2nd Skin

The following weekend it was really cold so I dressed accordingly.  This time around I wore a cycling t-shirt and thermal long sleeve that I also wear for the cycling.  Over that I was wearing my favorite fleece with zip pits.  However, by the time I got to top of Wilbur Park I was sweating profusely once again.

I headed up Wing'n it but then when I saw the last section to the top I knew I wasn't making that so I cut over on a trail called Wintuck, thinking I would probably be able to climb Why Not only to find the trail closed due to ski racing.

In the afternoon I headed over to the western side of the resort to try and climb the western mountain. Along the way I saw Elliot up in the chair.  I was probably 100 yards up the mountain and we was already taking his third run.

I never made it up the western mountain but I still had fun climbing.  Coming down was great, too.

Uphill Skiing is Fun!

I have yet to get back on the bike due to my bike crash late last year but for the past couple of weeks I have felt good enough to ski and one thing I wanted to try this year was uphill skiing.  This is my second year on Telemark skis and it's a such a blast!  Every turn is a learning experience.

  

I have my son enrolled in an adaptive racing program at Windham Mountain through the Adaptive Sports Foundation.  Last year we were going to Jiminy Peak every week for their racing program but Elliot grew out of that program which has brought us here.  The big difference with ASF is that I can't shadow Elliot like I did last year so while he is off shredding the trails with his guide I have some time to kill.

So, I bought an Uphill Seasons Pass at Windham, which means for $25 I can ski up and down the mountain, I just can't use the lifts.  When you have skins, why would you even want to use lifts?  It sounds like cheating!

Similar to the scales you get with waxless cross country skis, skins let you walk up a slope without sliding backwards.  In fact, they are far better than scales!

My first outing was on a particularly warm Saturday afternoon on Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday weekend.  My first skin was up Lower and Upper Whirlwind and it was basically straight up and I got really hot, really quick!

 

I went out wearing a t-shirt, turtleneck and a wool sweater and half way up I was sweating profusely. In my ruck sack I am carrying water, a parka shell and my helmet because I knew going downhill was going to be really cold.

But the beauty of this type of skiing is getting access to closed slopes!  After this climb, my down hill selection resulted in finding a slope that the upper part had snow making on it which seemed to be deterring the other skiers from this particular slope.

Thus giving me the entire lower section of the slope open to make some really good turns!

New Hucks on the Gussy

Since I still can't ride, I headed out to Upper Paugussett with my son Brodie to do some geocaching and check out some of the new hucks that have developed on the Upper Gussy Trail.  I think it's been 9 or 10 months since I have been in the state forest, and of course that was on my mountain bike.

The first thing I noticed was some new trees down at the top of Sandy's Re-Route.  It was an rotten tree and someone cut the tree with a chainsaw (thank you).  Also, pictured above, someone made a nice log ride, only you have to ride through some low hanging pine branches.  The tranny could be a little better but I suppose it works.

Looking down

Brodie and I were falling the compass on the GPS to geocache that was on the Blue Trail and I happened to notice a line that people appeared to have riding.  A first, I thought it was making the linkage over to the blue trail - there used to be a trail that connected these two areas but it's long gone after no use.  Still, the line seem to end and then I found it!  OMG, what a huck!  And there is a nice kicker, too!

Looking up

Looking up from the kicker

You will never catch me on this one!

Walking back from the geocache, Brodie and I were walking back on the Gussy I found another insane roller.

I think this one is bigger than the one at Sandy's Reroute.

This roller is closer to Sanford Road side of the trail

And it's pretty steep!

The last morsel is an up and over on the stone wall that we broke through to put the Gussy Trail in.  It's really nice and looks like it's getting a lot of use with all the chain ring scratches.

I think after my ribs have healed up I am going to have to get back on the mountain bike again.

First Case of Road Rash

What a way to finish the 2015 cycling season but with my first crash on my road bike.  Our local cycling group had a few new guests and we were having really great time, too, despite the cold weather.  

We were riding the Sunset Hill Route, only this time we road up over Castle Hill and then hooked around on Tauton Lake and then took Plumtrees down into Bethel.  It was great to discover that Plumtrees had recently been paved and the Black Butter was simply delicious!

The climb up Sunset Hill went well but it was heading down through the hairpin turn where disaster struck (me).  Going into the turn, I had too much speed and it happened so fast but all of a sudden my rear tire went out from under me and I was sliding on the road towards on coming car.  Fortunately for me, the driver was going slow and stopped right of way.  All I can think of was I hope I stop in time.

My hip hurt and forearm hurt but it didn't feel like anything was broken.  My breastbone hurt, too, but again, it didn't feel like I broke any ribs - I know what that feels like from my mountain biking days.

Riding down to the bottom of Sunset Hill, I split off from the group and headed home.  Paul and Gavin stuck with me most of the way.  While my hip and forearm hurt but injuries felt superficial and I was fine riding.  My only concern was the ribs.

When I went down, I was in the drops so I think I instinctively shielded my chest with my the flat part of my arm and my hip was probably second to the pavement.  My right hand caught some the pavement, too, and getting hope I found my knuckles were a bit bloodied.

After showering I went right to the ice.  Right side of my chest hurts but no burning pain when breath deeply, which tells me no broken or cracked ribs.  Maybe a little bruising but nothing I haven't dealt with before.  Looks like I might be riding the trainer for awhile now and skiing with probably be out of the question for the next week but we'll see how I feel in a couple of days.

Just Riding Along Flirtation Avenue

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The Newtown LunArtics rode to Flirtation Avenue Saturday morning.

Temperature was great but we didn't get any sun until we got to Lake Waramug

This was going to be Gavin's biggest ride all year



The lake and roads around it were deserted

It's 8 miles around the lake and it is almost entirely flat



December 26th, 2015 and it's 45 degrees
and there is no snow in the Litchfield Hills




After the lake loop we stopped off for coffee and egg sandwiches
at the 9 Main Bakery and Cafe



On the way back to Newtown, we rode down Nettleton Hollow and then
down Rt 47, pass Woodbury Ski Area and they had some snow!
Machine made, but snow is snow!