Status quo.

It's been raining and well above freezing for the past few days, and anything resembling skiable snow is now gone...Being somewhat bored, I figured I'd update this thing and hopefully stir up some motivation in the process. We'll see if that comes by the conclusion of this entry...

Since I returned from the nordic heaven that is Mont Ste-Anne and we had our sprint "race" in VT, I've had only one decent day on snow- a ~3hr day at Salmon Hills two weekends ago with some of the Ithaca College crew. Days like that remind me why I love skiing and winter so much. I opted out of the last two USCSA weekends, due mainly to the quality of the racing, my lack of desire to drive, and a few other things that kept me in Ithaca. Skating was decent until a week or so ago, but my motivation to drive that far to trails quickly waned with the snow depth. Lately, a dusting of powder over a solid ice base provided some difficult classic at Hammond Hill, but I am sure that is gone following the rain. At the very least, the woods at HH were very picturesque for touring. Essentially, my "ski training" has consisted of milling around either Hammond or Connecticut Hill with my friend Molly in some attempt to delude ourselves that there is a season between autumn and spring. However, I've since been abandoned for the remainder of the winter, since apparently a semester in New Zealand is a more attractive option than crappy skiing in Ithaca...go figure, haha.

This coming weekend is the USCSA Clarkson Carnival at Prospect Mtn. in VT, and I'll be heading over to do that. This will possibly be my only "legitimate" ski race for the entire winter, which is kind of sad to admit. I've since scrapped plans to do the Gatineau 53k, due to lack of snow time and the outrageous price, courtesy of the US dollar. Prospect is also hosting an Eastern Cup race Saturday morning which I had initially thought about doing...but after further consideration (mainly the race entry + NENSA fee) I think I'll take the free race instead. I can also avoid getting stomped on by high school kids...

In addition to the sparse skiing and fueled by exercise addiction, about three days a week have been spent on the rollers in Barton Hall, or outside getting muddy on the cross bike. I much prefer the latter, although I'm sure the golf course crews don't. It's not the most fun to be training indoors so much, but using rollers and having the company definitely makes the time pass quicker. The ~2hr sessions usually consist of 15-30 minute intervals combined with pullups, core, and various other exercises to break the boredom. We also spend a fair amount of time screwing around with things like no-handed, one-legged pedaling while on the rollers. Or practicing trackstanding the tandem with Steve F.- if we can't be fast we have to at least look good at Tandem Sprint Nationals this summer.

The road season starts in a month or so, but I don't think I'll be racing in earnest until mid-to-late April. Tentatively, I plan on doing the Grant's Tomb Criterium for the Columbia race weekend in mid-March. It's probably really awesome to race in NYC which is really my only reason for considering it. Even if I don't do well, it'll be a good rust-buster and hopefully will get me more into crit racing. Plus, much of my family/friends have yet to witness the shitstorm that is a criterium. Just don't crash...

As for the rest of the season...I have no idea! I think some of it will be dictated by my commitment to the NorEast Cycling Team...probably means some racing in New Hampshire. I'm focusing on Fitchburg-Longsjo in early July and naturally the Green Mountain Stage Race, but one of the great luxuries of being a cat 2 is that I don't need to register for my entire summer season in January. With winter currently being the way it is, I'm really longing for the warm summer Tuesday nights spent racing with the FLCC. And then the crunch of leaves and crisp air of cyclocross. But let's not think too far ahead...

I'm sure I will soon update with the holy grail of blog entries- the pre-season goals assessment. I'm actually really curious to get it written down and look it over.

Things are finally looking up.