Squeezing It All In

Whew! Last weekend was FULL of activity! By Sunday night, I could hardly move, and I was beat. Mike and I went up to Maine on Friday, and thankfully, didn't have to shovel in this week. He went out for a snowmobile ride on the local trails, but I managed to wimp out and stay home instead ;-).

Saturday morning, we started the day snowshoeing from the house. After an hour of that, we packed up and went over to Jackson, NH where we met up with my friend Becky at the Jackson Ski Touring Center. Despite a ski race just finishing, the trails were great, and not really very crowded as we climbed for two hours. Coming down was fun though ;-).

We rewarded the day's efforts with a great meal with good friends at Moat's in North Conway before getting BACK in the car to head home to MA. It was a long day.




Sometime overnight, it started to snow, thwarting any plans for a road ride on Sunday. Instead, Mike, Wayne, PK and I headed out on the MTBs despite the raging pain in my quads from Saturday's ski. It was tough going in the snow, and not being able to see the ice underneath the snow cover made it even more difficult. We did get to test the ice on Fawn Lake, and it was definitely ride able (in fact, Mike and I went back to Fawn Lake last night and shoveled off a section for skating - the biking was better than the skating).





I could barely move at all on Monday, given the exercise (and a tumble onto my hand)... Wonder what we'll do next weekend???

Who Needs Coach Troy?

In the cycling world, Coach Troy is akin to what Richard Simmons was to many of our moms. Many cyclists use Coach Troy to get them through trainer sessions in the winter months - DVDs full of base building, intervals, hill climbing, time trialing and more. No need for that today!

Mike, AA, PK, Stig, Wayne and I headed out from the house on the MTBs with the studded tires , which we really needed. The trails in the woods were snow and ice covered, but passable where people had walked. We did get onto a couple of trails that hadn't been tracked, and the going was pretty tough. You could get a head of steam going, but then you would hit some deep snow and your bike would literally stop. This was going to be hard work!

Spinning uphills, pedalling downhills and just pushing through the crud was a great workout. My HR was pegged for some of the ride, just in the effort of keeping the bike going in a forward direction! After an hour with the boys, I finally had enough and put my tail between my legs to head for home. Unfortunately, the bike path wasn't in much better shape - full of frozen footprints and bike ruts! I did end up managing 14 miles of riding in 2 hours, so will leave Coach Troy for another day.

Hey Brad - not sure what happened to Dallas, but it looks like my team just won it's 18th straight game to get to the Super Bowl ;-)

Sledding

Today was our second longest snowmobile ride ever - 230 miles. Mike and I set out from Errol, NH at about 8:30 this morning, and rode from there to Oquossoc, ME, all around Rangely, ME, back to Oquossoc and then returned to Errol around 4:30, stopping only for gas and a quick lunch break.

The trails were in excellent shape early in the morning, and made for some fast riding. There were a LOT of people out taking advantage of the snow, so conditions deteriorated later in the day, but I have definitely seen worse.



While the whole ride was enjoyable (minus some of the boneheads who thought they could "out-race" everyone on the trails, making for a couple of close calls), the best part of the day was racing across Rangely lake. Mike and I sped off to see how fast we could go, and it seemed that for some unknown reason, my sled was faster. I clocked 87 mph on it ;-). Could it be that I won????

BTW - I did end up getting to Florida last week. Managed to spend a day in sunny, 70 degree temps, which was a nice change from cold and snow. Believe it or not, I even "played" 9 holes of golf, losing at least two golf balls in the process. Warm weather will be here soon enough (I hope!).

Foiled!

I was supposed to be on my way to sunny Florida this morning. Instead, this:


Guess I shouldn't really complain. We had a glorious weekend here with sunshine, dry roads and temps in the 40s and 50s. Managed two solid days of riding - somehow 100 mile weekends in January just don't seem right ;-).

And, I am still going to Florida, but not until tomorrow, when the shoveling is done.

Two for One?

I tried to convince the good folks at Emerson's MRI center to give us a family discount this week - both Mike and I were in on different days. His knee is still giving him trouble (as yet undiagnosed what the issue may be at this point). Me? You may recall that I fell on my shoulder during cross season - three times in two weeks. Went to the ortho this week, and he wanted to get a view of my rotator cuff. I'm really hoping it's just tendonitis, and not torn.

BUT, all of this is MINOR. Our good friend, Don B, is currently in hospital recovering from a mild stroke. He is a cyclist, and in his early 40s. Thankfully, he will make a full recovery, but it is still scary. Get well soon, Don!

Back and Ready for More Adventures!

Yup - over the holidays me and the blog took some much need time off. Now I am relaxed, refreshed and looking forward to what the new year ahead is going to bring (and nervous about how I am going to top some of the adventures from last year...).

Here's what's been going on with us since my last post:

• Cross country skiing at Carter's in Bethel.
• More snowmobile adventures - 98 miles with Mike and his brother before Christmas and another 70 miles from the house in Maine just last weekend.
• I traveled home to Canada to spend time with my family, and to celebrate my niece's 5th birthday (poor kid has a birthday just two days after Christmas!)
• Riding - went out with the NEBC crew in between Christmas and New Year's for a "friendly" 50 miler. Also participated in a crazy New Year's Day ride in the "snrain" - 13 people, 16 miles in 1:10. Thankfully, this was followed by a fun party with warm drink and plenty of food!
• We rang in the New Year with good friends (and more food).
• The blog turned 1! Hard to believe that after 107 posts last year, we are now into the second year of the blog.

So, we've celebrated the old year and rung it out (still not sure exactly where it went), and now we look ahead to what will be in 2008! Happy New Year to everyone - may it be filled with adventures.


Skiing in Bethel

Our ride took us directly past the Telstar Satellite site in Andover, ME


The monkey turns 5!