A new season begins

The final Vakava rollerski time trials of the year were on November 9th, and that evening it began to snow, about as good of a seasonal transition as there could be. With the roads less suitable for bike riding (although by no means impossible, I have seen evidence of several bike riders still out and about) I decided to switch over to run commuting. Running to work is nice in the winter, it is warmer than biking, but keeps me cool enough that I don't arrive at work sweaty as long as I keep the pace in control. I do have to wake up a bit earlier to make it to work at the same time, and carry a headlamp for the run home, but it is great to be outside enjoying the weather. The Salomon Speedcross shoes I won at the Birkie Marathon this fall have made great snow shoes so far, the traction is great and my feet stay pretty dry as long as snow doesn't go over the top of the shoe.

Great snow runners

While these shoes work decent for snowy roads, they really shine on the trails. Northfield is fortunate to now have some pretty fun singletrack trails thanks to the Cannon River Offroad Cycling & Trails (CROCT) group. In the last couple months they've built several miles of fun trails in Sechler park. I've been running these trails every chance I get and since there has been snow it's been great to see lots of bike tracks out there too.

CROCT volunteers trail building

I've been stepping up my cleaning efforts at home the last couple weeks to try to cut down on the amount of random rabbit fur laying everywhere, but there is an amazing amount of it everywhere. With no rabbit running around I'm not sure where it keeps coming from, but I'm making progress. I also had to break down and turn on my heat. When the temp outside sits below freezing for days on end I begin to fear for my pipes, and I have to admit that coming in out of the cold to a warm house is a nice luxury. It is now a balmy 56 degrees in my house when I get home. I have on occasion had guests complain about the cold, so if you are coming to visit give me a heads up and I'll heat the place up a bit more.

I did have one occasion to turn the heat up already. With snow on the way I had a bunch of EMXC folks over for a Fast Wax Party. There was a lot of ski waxing, pizza eating, and FIS World Cup race watching. It was fun getting everyone together to talk skiing and get the boards ready to go.

While there is enough snow around Northfield to ski on, I took the opportunity last weekend to head up to my parents and get some ski time on the already groomed Balsam Branch Trails. The conditions up there were good when I started skiing, and the groomer was out the whole time I was, so by the time I left the trails were gorgeous. It was hard to leave conditions were so great, but figured since I made the trip up it would probably be a good idea to actually spend some time with my parents.

Back in Northfield the EMXC crew has made it out skiing a few days this week in the Upper Arb. There is no grooming and limited options that aren't gravely, but it is great to get out anyway. There is one decent hill for specific strength, so I gave that a try one day. It's really fun to see the newer skiers picking up pretty much right where they left off last season. I'm excited to see how they progress as the ski season goes on.

Jeff came down to Northfield to run with Nichole today, so I joined them and got my first chance to try pushing the jogging stroller Nate and Nichole got. It does roll much easier than the walking stroller Nichole had been running with, especially through the snow or into a headwind. Little G seemed fine, she was snoozing pretty much the whole run, although she started to get chatty the last couple miles. The pacing worked out pretty well with me getting the extra bit of work pushing the stroller, Jeff and Nate running, and Nichole getting a little bit of a pull from Mesa. I'm sure we made quite the spectacle rolling around town.