It seems like I should be used to it by now, but yet another year has flown by in what seems like record time. I can’t believe it’s already 2010.

Heather and I capped off 2009 with an awesome backcountry ski up at Berthoud pass just outside of Winter Park – one of our favorite places in Colorado. I spent most of December doing some fun mountain biking when the weather was good, and hiking and skiing when it wasn’t. With my MTB season extending into late November in 2009, I had a pretty short window to take a break from the bike.

Finishing up a fantastic 2009 on a high note - literally.


That’s fine with me though – as I’m already having a blast training for 2010. January in Colorado is an interesting time to be a professional cyclist. Some years it’s warm and the roads and MTB trails are clear, other times it can be cold all month and the trails buried for the winter. This is looking like one of the colder years, and the training rides are already pretty limited. Many of my go-to rides for even this time of year are currently unrideable. As I’ve rediscovered my ski legs though, such a scenario bothers me less and less.

A winter storm is just a matter of perspective: Suck (L), Sweet (R)
              
I’m on my third year now of adding quite a bit of backcountry skiing to the training mix – and after a successful 2009 I’m certainly going to keep getting up into the snowy mountains. Alternating ski and ride days this time of year is super motivating. As a professional cyclist I obviously have to still suck up some less-than-nice days outside on the bike (uh, see above), but the ability to do a fun and hard workout on skis makes a Colorado winter a lot more enjoyable (again, above).
One of the best things about skiing this time of year is that it's given me a chance to reconnect with many friends that I used to ride with years ago - as many of my former training partners are also avid skiers. I usually train on the bike by myself now, and skiing with others is a great break from my solo routine. A group of us had a particularly awesome day of skiing this weekend just outside of Boulder up in Indian Peaks. We were out exploring for five hours and I finished the day with lots of turns in deep powder and very, very, tired legs. I followed this up with a couple great days on the bike – so I have to say that 2010 is off to a good start.

And to think - I could've ridden the trainer...
               
Despite my current powder fever, Heather and I just booked travel for warm-weather training trips to California and our beloved Hawaii in January and February. The racing starts pretty early this year, with big national events already on tap for mid-March - so if I want to start the year on the podium I’ll have to do more than backcountry ski between now and then. We’re heading to Santa Barbara in mid-January, which has always been one of my favorite places to ride and spend time in the winter.

For now though, I’ll keep taking the ski days while I can get them. It’s freezing cold and snowing pretty hard as I write this – so I suspect that my next few workouts may involve more skinning and less pedaling – which is just fine with me. Thanks for checking in.