Off to Corvallis
· Oct 7, 08:30 PM
While the rest of the US ski world spent today climbing to the Castle in what look like very good “toughness training” conditions, I enjoyed a rest day before we head over the mountains for a mini-camp this weekend in Corvallis. Perfect weather and a change of scenery should make for some productive training.
On Snow Intervals
· Oct 7, 08:03 PM
Sunday morning was scheduled to be skating intervals on Awbrey Butte. The forecast was for mixed snow and rain overnight; the reality was more like rain changing to snow. I heard rain every time I woke up in the night, but come morning, it wasn’t raining any more.
Time Trial Season
· Sep 20, 09:11 PM
Actually, this weekend felt like the beginnings of fall, which would be fine by me. It actually has been just fine training in the sun at 75-80 degrees in the afternoon, but I could do with some signs that winter is on its way. One sure sign of the approaching race season (9 weeks to the first race at West?) is the frequency of time trials in my training.
I guess 4 in 5.5 weeks isn’t really all that many (basically averaging one every 10-14 days), but it’s nice to always have the next one in sight. This morning Marshall and I did the North Rim TT a week ahead of schedule (I’m not going to be around next weekend and I convinced him to do it with me even though a couple of our other training partners had … (ahem) … a change of heart at the last minute). We battled back and forth the whole way until the finish where, tragically, there was no line to lunge for or camera to determine a winner. Not really a problem, I’m happy to claim a share of the course record for at least a few days.
This was my second PR of the summer, following up on August’s Westminster West Road effort. 21 seconds off in a 28 minute test today and 20 seconds off in an 18 minute test back in VT. I’m pretty pleased with both those efforts. Of course they were sandwiched around two rather disastrous uphill skate TTs (Century and Edison), so I really don’t know what to make of it. Maybe I need to consolidate the gains I’m making in classic skiing and get back to skating like the last couple of years? That seems like a good plan. Actually, it would be good to go faster than in years past.
I’m making a quick trip cross-country this weekend for the festivities surrounding my cousin’s wedding. It should be a great chance to catch up with the extended family, have a grand old time and hopefully catch some of that foliage I’m starting to miss.
A New Take on South Sister (via Green Lakes)
· Aug 1, 02:26 PM
Lakes in Calderas
· Jul 22, 10:58 PM
Two days and two pretty excellent workouts. Thursday we (Marshall, Lars, Kristina, Taylor and I) went for a little roller ski up into Newbury Crater. We were all a bit blown away by the quality of the pavement (worn in chip seal that was more than fine for classic skiing) and the quality of the ski. I think we got close to 3000’ of up in 17 or 18 miles of skiing (map my ride thinks less vertical than my Suunto, but gives us credit for almost 6 miles of sustained 6%). The bulk of the climbing happened from about mile 6 to 13 and was a lot of grinding double pole kick. Except for Lars who out-toughed us all and decided to rest his legs. It was rather nice to find a new 2.5 hour ski here in Central Oregon. I will be back.
Killing Butterflies
· Jun 25, 11:32 AM
Butterflies are actually kind of big. When you hit many of them at 35-40mph descending on a bike they hurt a little. Not a bad kind of hurt, but I wouldn’t want to take one in the face.
Nice Weather
· Jun 9, 06:29 PM
We’ve had some really phenomenal weather here recently. Rain for 3 or 4 days last week including a couple of good thunderstorms. But that was nothing compared to this afternoon. Today was one of those rain-and-hail-bouncing-off-the-pavement-and-the-sky-turns-dark-at-2pm sort of storms. Awesome.
