BOOOOO!

These has been almost nothing going on in my area as far as winter sports are concerned for the past few days. We has a great base, and then some rain and 40deg. temps came through for a day and washed it all away...better news and more reports soon...

SKiing at Barkhausen

I'm always on the quest for new trails to explore, so I've been on Skinny Ski a lot lately looking for cool places nearby. Yesterday I had to go to Green Bay anyway, so I decided to check out Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve. According to Skinny Ski, Barkhausen is groomed 15k for skate and classic. I arrived to find the trails in great shape, and groomed exclusively for classic. As I was looking for a 2-2.5 hour diagonal day, this worked out really well. The trails were very well groomed with pretty minimal trail debris, and were groomed double-wide with perfect tracks. In my 2h20m on the trail, I saw only two other skiers, both within the first 15 mins.

These trails are pancake flat, but in very good condition, and with some great scenery through the woods and along the shorelines of some small ponds and inlets. I would highly reccommend the area to anyone heading that direction.

First Snowshoe Day!

The snow has been coming down in Northeast Wisconsin since last night, hitting Door County right around 6:15pm. Since I didn't have to work until 11 this morning, I thought I'd get out and explore the woods surroundng my home. I live on the campus of a folk art school called The Clearing, but I have never explored the grounds so I figured that there is never a better time than right now. I started out off-trail, but pretty quickly ran into one. I hiked around for about 45 minutes on and off-trail, and it is really a great place. Campus is closed in the summer, but in the winter, when there are no students, it is available fo use all day every day.

There is at least 8-12" of snow on the ground, but it seems like a lot more in the woods; snow seems to have drifed and made some pretty big pockets, and since it's light and powdery its SOOPER fun to jump into.

I tried out some Crescent Moon Gold 15s for the first time today...sweet snowshoes. The 15s are technically in the women's series, but I fall well within the weight limit, so I figured why lug around the heavier Gold 9s. The binding on these shoes is really simple, just a ratchet for the heel and a loop that pulls across the toe and midfoot area with a real secure fit. The Redfeathers that I used last season have a hinge on the binding so the shoe is always dragging in the snow behind you, but on the Crescent Moon shoe, the binding is mounted directly to the decking so it remains closer to your foot and remains a little bit more nimble. Also, the teardrop-shape fram is easier to walk in that the traditional ovals...I didn't step on myself once. My only complaint about the Crescent Moons is that the binding seemed to splay a little bit when I put my size 11.5 boots in, but I really didn't notice any slop once they were tightened down.
Crescent Moon Gold 15 Snowshoes - Women's

First Day of Waxing and XC Skiing

We have snow here in the Door! Plenty of places have groomed trails for skiing including Cherry Hills Nordic Center, Crossroads at Big Creek, Whitefish Dunes State Park, and Peninsula State Park, particularly on the roads. No word yet on Potawatami State Park. The skating at Cherry Hills is pretty money; I was there Thursday and it was great, and I'm sure the roads at Pen Park are as well. Thursday night the volunteers at Peninsula State Park rolled a base on the classic trails which was not real ski-able, but we plan to set track Sunday night and Monday. WOOHOO!

As for me, I have two days in on the trail, on skating at Cherry Hills, and one classic on the ungroomed trails at Peninsula State Park. I have two new sets of classic skis - Rossignol Delta waxable, and some Rossi Zynex AR's which I plan to train on. Since these planks have no wax in them, I've been skiing on some Rossignol EVO Active ARs from our rental fleet. THough they're slow, they are really pretty decent for a mid-level rec waxless ski.

I have four layers of soft wax in the Zynex's and should finish prepping them tomorrow, then I will start on the Deltas.

I will expound briefly upon my ski prep methods: First I brushed the base with a copper brush to open the pores of the p-tex. Next one layer of Toko base prep (gray). I am now on the fourth of five layers of Toko HC Yellow (warm) then two layers of Toko HC Blue (coldest), a layer of Toko HC Red (medium temps), then a layer of Start Green or Rex blue - wax of the day, followed by a good copper brushing and a plastic brush ing. It's pretty basic and will probably take about four days since I'm doing it in free time at work - my home shop is terrible - and hopefully it will all be nice and smooth in the end. I am not the most experienced wax tech in the world, but I am definitely improving...there have been a few clean-and-tune jobs a t work already so I am def. getting more real-world experience.

I have been drinking a lot of Three Winds Pinot Noir go get some. No, don't waste your time like me! Get out and go ski!

