Thunderbolt!

I got a text yesterday from my friend Breeze saying he was headed up to Greylock for a hike/ski and he had an empty seat in his car. "Yes" is a very short word, but not short enough to express how much I wanted to go.

It was a bit difficult to determine just how much snow they got up there, but based on what I could find and how the radar looked yesterday I thought it would be pretty good.

 I got up early so I could blow the snow off my driveway before I left - of course I get to the bottom of my driveway and the clutch goes out, ugh, fix that, tie it up with a jumprope and somehow finish the job in time. I will admit there were a few dark moments out there on the driveway where I was tempted to just send an "I'm out" text.

 I jam all my stuff in the car making it to the meet point just at the appointed time. I had very little time to sort through stuff, I just kind of threw everything in hoping I had enough stuff.

 It took us a little under 2 hours to climb to the top, conditions were amazing - a foot of fresh powder on top of who knows what. There were a few folks who made it down before us, but not many. I didn't even pull my skis down off the rafters last year, so its been a long time since I skied, it definitely showed. My descent was UGLY, powder is great and all, but when its broken up like that its not easy to ski in. I hit the deck a few times, but no harm done. Definitely not my finest skiing! Great time, so glad I got to join in.

Case this morning

I rode Case this morning with a couple other guys - great ride, but the snow made for tough, slow going. It took a little while to get the hang of riding through the stuff - you really had to keep your weight on the back tire to keep it from spinning out. All in all a good 2.5 hours in the woods with some good peeps.

Grayville this morning

Great ride at Grayville this morning. I really need to ride there more often, such great riding. It was a good crank with four pretty evenly matched riders. Unlike yesterday where I felt like I never worked the cement out of my legs today I felt great right from the beginning of the ride. Onto final Xmas preparations...

Mesh and VL

I rode Mesh today with the Bikerag guys, that place is great. White Dot has to be one of my favorite trails anywhere (2 dabs, 4 tree grabs if anyone is keeping track). Great time, we rode early so it was still frozen. I never felt like I got my legs today, but it was still a good time even if I felt like I was suffering the whole time, sometimes its like that. This afternoon I got together with the Version Larry guys, it was a lot of fun. Amazing how different it is to play with Anger Buddy and last week with Tim (Plato's Cave). All three are very different styles, but somehow all super fun.

...and life goes on - rides and such

Now that the bass building adventure has ended I'm going to try and update this with some more bike riding content.

Before I do that - the bass is working out great. I love the way it sounds and plays. I am really enjoying it. I suspect the other basses in the quiver will be getting a rest for a while. The one negative is that as the cocobola on the fretboard aged it darkened up quite a bit, so those anigre fretlines are practically invisible when I'm playing. I'm going to try and play with it as is and see if I can learn to play without lines, if not, then I think I'll make some small slots on the side of the fretboard and put in some white inlay wood where the fretlines are.

I did a nice road ride today - I will admit its hard to motivate to get out there when its under 40 degrees, but once you get rolling it is really not that bad. I am learning on the road its more about blocking the wind than insulation. In the woods its almost the opposite, you need insulation, but you want to be able to use the downhills to shed heat.

Absolutely loving the new road bike. I'm getting more comfortable on it in every way. At first I was getting horrible hand cramps, I realized that if I shifted my pelvis forward a few degrees it took all the weight off my hands. Its a good idea, but took a few rides for me to develop the muscles to hold that position, my core is so weak! Being in the drops and railing a corner at speed is one of those things that makes me want to ride more and more. Its such a cool feeling - the efficiency of road biking is really rewarding.

I have a couple of lunch loops from the house worked out, this one is pretty hilly, but easily done in under an hour. I can't wait for the warmer weather so we can get out on some longer road rides. (we'll see how easily Strava integrates here):