Almost Christmas....

My kids are so excited for Christmas they can hardly contain themselves.  As they wait for the day it must seem to them that time is standing still.  That's how I remember it when I was a kid.  Now, for me it's the opposite.  It seems time is going so fast that I haven't had a chance to savor the season at all.  I just want to be able to take it in and enjoy it all, but I can't.  It comes and goes too quickly.

The last chance I've had to ride outside was over 2 weeks ago and that was the day I had my little crash.  I've been surprised at how long it has taken for my hip to feel better.  I must have bruised it pretty good good because It's been over 2 weeks and I still can feel a little tinge of pain in there once in a while.  But that's not what's kept me from riding outside.  It's been the miserably cold weather.  It's been highs in the 20's for as long as I can remember.  Too cold to ride. (for me anyway)  That, along with the terribly smoggy air.  So, I've been stuck indoors riding the rollers.  Have I said how much I hate riding indoors?  I'm sick of it already.  I want to ride outside.  It looks like temps might get into the 40's tomorrow so I might try to sneak in a short ride at lunch.

We've been able to get out of the smog and ski the past couple of weekends.  It's amazing how beautiful it is up there when its so ugly down here.  And it's warmer too.  Last week they opened the new Gad II lift at Snowbird and we rode it as a family.  I know a lot of purist hated the idea of replacing the old lift but I think it's a major improvement.

Random pics of Jen and the Boy just off the new Gad II lift.

I look forward to skiing this weekend and Christmas Eve but the snow is still scarce.  I pray for big storms but none are coming it seems.

Thanksgiving and a Crash....

We stayed at Snowbird the night before Thanksgiving and though the snow was sparse on the lower mountain,  it was fun as usual.  This has become a family tradition for us and we never expect too much as far as snow conditions go.  So long as the resort is open for skiing, we happily take it.

The kids rip it from the Tram.  Conditions were much better up there.

My sister was gracious enough to invite us, and the whole family, to Thanksgiving at their house this year.  The food was exceptional and I ate way too much, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Final prep being made on Thanksgiving.

On Friday and Saturday I was able to get out and ride my bike in an attempt to burn off some of the Thanksgiving excess.  The weather was warm and it made for nice riding.  On Saturday I went with a good group from the Infinite Team.  While heading up Rose Canyon there was some excitement on the front of our group because of a family of deer crossing the road.  I'm fairly used to the deer up Rose Canyon so I didn't think much of it when I saw them crossing but it caused some hard slowing by others in front of me.  When riding in a pack like we were there's always a chain reaction to what happens up front.  I wasn't able to slow in time and touched the wheel of the person in front of me and I immediately went down hard on my side right side.  I got up quickly and didn't feel any pain so after checking my bike and putting my chain back on I climbed up the rest of the way to the top.  Once at the there we stopped for the usual group photo and it was then that I started to feel slight pain in my hip.  Also, while riding to the top I noticed my bike had trouble shifting and realized that my back derailer got a bit messed up, but other than that my bike is fine.   My body, on the other hand, has been sore for the past 3 days.  Both in my hip and my shoulder.  It's amazing how I didn't feel any pain for the first 10 minutes after the crash but then was I've been sore for this long after.  Still, I feel lucky to have escaped with such minor stuff after my first real crash.  I'm also glad it happened while going up the canyon at low speeds vs. going down.

At the top of Rose after my crash.  (credit: Steve Parry)

(I forgot to mention how nice the guys on this team are.  They've always been fun to ride with but they were especially helpful to me after I crashed.  I was impressed by their thoughtfulness.)

It's snowing hard today so it's back to the rollers for a while.  It gives me some time to heal up for the next ski day, which should be better (although colder) conditions.