Rossignol Evo Action Positrack NIS Cross-Country Skis

Thanksgiving Ride Indiana-Style

The past few days I've been back home in southern Indiana...quite a change from the great white north. Here 20s and snowy. There upper 40s and sunny. I got in two days of riding. One at Brown County State Park the day after Thanksgiving, then Saturday at Wapehani MTB park in Bloomington.

Friday morning was pretty chilly; probably min-30s at the start, then rising to lower 40s by the end of our ride. The trails at Brown County have become some of my favorite. Excellent climbing variety, fast descents, and nice flowy singletrack make these trails a blast to ride. I've never ridden them on a single speed before, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. There are a few spots on the "advanced" segment where I didn't have enough momentum to clear some obstacles, but with more experience I don't think this will be a problem at all. The ladder bridge on the Hesitation Point spur is kinda fun, but is much easier on the way up than back down because of a few little bumps on the way back down that seem to kill momentum...I definitely came to a dead stop on the top of the bridge, and looked real cool. MmmmHmmmm. Other than that, the trails were moderately muddy, but it was nothing un-rideable or dangerous to the trails. The only actual gripe about the trail and Wapehani, too is that the trail isn't blown. It may seem silly kind of like Dan said: "You want to know why someone isn't raking the trails for you?" but it is more of a safety issue than anything. Washing out on wet, slippery leaves is easy to do and I have seen one guy break his collarbone riding into a leaf-covered hole and flying over the bars.

Wapehani was a pretty surprising ride on Saturday. I was in B-town visiting a buddy and thought I'd get a short ride in before I headed back to my folks. I used to live down the street from the Wap and rode their a few times a week before I moved, so I know the area pretty well. Wapehani's trail system consisnts mainly of five or six long, snaking climbs up a ridge, all connected by a trail along the top of the ridge. Unfortunately there is now a cell phone tower on top of the ridge which has wiped out the connector trail, so there is no flow to the network. ride up the hill, look for another trial, or just ride back down. It is now much less fun than it used to be, but hey, it's still mountain biking. There are a few quite new-looking stunts there, too. one nice ladder bridge about 15' off a creekbed, and ladder bridge drop-off with a nice landing and run-out, and a half-assed stunt of some sort that just looked dangerous to ride. Again the trails were covered by leaves; if I lived in the area I'd get out there and blow 'em myself but, alas, I do not. Someone else has to step up and do this for both the fun factor and safety's sake.

Riding back in Indiana makes me hate the 15' wide ski trails I ride up here and long for the hills I no longer have. *SIGH* I'm just never quite happy with where I am.

First Ski Day

Sunday I drove to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to catch some early season snow. Early season out west usually means late October, but around here, it signifies (generally) late November. Though Marquette has already gotten hammered with a few feet, Marquette Mountain isn't open for a week or two, so I headed to Brule.

Brule claims a base of about 24", but only about half of the hill was open; they appear to be blowing the snow into heaps and spreading it out. Despite the limited access, the skiing wasn't too bad. My first run down the mountain, I jumped onto a closed, ungroomed run because it looked fun; about half way down I realized that the top layer was glare ice, and I biffed it trying to carve a turn. I made it the rest of the way down unscathed and stuck to the open runs. Early in the day the slopes were fairly icy as they are currently 100% man-made snow, but after being skiied for a few hours, the top layer got chopped up well enough, making for better turns.

I have to say that the staff at Brule from the bartender to the lifites to customer service was all friendly with top-notch service. I have been to better areas, but have never gotten better service or care than at Brule. Though not the greatest skiing conditions ever, the experience was great, and since the hill was only half open I'm even more stoked to get out soon and hit some bigger stuff!

Rossignols New Contest

Winsome new limited edition stuff from Rossignol by "Confessing your ski sins." I'm not sure what tat REALLY means, but it's worth a try.

January is Learn to Ski Month

As I was checking snow conditions for Sunday's ski session I stumbled across this:

https://www.skibrule.com/images/pdf/LearnToFree.pdf

Free skiing AND rentals for beginners?!? Crazy! Now you can get all your friends who get fat and lazy in the winters out to see how fun skiing and snowboarding are!

Sign up for REI Gearmail and save 15%!

First Snow

It has officially gotten cold here in Door County. The last few days the mercury has been hovering jsut below 30f, and there is about 3/8" of snow on the ground. Not enough to ski, but enough to be torturous. Yesterday morning I headed out on the MTB for an 1h15m, and saw the first snow of the season on the trail - the funny snow-pellety stuff. A few of the local riders have been doing trail maintenance in Peninsula State Park on our singletrack section of the mountain bike trails, and it has changed drastically from rough and shake-your-brains to fast and much more flowy...sweet to ride. You should definitely come check it out in the next few weeks before the snow piles up!

