Yesterday’s conditions were best described as ‘spring conditions’. It was 45 degrees in the lift lines, 35 degrees at the top, and the runs had great snow. I hightailed it outta there at 2pm due entirely to my pathetic snowboard fitness.
C-Dub and JB showed up around 10:30am with a backpack full of Tecate and snicker bars. Cool… snacks and lunch all in one Camelbak.
The newest technology at snowbowl is a radar gun that they are using at a couple of locations where slopes merge. My guess is that they didn’t have it on yesterday because just when I thought I was cold straight haulin’ ass, I’d get passed by a dude or a chick who was really cold straight haulin’ ass. Damn! We skied the trees, the open groomers, and helped form moguls on the steeps. It was a bluebird day with not a cloud in the sky and no wind whatsoever.
This weekend, they are expecting 3,000 skiers each day on Sat and Sun. I’ll be avoiding the bowl like my daughter avoids her homework. Time to hop back on the road bike – races start in 3 weeks. Yes, races start in 3 weeks. I'm gonna suck until at least March.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
After getting the cat on my head whacked after work, I found myself sitting at a school board meeting amidst a couple of hunnert’ other parents concerned about budget cuts/override funds/school closures. It’s all legit man, they are talkin’ about cuttin’ teachers, admin staff, and consolidating kids into even a proposed ginormous K-8 school. The usual suspects including clueless parents, very informed parents, propaganda spreading goofballs, and citizens with blatant political aspirations were all clear and present.
Selfishly, I walked away with a better feeling than I walked in with because the impact on Lyza will be minimal - for now anyway. The flip side is that I know a lot of teachers in town who could be impacted by closing schools, and that just plain sucks, but what business hasn't been impacted by our sagging economy? Sorry, but at the end of the day, the school district is another business spending taxpayer money, and that's how some emotionless people look at it.
I also got quite a laugh sitting next to my ex, as we picked apart some of the stereotypical parental sets at the meeting. We were always good at that, when in fact we probably should have been looking in the mirror and realizing our own shortfalls because there were plenty there. Regardless, I left with a smile and it helped bring the entire drama into focus on a bigger level because……..
………..Unfortunately, Flagstaff is fighting a losing battle not in its own community, but at the state legislature level where funds allocated for schools are not seen as a priority, and that view has nothing and everything to do with the horrendous economy in this state right now - meaning it's never been a priority, and now we don't even have the tax base to fund the basic needs.….I guess that’s why our schools are ranked in the lower third nationwide in a lot of categories. And we live here because? Oh yeah, 90% of my kid’s teachers have been great, the mountains behind my house beckon me to come out and play all the time rain, snow, or shine, and since we’ve become accustomed to being underpaid it all makes perfect sense. The mountain biking is pretty good too.
I'm worried though that those outstanding teachers will disappear along with the school/program cuts that are imminent.
Selfishly, I walked away with a better feeling than I walked in with because the impact on Lyza will be minimal - for now anyway. The flip side is that I know a lot of teachers in town who could be impacted by closing schools, and that just plain sucks, but what business hasn't been impacted by our sagging economy? Sorry, but at the end of the day, the school district is another business spending taxpayer money, and that's how some emotionless people look at it.
I also got quite a laugh sitting next to my ex, as we picked apart some of the stereotypical parental sets at the meeting. We were always good at that, when in fact we probably should have been looking in the mirror and realizing our own shortfalls because there were plenty there. Regardless, I left with a smile and it helped bring the entire drama into focus on a bigger level because……..
………..Unfortunately, Flagstaff is fighting a losing battle not in its own community, but at the state legislature level where funds allocated for schools are not seen as a priority, and that view has nothing and everything to do with the horrendous economy in this state right now - meaning it's never been a priority, and now we don't even have the tax base to fund the basic needs.….I guess that’s why our schools are ranked in the lower third nationwide in a lot of categories. And we live here because? Oh yeah, 90% of my kid’s teachers have been great, the mountains behind my house beckon me to come out and play all the time rain, snow, or shine, and since we’ve become accustomed to being underpaid it all makes perfect sense. The mountain biking is pretty good too.
I'm worried though that those outstanding teachers will disappear along with the school/program cuts that are imminent.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
december to remember
It's a fine day today as my ex gave up a losing battle and stopped sending our daughter to religious education classes at the "Sin 6 ways till Sunday, then say a few Hail Mary's" school of Catholicism. I'm all for education, I'm just not supportive of one school of thought brainwashing children by saying "repeat after me....". I mean, c'mon......any 'house of God' that throws it's collective weight and guilt around by condemning homosexuality as a 'disordered state' is in my opinion, ridiculous. According to Catholics, homosexuals have a mental disorder, but they are OK so long as they practice abstinence. Wow. What - the - hell - ever. So much for coexistance, tolerance, and acceptance. I think I'll teach those virtues to my daughter myself, and when she's old enough to understand religious principles of established churches, say in college, then she can make the call herself.
Unless of course I raise her like the d-bag I am and screw her all up, which is entirely possible.
I'll be 42 in two days. D hooked me up with fleece lined tights, and microspikes for running on packed snow. Mom has a Paris-Tours video on the way with a spectacular victory by Philippe Gilbert to watch, and Lyza has something planned that I know will make me laugh. That right there is a pretty good B-day. I'll be off work, for a full day of boarding at the Bowl.......followed by a prostate exam the next morning. Yeah buddy, enjoy your 30's if you're still in 'em.
Unless of course I raise her like the d-bag I am and screw her all up, which is entirely possible.
