Winter cross-training

Yes, I’m still alive. I drove to Idaho about 10 days ago and skate skiing has taken precedence over posting to my blog.

I love winter in Southern Colorado! This is a photo from a short January 7 mountain bike ride at Pueblo Reservoir. There is a great network of trails south of the reservoir, built by Southern Colorado Trail Builders. Pueblo has nice days for riding all winter long. I also got in a 50 mile road ride near my house on January 17. The opportunity to go for a long road ride in January, between 7500ft and 9500ft, even in Southern Colorado, is not that common and it was fun to be outside on my bike in the sun. Unlike the Pueblo photo, there was snow all around, but the road was almost completely dry.

The weather in Teton Valley has been unusually mild too. On January 20th I did my first skate ski of the year, about 24km. The trail was a little bumpy, but hard and fast, and look at that blue sky!! It seemed more like March than January. I got in another 30km or so on Wednesday and Thursday, in similar conditions. Then on Saturday, the day of the Spud Chase, the weather changed. At least the snow started. The temperature stayed warm. I totally screwed up my wax. I would have been better off with dry skis, but I finished my first cross-country ski event and fourth ski of the year. Anyway, I am excited to be skating again and am hoping for more fun and better wax if I do the Boulder Mountain Tour on February 7.