Christmas Time!

Ok, the requests are starting to come in. "What do you want for Christmas?" Well, there is still plenty to choose from on my Birthday list. But, here is some additional items for you to choose from.

I always enjoy a good Probar. They pack over 300 calories and are good to have around if I get busy and don't have time for lunch or breakfast on the way to some early morning skiing. Here is a link. PROBAR. I like the Koka Moka best.

I am also in need of some new water bottles. Over the last few years I have migrated to the camelback podium bottles.  You can get these bad boys at your local bike shop or at your local REI store. I prefer any color except black. Either the 20 oz. bottle or the larger 25 oz.

Just like pretty much everyone I know, my fuel of choice is Carborocket. Now, its pretty much the best ever endurance fluids you can get. I could use a replenishing of both the standard carborocket as well as the Half evil 333. All flavors are pretty good. You can either order direct from Carborocket or your local bike shop. If you're ordering online, you may as well toss a pair of socks into the cart. Not only do I like those socks but he used the word "rad" in the description. I'm sold.

To further aid me in my snow evaluation, I could use one of these as well as one of these.

I could always use a new pair of cycling gloves. Ergon makes the best grips around and they just started selling gloves. I would venture to guess they make pretty good gloves as well. Size Large. Ergon-bike

You can never have too much Stans tire sealant in your garage. It seems you always run out just when you need it most. Stans no tubes tire sealant

Like alot of guys my age training tends to take a back seat. Stuff gets in the way time is crunched etc. Lynda has a pretty good following of her training plans. You could always hook me up with a training plan for the "time crunched" forever midpack racer. They start at $50. LWCOACHING

Back to the socks. I follow a pro endurance racer named Sonya Looney. She is pretty much a bad ass on the bike and I enjoy her posts. She wears some pretty cool socks and I want some of these. I know they are pink. I don't care. I want them.

Speaking of clothing. Twin Six makes the best cycling T-shirts etc around. You could choose pretty much any of their T-shirts and I would be happy. Twinsix.com

You could also get a gift card to one of my favorite outdoor retailers. Backcountry.com

One more item. A harness for my Avalanche Beacon. BCAACCESS.

So far this season, our snowpack is looking rather bleak. How bout some snow? Hello? Is this thing on?

Hearding Cats

Hearding Cats, my guess is kind of like trying to teach a 5 year old to ski. I like to pretend I have patience but its clear to me now. I don't. I may seem calm and jovial on the outside but inside I'm boiling! WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN TO ME???? I have to alter my expectations. If she's having fun, thats all that matters. Right? I sent Dug (who's on a blog hiatus) a txt asking if he had any tips. His response? Put em in ski school and go skiing while they are learning. For some reason I knew that was going to be his response. Problem is, ski school costs money and I have very little extra of that floating around right now. Maybe sign her up for a few 1/2 day lessons for 50 bucks at Solitude. Thats about the best price I have found so far.

All I know, its she is having fun. So long as I don't make too many rules! I made that mistake while trying to get her to listen to me while teaching her how to swim. I ruined it for her. She didn't want to go with me anymore because I had too many "swimming rules". Well, that made me feel like shit so I am trying to keep it light and fresh. If she's having fun and she is  making a little bit, even just a smudge of progress its a good thing. Here's a little video from our outing to Alta Sunday for their "free after 3" thing. Its a pretty sweet deal. Enjoy.

Turkey Day Ride 2011

As things turned out I was able to carve a little time away in the morning for a ride. We had planned to meet at Lambert at 8:00 with Justin and Brannen. Tanner was gonna come but he showed at 10:00 and we were all done. He must have missed the memo? Or, maybe he was busy making pies or rolling out dough for some rolls. Banks couldn't make it because he was downtown or some bullshit. He said he was with us in spirit but I didn't feel it. The only spirit I felt was pure joy. Sorry evil but the joy shut you out.

It was a popular place for a ride as we saw many people out. Conditions were great. It wasn't cold and the trails were not muddy. Brannen has twins coming in February so, I probably won't see him again till next year. 6 boys! Holy crap!

Without further ado, here is the video. My battery died after about 5 minutes of rolling film. Bummer. Oh well, enough to put together a video. Hope your Thanksgiving was as good as ours!