May 26th, 2009
Spring skiing in Bend
Another blue-bird day here in Central Oregon. Jack Hart picked me up at 7:45 this morning for a ski at Bachelor. Jack gave me the nickle-tour of the outskirts of Bend complete with historical data, the best burritos in Oregon, and a few long yarns. He also lent me the new Salomon skaters and a pair of poles. (Thanks, Jack!)
We hit the trails with Zoe Roy and Jamie Bronga at 8:30 and the skiing was fantastic. Hard corduroy at the start, then a bit soft by 10:00 am in the sun, though still quite form in the shade. Perfect! The new Salomons felt pretty darn good, though I was sucking wind big time. As I skied up the last hill of the day I came upon some of the USST coaches waiting to perform lactate test on the USST athletes. Please, I thought , don’t watch this train wreck. Chris Grover asked if I wanted a finger prick. No,I told him, I know I’m pushing 20 mmol of acid without spending the money on a strip.
The ski was fantastic. I was able to clear my mind and just ski for the fun of it. I was not worried about recruiting, testing wax, pre-viewing courses for feeds, or trying to predict the weather for an upcoming race. It was just skiing. Days like today help me recharge my batteries after a long season. I don’t want to sound too touchy-feely, but there is something pretty cool about late spring skiing.
Though I expected the skiing to be the highlight, it was equally exciting to see the USST members and other elite athletes out doing their business. I was able to introduce my son, daughter, and nephew to a few USST members later in the day. It may not seem like a big deal, but for two six-year-olds an an eight-year-old, it’s pretty cool.
All day conference call tomorrow with the CCSA (this blows) and then we fly home on Thursday. One more day in Bend would be pretty nice. -SJ
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