get out with a group in such challenging conditions. 

Killington is open and I will be heading up tommorow!  F the Y.