Skiing could suck this weekend

This global cooling situation is getting pretty serious. Pipes are bursting in peoples basements. Snow is no longer slippery to ski on. It was +2F when I left work today and is currently -14F at Waterville Valley. The coldness may moderate a little by this weekend. On the bright side, this will be a perfect opportunity to try out the new Toko Moly and Start Green waxes I have. I may actually do a controlled experiment if I become really bored Friday night and wax both pairs of my RS11's up differently to see what difference I can muster up between them.

So far this year, ski sessions, miles and hours are all staying ahead of riding. This has never happened before over a two week interval. In fact, I didn't even realize that I went three days in a row without riding this week. Skating provides the fix just as well if not better than riding. That doesn't mean I haven't been riding though.

Cell Tower Hill, repeat many times, studs required.

I've ridden at lunch each of the last two days. Hill repeats yesterday and a recovery(ish) ride today. Even though it was colder today, calmer winds really made it completely tolerable to ride. Not even an icecream headache to start. I did notice I had to be careful with snot rockets. A couple times the overspray caught my sleeve. The spray instantly froze on contact. My shell looked pretty yucky by the time my one hour ride was up. Riding outside beats the trainer any day. I have a goal to not ride indoors once this winter. It will be my easiest goal to meet.

I've been riding my Jamis Durango exclusively for over a month now. I paid $69 for this frame from JensonUSA and put ad hoc parts on it for a winter beater. The frame is quirky with a 13" high bottom bracket. Hardtails are usually much lower than that. But it actually works out nice when riding rutted out ATV or service road tracks: the pedals don't bang into the sides of the rut as easily.

I wrapped up my two-session skate clinic with Andy Milne last night. We had a couple more people in the group this time. Was a tad challenging staying warm on the open Weston golf course, but Andy kept us moving with drills. I don't think there was a single drill I could do correctly. Some people could do one thing really well but others horribly. I hope I can remember all the things Andy pointed out for me to work on. I may have to take a couple steps back in apparent speed, unlearn the bad habits I have, then re-learn the right way. Not sure if I will have the patience to do this, as I love a good hammerfest. It's gonna take some discipline.