Keep it comin

Heavy snowfall last night and it's continuing still. The dogs couldn't get out the dog door this morning because it's snow over! The beagle was not happy about it being taller than her. She looks pissed out there. Tonight Webcyclery is having a special Team night so I'm heading over to pick up some much needed stuff for the coming season. Woohoo. I can hardly think about riding right now though...I think I'll go snowshoeing later. Hell, I might need to snowshoe to get across the street soon!

Most Regular Lap Swimmer

That's right, yours truly was given that distinction today by the Masters Swimming coach. Swimming at lunch has been working out perfectly...plus, I got my new suits and of course I can swim faster since they are new. Nevertheless, when the snow melts off I'll be back to riding at lunch and my swim workouts will just alternate in. I wish they had some sort of swim/bike duathlons.

Cross your fingers for more snow. The forecast looks promising!

Snowing hard

I just got back from cross country skiing - it's snowing really hard outside and accumulating fast. It's wet, heavy snow but we still enjoyed ourselves. I like to get as early start as possible so I held out as late as I could manage and woke Derek up at 8 so we could get going.

We skied out to Tumalo Falls and then continued on above the falls along North Fork. It was really tough going since the snow was so deep and heavy. The falls looked really cool with the ice alongside the flow.

I saw on the news that in 2007 there were more than 481,000 home foreclosures! Wow, that is just, wow. I've read estimates that roughly 1.1 million foreclosures will occur in the near future as a result from jumps in monthly payments on adjustable rate home mortgage loans made in 2004-2006. It's an icy slope.

Speaking of ice...



It was strong enough to hold this big rock.



The ducks were so funny. A giant gathering was taking turns swimming in the opening in the ice. It looked like they were doing mini pace lines.

Not Much New

I haven't written about my swimming lately but I'm still keeping it up. I've been going at lunch almost every day and have developed some nice focused workouts that leave me pretty tired but satisfied. I even ordered some new suits since my old ones are getting pretty ratty. I found a wonderful company over in Portland that has a really great sale going on right now. 3 suits for $58 +shipping. EQ Swimwear

Remember this post? Moonlight Ski? We sure have come a long way in our classic ski skills. This weekend there is more snow in the forecast so I think we'll go for an adventure one of the days and skate ski the other.

180 difference

What the? After my fabulous bike ride on Saturday, I woke up to fresh snow on the ground Sunday. When it snows I ski! It was snowing and pretty much socked in around town but partly clear skies at Bachelor and sunny.




We knocked out a couple loops and then stood basking in the sun while we watched people skiing down the cone. Sadly, I then had to watch the Chargers lose. Booooooo.

Winter Ride

Well it hardly felt like winter yesterday with the blue skies and warm temps. We had some work to do on TheBendGuide.com so our morning was busy. Around 1:00 the temps had risen to around 45 so I grabbed my cyclocross bike and went for a ride. I managed to get about 24 or so miles in with a few trips up Pilot Butte as well - though I had to turn around before getting all the way because the North side was a sheet of ice.



It really was perfect weather for riding because I didn't get too sweaty or too cold. The rustling of my wind vest is a somewhat soothing sound to me for some reason. As I flew past houses with swirling smoke drifting from the chimneys and looked off across fields of melting snow and puddles I thought about how nice it was to enjoy such a versatile form of "workout".

Night Ski & Snowshoe

I've been skate or classic skiing at least one night a week somewhere and last night it was Meisner. The sunset was phenomenal



I skated for a little over and hour and then swapped out the skis for my snowshoes and joined a group of the Bend Bella Cyclists for a night snowshoe. We had a big turnout with something like 18 women! We split into two groups and off we went. It was a beautiful clear starry night and we had a lot of fun. If you want to try something outdoorsy but don't want to spend the time, energy, and money on equipment and learning, snowshoes are for you. It's an easy way to experience nature...as long as you know how to walk!

Have a great day.

Sad News

I found out yesterday that the 27 year old man that died at Mt. Bachelor Sunday was a friend's husband. Tragic. She is an active member of the Bend Bella Cyclists, and we are all supporting her in this tough time. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers. That's a really nice thing about Bend and it still being relatively small..groups pull together to help each other out.

Life is Sweet

Today was nothing but sunshine and blue sky up at the mountain. It's one of maybe 2 days that I've been up there this year without it snowing. I skate skied till near leg failure and smiled the whole way. I V1'd and V2'd like never before and everything was firing. I've been trying to focus on pushing off more heavily when I go from right leg to left leg. I'm pretty sure I hit my max heart rate several times skiing Woody's Way.
What a glorious day. Hey, if you're female in Bend and looking for something to do Wednesday evening, Pine Mtn Sports is hosting a Bend Bella Cyclist night and leading an evening snowshoe excursion. Meeting time is 6:00 at Pine Mtn Sports.

