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!