Milking It

As I last mentioned, we've been able to eekk out a few final outdoor rides this season. Although this makes the skier in me unhappy, the biker in me couldn't be happier.


Nate and I opted for a ride in Horseshoe Canyon on Thanksgiving Day and were very happy we went. We were a little late getting out the door, so we ran into some mud on the front side, but everything in shark's belly and probation was frozen solid.

We were so psyched with the novelty of riding in late November that we went to Thanksgiving dinner at the cycling junkie's house and bragged about our ride. This led to leaving the house at 7:30 Saturday morning with Dave to do it again. As it had snowed a little bit more, we had a wild 2 hour ride around horseshoe once again, delighting in testing how fast we could corner in snow drifts.

But, as of yesterday, it's game off. The season has officially turned the corner. We got 6" of snow in the hills yesterday. Nate's been training at the 'Ghee and the Village all week and my first trainer ride of the winter was yesterday. It's all good. Besides, I just got these mounted up (thanks, nate) and can't wait to put them to use.

I got me a pair of Black Diamond Joules for this year-yaHOO! Both Nate and I skied on these Black Diamond O1 bindings last year and loved them. The touring feature certainly muffled the cries of all our AT pals who constantly ride us for teleing instead of alpine skiing on a dynafit setup because fighting the spring is slower. Uh-huh....

Although they don't quite measure up to Hammerheads from a power/performance standpoint, they make skiing in the backcountry SO much easier. Twenty-Two Designs (made right downthe road in Driggs, ID) is planing to release a limited number of their version of a touring binding this winter. As I mostly ski backcountry and rarely find myself on hardpack, I am very happy with the O1s.

Okay, all we need is some snow...