Training Log Archive: biggins

was kinda sick all weekend, sore throat and ear infection type stuff. definitely from working too much and sleeping too little last week (and the weekend). felt somewhat better today, possibly since I snuck out of work 'early' at 8.

wow, greatest toys ever. these things are sweet.
drove out to Santa Fe Dam, mostly because it has a good bike trail thats dead flat, but also because I wanted to see how the O-map survived the floods this winter (not so well). I discovered very quickly that my poles weren't sharp enough for the asphalt, so they weren't much help at all. I also need either 1) stiffer boots, or 2) better technique. probably both. the skis are pretty unstable with my boots, so if you're not pushing straight down against the center of gravity, they roll to the side pretty easily and scrape the metal frame on the ground. this is possibly a result of my huge feet being three times as wide as the ski. I got the hang of it after a while, but its going to take a little while longer to get confident about it.

C • 4

many many hours of assorted control setting, water hauling, and control pickup. also walked a few kids through the first part of the white course. everyone seemed to like the courses, which was good I suppose. there were a couple legs that I didn't really like, but nobody complained about them...

Event: Mt Pinos Sprint and Classic
 

about 4 hours of setting controls for sundays race. also includes hauling six gallons of water to the far end of the map.

came out of the woods long enough to run Clare's sprint course (on a different end of the map). good course, except for one long trail leg that was a bit of a drag, but necessary because of the area. made one little mistake on #6 where I came over the ridgetop too early and had to contour along the back side a bit.

another 3 or 4 hours of control setting. at least it was getting cool by this time.

does sitting around watching 300 maps come out of the printer count as training?

so unfortunately the rollerskis I ordered, like just about everything else I buy, don't actually come in a size big enough for me. In this case the frame of the ski isn't long enough to fit my boot: with the binding mounted correctly my heel would drag against the back wheel. They make a longer frame (for classic skis) that they're going to swap out and build into a skate pair, but of course that frame is back ordered so it'll be a few weeks...

less grayness, more hotness.

june gloom has set in well around here. the sun never came out today, though it wasn't exactly cloudy. the sky just got a lighter gray, and eventually a darker gray.

Setting streamers at Mt Pinos for the meet next weekend. Hit all 45 controls in two loops over about 6 hours. The snow is mostly gone, but the streams and marshes are full. There used to be some steep sided two-contour deep (mining?) pits there too, but those are now skunked up death traps of not-so-clean water.

oh yea I also noticed today that my compass (silva jet 6) has north-south-east-west initials on the baseplate, but the east and west are backwards. Is this because the swedish words for east/west just happen to start with the opposite letters, or is there some use for it that I'm missing? And after you explain that, what are the dots for?

C • silva compass system 2

ordered some roller skis today. biking in LA traffic isn't suicidal enough, so I figure I should try skiing in it.

C • roller skis 3

climbing in the Cascades: photos