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• Ice Sucks. Snow rocks.
• Last week, ratio of bad to good was about 80/20. This week it was 40/60. That’s a pretty healthy swing in the right direction, in my humble opinion.
• That being said, I think I’m going to have some bruising from this time.
• Everything was more this week: more fun, more speed, more length, more pain. This is except for the falling. I fell less, but they were harder falls.
• I drove a little further than last time, and actually found the Salmon Ridge Snow Park. The Nooksack Nordic Ski Club website says the parking area is just past milepost 46. Yeah, it’s like a half-mile past milepost 46, and among about six different parking lots, pull-offs or trail heads.  I’m sorry, NNSC, I appreciate the trails and stuff. But please improve your website. I’ll help. Unless of course, you want to purposefully be nebulous to minimize the number of people who discover and use the trails. If that’s the case I understand.
• The XC Skiing Paradox: My feet didn’t get any heavier, yet they just got six-feet longer. Awkward.
• I have a long history of ice skating and rollerblading. In those motions, you do a lot of foot cross over to turn and gather speed and such. That motion doesn’t translate at all to XC skiing, and I am having a hard time adjusting to that.
• You don’t get this kind of view just anywhere. I have to stop and remember that.
• XC Ski poles are rather unsubstantial. In one of my leg cross over foibles, a pole got stuck between my legs. When I pulled it out, there was a nice 30-degree bend in what had been a stick straight pole. I bent it back near straight, but now I feel like it’s a ticking time bomb. Granted I paid $14 for the poles. An extra pair is in order.
• I borrowed some skis and shoes from Greg. They didn’t fit, so I bought a clearance set of gear from REI. I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket.
• I need to learn to wear fewer clothes. Man, I was hot. But taking the gloves off was a bad, bad idea. Blisters on the inside, and scraps from falling on the ice on the outside. From now on, I wear gloves at all times. The North Face shell might stay in the car.
• I have a strong suspicion that my left leg is longer than my right. I always fall to my right side. Given the choice, if one of my skis is going to be in a lower rut, I put my left leg there. When gaining speed going down hill, it is my right leg that catches weird edges and topples me over.
• Another hour and a half, hitting it harder and more consistently than last time.
• Four more trips before race day. And since today is the last day the Baker Ski area is open, I’ll head all the way up and hopefully experience less frickin’ ice.

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This weekend was my chance to gauge my cross-country skiing skills. You know, my first thought to the question of where to cross-country ski is “anywhere”. But in reality, in April in Bellingham, there aren’t many options.

The Ski to Sea race is going to be at the Mt. Baker ski area, but I can’t go there while they’re still operating the lifts. According to the Nooksack Nordic Ski Club (bad, bad website, btw), there is a set of XC trails just after mile marker 46 on the Mt. Baker Highway. So I headed out at 7:30 Saturday morning.

Let me preface this. I’m in good shape. I run five miles a couple of times a week, with another long run of 8 to 10 miles. I go to the gym 3-4 times a week for an hour+. So I was curious how my fitness would translate to this endeavor.

It’s questionable.

I bought a one-day Sno-Park pass at a store near Silver Lake, and found a mile marker 46 parking lot. There were no other cars, but there was a fresh pile of broken glass from an assumed recent car prowling. Sweet! But I could hear the streams flowing around me. The air was crisp. The sun was peeking out. It was a beautiful morning.

If these were the official XC trails, it looked like a one-lane road covered with snow turned ice. Lots of uneven, chunky ice. Once I got past the wobbly walking feeling, I started falling down. I tried some different strokes, but felt like I should be wearing ice skates. More falling down.

It was awkward, and unsteady, and I was glad no one was watching. I kept trudging and adjusting. My shins started burning, and I quickly realized I was wearing too many clothes. I crossed my skis a few times (whoops) and lost my balance a lot (ouch).

But through it all, there were glimmers of hope. Moments where I felt the full-stride, I was pushing off and had full pole extension; it felt like it should. So now I just need to reduce the falling and awkward slipping.

I put in about a 90-minute workout. And I must have been working hard, because when I took my boots off, they were steaming.

And no one broke into my car. So overall, it was a success!

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The Ski to Sea Race is a big deal in Bellingham. Memorial Day weekend, some 400+ teams compete in this multi-event race from the Mt. Baker Ski area to Bellingham Bay. People with Olympic experience participate. International teams compete. Ringers are brought in to best previous years’ winners. It’s really a big deal.

The legs of the event are Cross-Country Skiing, Alpine Skiing, Running, Road Cycling, Canoeing, Mountain Biking and Kayaking. Of all of those legs, I am in great shape to perform well in the Downhill skiing, Running or Road Cycling legs. My finishing times could be respectable, and fall in line with my current workout regimen.

So what leg did I volunteer for? Cross Country Skiing, the first leg, and bellwether event for the race. I will set the tone for the rest of my ridiculously fit team of Alpha Technologies personnel.

The last time I put on a pair of cross-country skis, I was about 15. I was most concerned with scoffing at how silly cross-country skis were, compared to the downhill skis I know and love. So now, 20+ years later, I’m going to be in a cross-country skiing race, where more than my ego is on the line. Seven other dudes are relying on my finishing, and though we say it’s all about the fun, I feel pressure to perform well.

I have about six weeks before the race and will be heading up to Baker just about every week to train, and try to not make a fool of myself.

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As a huge fan of The Terminator, an old school Guns N Roses guy and a hater of Terminator 3, I was initially excited about the Sarah Conner Chronicles. The first season was good, but I’ve been slowly falling out of love with the Fox series. Frankly, I’m having a hard time paying attention.

However, the best line of the entire series passed with what I thought was very little fanfare.

Shirley Manson plays the T-1001 Terminator Catherine Weaver on the show. She is always quite awkward with her host’s daughter, Savannah. In last week’s episode, Savannah is missing her deceased father, because he used to sing some song to her to make her feel better. Shirley, the singer for the band Garbage, reassures her inherited daughter: “I’ll sing the song with you.”

And Savannah deadpans to her professional singer/actress of a mother: “But you can’t sing!”

Exactly my style of humor.

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