I think this weekend that I'll be heading to Ski Brule in Iron River, MI for some downhill skiing. Brule's a pretty decent hill with enough terrain to spend a day, and I've got a bunch of free passes, so I may as well use 'em.

Sunday I hit the trails at Peninsula State Park with a group of locals calling themselves "The Faithful." it was 31deg. during the ride and everyone showed up in their insulated XC ski gloves. Yours truly forgot his helmet, and Brian F. offered to make one from his Carhartt hat and some bubble wrap, but I didn't plan on crashing, so I just went without.

Now I ride a pretty good amount, but these guys are amazing to ride with. Brian F is an elite XC skier, Erik in a world-ranked surf ski racer, Freddie races Expert XC, and a few others, all faster than me. I can generally keep up with these guys on the road, or the flats, but as soon as the terrain points up or the handling gets tricky, I get dropped. My goal for this winter is to work on climbing, riding at and anaerobic level, and focus/picking good lines, which will help to improve my riding economy.

I am beginning to plan out my racing season with a focus on the Wisconsin Endurance Mountain Bike Series (WEMS), and one or two 24-hour races. In the past I have never really laid out a training season appropriately, but this is the year to do it. I have a few good references to consult, and (finally) the self discipline to get out and do this on my own. We'll see how it goes...

Moab - Part 1

So it's getting cold up here in the nortland, which means that the cycling is limited, so I decided it was time to take a week out west for some primo riding. I called my bro in Ft. Lauderdale, and my buddy Phil in Boulder, and the three of us met in Denver to head to Moab.

The three of us, as well as a week's worth of gear and Phil's bike (Kennen and I rented) loaded into Phil's Aveo and set out for Moab on Friday, October 24. The way out was pretty uneventful, but a longer drive than we anticipated, so no riding on Friday.

Saturday morning we decided to ride a classic, so after we picked up our bikes we headed for the Slickrock Trail. We arrived at the trail and Phil realized that he had forgotten his helmet. While Phil went back to the cabin for hid lid, Ken and I rode the practice loop; I maaged to crash pretty much right away, but nothing serious, so no big deal. By the time we finished the loop Phil was back, so we headed out on the trail. Slickrock is pretty much unlike anything I have ever ridden. On some of the short, steep climbs I could put mu chest on my stem and still not lose traction. Oh, and you follow painted dashes on the rocks...pretty crazy. Anyway, Slickrock was a super fun trail with lots of short steep climbs and descents, and you really get unreal traction on the rock surface - it's really like sandpaper. The scenery was something to behold, too. bumpy rock as far as the eye could see and valleys/canyons/cracks everywhere, usualy right along the trail. Don't look down! The best way I could put it is "moonscape," but the pictures speak for themselves.

I bought a new kayak over the weekend! I have never owned my own kayak, but I bought one super cheap from our Perception rep..an Essence 16.5. The specs are here.

I got this baby on the water for the first time today, and it paddles quite nicely. The boat seems pretty stable...it is a British design similar to its cousin the Wilderness Systems Tempest 165, which I have been paddling intermittently for three years now, so I pretty well knew what to expect. I feel that the Tempest has a little more primary stability perhaps, but from my brief one hour paddle they seem pretty similar. As I continue to paddle it, I will be able to post a more complete review.

My trip was out around Garrett Bay, and the conditions were completely glassy. I left my camera in the car, but when I get the pics up tomorrow, I think you will be able to see the reflectoin of the clouds on the water. SWEEET!!

Last night I got out on my mountian bike for the first time in a month...I can't believe I've been of the trails for so long, but it wasn't too bad; I have been averaging 4 hours a day in the kayak and riding on the road twice a week, plus volleyball. Just enough to keep a brotha in shape. I decided to get back on the MTB to prepare my bike handling for Moab with Kennen and Phil. This shouldn't be a bad trip: Slickrock Trail, Porcupine Rim, Bartlett Wash, Sovereign Trail, and The Whole Enchilada. And some riding in Fruita. Looks like the best riding trip since Whistler '06 and MAYBE more fun than Telluride in '02...we'll see.

I just got a new digital camera, so that will be going, and I'm really hoping to have a DV cam by then. Other than that I need some baggies, a new Camelback, and a few other minor odds and ends, and I should be good to go. STOKED!!!!

Here's a decent video from the Slickrock Trail in Moab. It's about ten minutes long, but more than half decent.