I'll be 42 in two days. D hooked me up with fleece lined tights, and microspikes for running on packed snow. Mom has a Paris-Tours video on the way with a spectacular victory by Philippe Gilbert to watch, and Lyza has something planned that I know will make me laugh. That right there is a pretty good B-day. I'll be off work, for a full day of boarding at the Bowl.......followed by a prostate exam the next morning. Yeah buddy, enjoy your 30's if you're still in 'em.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Pow baby...
We scrambled up the Bowl again this morning, and the falling snow put a nice 2" sugar layer on what was already there. The ride down was fantastic, and we stopped 2/3 of the way, and hiked right back up for a total of 2,500 feet or so of vert.....I am whipped, but I'm still smiling.
The second run down Lava was in 20 inches of untracked powder, and describing that floating feeling on a fat snowboard.....hmmm, you know it. It forces permagrin, and that is the way to start a Saturday. 5-8 inches expected tomorrow means a snowball fight on Sunday with the neighborhood kids. I think that means a Monday dawn patrol before work back up the mountain. F*ck yeah, it's been a great start to the ski season for us because they haven't opened up the lifts yet....keeping all of the flatlanders in their mansions in the desert. LOVE IT!
The second run down Lava was in 20 inches of untracked powder, and describing that floating feeling on a fat snowboard.....hmmm, you know it. It forces permagrin, and that is the way to start a Saturday. 5-8 inches expected tomorrow means a snowball fight on Sunday with the neighborhood kids. I think that means a Monday dawn patrol before work back up the mountain. F*ck yeah, it's been a great start to the ski season for us because they haven't opened up the lifts yet....keeping all of the flatlanders in their mansions in the desert. LOVE IT!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
put a capper on it - the season is ova!
Rolled outta Sedona at high noon on Friday, and made it to Phoenix around 3p and I didn’t have to put the monkey suit on until 5:30p….just enough time for a road ride! 58 degrees, sunny, and a 15 mile loop around Fountain Hills was just the ticket. Quick change, got the VIP’s on the bus to the dinner spot and the rest of the evening went as planned. Back in the room ‘round 11:15p and up at 5:30 to a really loud Latina singer on the cheap clock radio – Holy freakin’ heart attack.
The start of the race brought 37 degrees, but I wasn’t taking the first lap, that was C-Dub’s job. I picked up my race #, met him at the line, grabbed his down jacket from his trembling body, and watched him head out with the other 299 riders….Me? Into my kit, and SNAP I knew I was missing something – nobody had any coffee, including my unprepared ass. A shot of Espresso Hammer Gel has 50mg of Caffeine, so there you go….I felt better and managed to take care of biz in the porta pot after a short warm-up to get the juices flowing.
1:03, 1:03, 1:07 and 1:07 were my four lap times. 15.3 miles per lap on the fastest AZ racetrack I know of. I shaved nearly 20 minutes off my combined time from last year on a course that was a mile longer. I got the gear right this year (32x17), and felt pretty strong the entire time other than a lap 3 cramp that was only ¼ mile from the finish. Yeah baby, that’s a good sign going into the state series that starts in a month. We got 6th out of 8 teams in the SS cat which surely doesn’t belong on a marquee. The category was very competitive as the difference between 3rd and 6th was about 1 min and 30 sec per lap. However, that’s a lot of time that we just couldn’t make up - so, no hardware this year to take home, but it was a great race for me and C-Dub and we both definitely left all that we had out there.
After my last lap, I fell asleep in a camp chair with a Tecate in hand, and woke up to a D-bag taking a picture of me laughing. I had to chuckle, and I laughed even harder when I tried to get up and nearly stacked it into one corner of the EZ-Up.
You know you got your money’s worth at a bike race when you:
……are huddled in a port-a-pottie for warmth and the tank full of remnants is the last thing on your mind
……paid $1 per mile + the cost of travel to kick the crap out of yourself
……feel so fresh and so clean when walking out of a port-a-pottie that has a hand sanitizer dispenser
……finished and said “never again”, and then a few beers later you’re talking shit about racing again and all of the stuff you would change to get on the podium
The start of the race brought 37 degrees, but I wasn’t taking the first lap, that was C-Dub’s job. I picked up my race #, met him at the line, grabbed his down jacket from his trembling body, and watched him head out with the other 299 riders….Me? Into my kit, and SNAP I knew I was missing something – nobody had any coffee, including my unprepared ass. A shot of Espresso Hammer Gel has 50mg of Caffeine, so there you go….I felt better and managed to take care of biz in the porta pot after a short warm-up to get the juices flowing.
1:03, 1:03, 1:07 and 1:07 were my four lap times. 15.3 miles per lap on the fastest AZ racetrack I know of. I shaved nearly 20 minutes off my combined time from last year on a course that was a mile longer. I got the gear right this year (32x17), and felt pretty strong the entire time other than a lap 3 cramp that was only ¼ mile from the finish. Yeah baby, that’s a good sign going into the state series that starts in a month. We got 6th out of 8 teams in the SS cat which surely doesn’t belong on a marquee. The category was very competitive as the difference between 3rd and 6th was about 1 min and 30 sec per lap. However, that’s a lot of time that we just couldn’t make up - so, no hardware this year to take home, but it was a great race for me and C-Dub and we both definitely left all that we had out there.
After my last lap, I fell asleep in a camp chair with a Tecate in hand, and woke up to a D-bag taking a picture of me laughing. I had to chuckle, and I laughed even harder when I tried to get up and nearly stacked it into one corner of the EZ-Up.
You know you got your money’s worth at a bike race when you:
……are huddled in a port-a-pottie for warmth and the tank full of remnants is the last thing on your mind
……paid $1 per mile + the cost of travel to kick the crap out of yourself
……feel so fresh and so clean when walking out of a port-a-pottie that has a hand sanitizer dispenser
……finished and said “never again”, and then a few beers later you’re talking shit about racing again and all of the stuff you would change to get on the podium
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