It's Friday!

Hope you all have an excellent day and a great weekend. Today Derek and I are making an investment of sorts. We are buying a website and are excited. More details to follow. Tonight is rock night at The Summit Saloon and it should be good. So what about Saturday and Sunday? The Great Nordeen skate ski race is tomorrow and we're going to take pictures and then ski about 2/3 of the course. It's 36km total so we'll chop it down a bit. We did the whole thing last year and had a blast though! I'm not sure what is on tap for Sunday...some sort of snow activity I imagine. My shoulders are a bit sore from swimming hard the other day. I don't know where all the speed came from. I felt like I was on top of the water and it was just kind of pushing me along.

My friends Linda and Stu were due to have a baby boy a couple days ago and I haven't heard this morning yet what the status is. I'm so excited for them!!!!

Enjoy the fresh air!

Props

I gotta give props to whoever is responsible for grooming the Skyliner Sports Complex for skate skiing. I spent over an hour there after work last night doing laps around it with about a dozen other people...even ran into someone I hadn't seen since this summer! I wish we could always have enough snow in town to keep it up...it's very convenient when you want to get a quick ski in. Granted, it is no replacement for getting out and exploring the gigantic playground we live in.

What the?

This ice cube in Deschutes River is taunting me. Tell me that doesn't look exactly like a bottle of beer.

The snow bears

Oh it snowed last night, it snowed last night,
The snow bears had a pillow fight
and tore up every cloud in sight
Oh it snowed last night.

My mom used to sing that to me when I was little.

Well, we finally got hit with a big storm and it's a disaster.
In the last 6 hours the road conditions within the City of Bend have escalated into a
dangerous condition. All vehicular travel that is not imperative or an emergency shouldbe avoided.
Specifically, drivers who must drive should avoid all streets north of NW Newport and
west of the Deschutes River. Mt. Washington Blvd, Summit Drive, NW Portland Avenue
are nearly impassable due to ice, snow and a series of vehicle accidents. Presently NW12th and NW 9th streets, north of NW Galveston are closed, with no present estimate
time of re-opening.
Due to the overwhelming amount of vehicle accidents and increased travel time that is
required due to road and weather conditions throughout the City of Bend, citizens
should anticipate delayed police responses.

I've always wanted to cross country ski from Skyliners SnoPark up the ridge to Swede Shelter and I thought yesterday would be the day. I've been hesitant in the past because the route isn't marked and when the weather is bad you can't tell one ridge from another and everything looks alike. I've ridden that trail at least 100 times on my mountain bike, but it looks so different with 7 feet of snow. I had to at least try it though. It ended up snowing really hard the whole time we were up there and we had to turn back after about 2.5 hours. It was just taking so long because I was breaking trail the whole way. Still, it was fun and good to get off on our own. By the end of the winter we will do it. It's my goal.

Perfection

That's what today was up at Bachelor. Skate ski conditions were awesome. The parking lot hadn't entirely been plowed so we had to park way out and then decided to just climb up the hillside and ski down the back to the nordic trails. Today is the kind of day you remember for quite some time. Everything clicked and I smiled the whole time...except when snot was dripping out my nose and I was trying to still breathe.

For lunch we tried out the new Cafe Yumm that opened in The Old Mill. I had the hot and jazzy bowl and LOVED it. It has jasmine rice, red beans, jalapeno-sesame salsa, cheese, cilantro, and their special Yumm sauce. I will definitely be back to that place for more.

Space Coaster

Shazam! Skate skiing last night was fast! The trails were all hard packed snow and it had probably melted a bit in the afternoon and then refroze so it was a bit icy. Night skiing is kind of spooky at times. Standing there in the darkness with just a halo of soft light shining in front of me, I look around. I can't see very far so everything I can see, I study. As I head out Tangent loop and then make the sharp left and head up heartbreak hill, I struggle to keep a smooth motion...arms tight in, elbows bent, smooth. It's like an elegant dance only instead of a glamorous bright red backless dress with shiny sequins, I'm in technical materials that wick and dry. Instead of having my hair done up in curls, I'm wearing a beanie that covers my ears. No music is swirling around me, all I hear is the sound of skis scraping ice and my poles sticking in the snow. I rocket down the backside and scare myself silly as I have one hell of a time keeping it under control at high speeds with icy turns. Ahhhhh, life is good.

Whatever you do...

Have a happy new year. We partied at the Summit Saloon and Stage for New Years and had a really good time enjoying three live bands and seeing plenty of friends. Tuesday we were up at Bachelor to skate ski on the perfectly groomed trails. It was nearly primo conditions and I skied the hell outta them. I'll be back out tonight somewhere to ski. Embrace winter and enjoy it.