tele!

acquired a uhaul last week (aka, 16' of pain), have no idea how i'd have loaded that truck w/o mr sanidas, that's a real good friend there! once in vermont (w/huge props to mike for helping unload the uhaul!), snow covering the ground, the promise of a big storm en route, we were pretty pysched... by friday morning rains had washed the snow away (again!), but we stayed optimistic... saturday, with things dry and cool, i headed-out on the road bike, down my dirt road and out onto the rolling east warren road, towering views of mt ellen, lincoln peak, mad river glen on one side, the northfield range rising-up on the other. farms mingled with small homes mingled w/houses larger than any family i know requiring. few cars passed, the road was mine for the moment, my smile growing broader and broader as i realized this isn't a vacation, this is my home.

blue skies began to open up and the temperature plummeted, 2 layers and a wind vest simply wasn't enough, i went to take a drink and both my bottles were frozen solid. soon after my rear derailuer cable snapped, stopping to rip the line clear and get it rolling singlespeed wasn't helping! i cruised into FitWerx shivering and was impressed with the level of service i received. Ian (co-owner) and 2 other mechs were on it, cable fixed, out the door in 10mins for $9.90 - considering i had $10 in my pocket, i thought it was pretty magical and spun for another 10miles or so to make the most of their kindness before heading home a frozen block, happy for the lack of snow, but looking fwd to get-out on my new-t0-me tele set-up.

the wknd snow storm never really developed, but i did get-out for most of a day on the tele's with Mike and Allison. Mike's a superb skier and Allison's form is about as perfect as it can get. She focuses very hard on doing it right all the time, something you have to appreciate - and learn from. they gave me a series of tips, i made a complete fool of myself, rolling down the mtn with these strange long sticks attached to my feet, ski poles poking my eyes out. by lunch i could stop w/o falling everytime, "ate" two glasses of porter to loosen-up and was getting from edge to edge for a cpl more runs before calling it a day. pretty stoked. headed-out today on the snowboard (even though i said i wouldn't) and was bored silly. this time i mean it, it's all tele from here on out!