Transition Day

The day broke clear and warm. Even warmer since we overslept and were still happily snoring away under cover of down when we should have been downing our last cup of coffee as we looked at the gear all ready to go sitting by the door.

Sometimes it's good to have a quick start on Transition Day. Spring is launching it's most serious attack with temps predicted to peak near 50 degrees, 10 degrees if you measure with a C. The snow was going to lose this one and everybody knew it. No point to sitting around taking it slow, this was time for action.

Shock and thaw would prevail but the skiers weren't going down without a fight. There weren't many parking spots left when we got to the Woodland Trails parking lot and we were in the early shift. For the number of cars in the lot we didn't see very many people but every single one had a smile broader than the clear blue sky.

Spring skiing isn't always great since the snow is progressing along its terminal path, destined to put in its star appearance as the key ingredient of the spring mud. This day was the exception. The snow was nearly perfect but for very few spots where the ice was already staging victory parties  in the low sunny points on the trail.

We skied a bit longer than the legs we brought with us were ready for but we promised they would have a long rest from skiing so they numbly went along. The sun had the sky to itself but the temps were still just above freezing so the snow wasn't suffering and we weren't sweating like the warmth of the last ski of the year can sometimes inspire.

A quick stop at the bakery and ski season was put to rest for another year and it was only lunch time. It's important when coaxing your end of season legs to continue on to that extra loop at the end not to let on what the nature of the afternoon plan. On such a beautiful spring day, a guy like me has no choice but to head out for a spin on the bike.

I ride year 'round but the first spring ride has a magic not to be missed and this particular day had the glory of the spring sun still refusing to share the sky with anything but the stark tree branches all waking up but not yet showing the first yawn. Neither has the ground yet thawed so while the snow was melting quickly under the stern gaze of the sun, all the run off was still moving horizontally, creating lakes and rivers where yesterday and tomorrow there would be none.

So great was the glory of this day that I recorded mostly with my internal retinal camera but these few shots capture the essence of a day where skiing lumbers off for its summer hibernation and the lone winter cyclists are joined by the fair-weather throng. It's a wondrous thing to have such a day that begins in the soft white embrace of skiing and ends with the warm caress of the saddle flying over the distance covered by our wheels.

2009 Will Be Perfect

If this year follows the high water mark of this fantastic day, 2009 will be the year to be remembered.

Morning

Started out the day cooking, bean, broccoli & rice soup on the stove (all day) and apple/clove pork roast in the crock pot.

Mid-day

Met up with the crew at French for some great skiing and gabbing and skiing. Conditions were pretty good, companionship was fantastic.

Afternoon

Check up on the cooking projects and then off for a quick bike ride on dueling studded tire equipped bikes with the sweetie.

Evening

Time to chow down on the soup and pork roast that spent the day getting ready to be consumed. All this followed by some quiet time.

Lather, rinse, repeat and this year will be nothing short of spectacular!

I hope your 2009 is off to this good a start!

Worlds Collide

When the snow is good, I pick cross-country skiing over biking for my workout. You just never know how much good snow there will be in a season so it gets priority. The snow has been perfect and I have been out cross-country skiing quite a few times and riding, at best, a couple times a week. We’ve had some below normal temps so some of the skiing has been in the sub-zero range but when the snow’s nearly perfect you just go and sort out the cold toes after the fact. The morning of Christmas day was my last day of skiing and it didn’t get above zero until after we were done.

When I woke up the following day, the temp was already 35 degrees heading for 40. That’s 40 above zero. And just to add insult, it was threatening to mist/drizzle/yuck all over our beautiful snow. My plan for the warmth had been to head out for some skijoring since the pooch doesn’t do very well in the bitter cold.

Puttering around delayed my exit and when I let him out to do his business before heading to the ski trails, he came back in soaked after only a couple minutes. Sure enough, what I had thought was a light fog was actually a heavy mist/drizzle. I decided that skiing in rain gear didn’t sound like much fun so I bagged the trip. It was supposed to turn to snow at some point so I figured we’d go the next day.

It never did turn to snow. It stopped raining and then froze turning everything into a very rough skating rink. Skiing on ice isn’t my idea of a good time but taking the bike with the studded tires out can be quite a hoot. Before I got studded tires, I was terrified of riding on ice and parked the bike anytime it was below freezing. But with the studs, I could do so with little trouble. Riding on ice with studded tires is like hitting a patch of road that is covered with sand. You can’t ride it the same as you would dry pavement but by taking it a bit easy you can get through it with no problem. Don’t be stupid and you won’t go down.

So I headed out into the freshly glazed world, happy to have an outdoor workout option. I decided to take a spin around the trails that make a nice loop over here on the western side of the Twin Cities. We have the good fortune of having a great mountain bike trail right in the city of Minneapolis at Theodore Wirth Park. I’ve written about these trails before and ride them quite a bit since they are only a quick 6-mile ride from home. I also thought it would be fun to hit that trail system since two days earlier we skied this same park. How many places have a huge inner city park with both top-notch mountain biking trails AND cross-country skiing trails?

I only had my phone for snapping a picture and dusk was coming on so the shot didn’t turn out that great but an active mountain bike trail crossing an active ski trail (in really crappy shape...) seemed like a picture that had to get taken. So I did.

Boards on my feet

The day broke sunny and mountain biking was on the menu. Yet another ‘last ride’ for this season that doesn’t want to give up it’s warmth for the cold and snow looming on the horizon. The days leading into the weekend had been cold, first below zero since last February which meant that the skiing venues were madly making snow. I have a season pass at Welch Village and the snow was calling to me. Last year, after a promising start, my ski season was cut short when I twisted my knee. Fortunately, and quite interestingly, cycling was part of my PT to strengthen my knee so the trainer spun all winter effectively starting my biking season early. So the siren song of the snow, even snow machine-made snow, turned out to be stronger than the lure of the single-track.

 

Snow, wheeeeeeee!

 

Oh how great strapping boards to my feet and speeding down a frozen slope!