Winter gets so long

When I get to thinking more about the summer to come, the snow begins to lose it's appeal. Maybe it's because we haven't had any new snow in over a week, or maybe it's because of all the work I've been doing to get the team ready for a busy race schedule. Either way, it's hard to get into the sliding feel of crusty, old snow. It just feels so static right now, like and old blanket that doesn't quite keep you warm anymore or a song that you used to love but listened to far too many times.
It's always fun to ski, once you get out on the hill, no matter what the conditions are. I hate the fact that I haven't had a good tree run where I want to this whole season. It's like we're in a draught again, even though the last one still hasn't even begun to fade from my mind. The worst year of the last draught, you could put flame to a green bough on a douglas fir, and it would go up like it was soaked in gasoline. It was a scary time for a lot of people, Glenwood Springs nearly was caught in a fire, literally two hundred yards from the community center. My friend Darin was managing the building at the time, and evacuated before the fire department told him to. I'd hate to see that again, camping isn't the same without a fire.
I sit here now writing in my bored evening, having already tuned skis and bikes to perfection, finished art projects earlier in the week, my wife out at a friends house, and myself without enough cash to even get a beer. I'm not complaining, maybe a little, about my unfunded reality. I work as much as I can, fixing things and doing various jobs as a handyman, but there's only so much work. I don't have that whole forty hours a week thing and I want it that way. It helps me keep tabs on all the goings on at Banshee Bikes, and lets me run the factory team known as Banshee dead bros much better. I guess it's not that bad to go without all those things I used to just go and do. I don't eat out anymore, I drink far less, and from what they say I'll live longer for it. It'll seem longer, at any rate.
I'm looking forward to racing a new style of mountain bike racing, known as super-d. It's a type of race that goes for 20 or 30 minutes, has a bit of climbing and more technical descents than cross country. I definitely have more focus on my fitness now, and what I need to change to be a better rider. I'll continue with all the street riding I do, and the regular mountain biking, but also add more miles on the road bikes and do more to increase my fitness. I don't think I'll ever quit having a drink when I feel like it, but at least I'm a little more concious of my intake. We'll see how I do in this new challenge, I have no fear or apprehension about it. I raced downhill for a while, I've done a little cross country, and even a little cyclo cross. I think I'll be allright.
But for now, I think I'll go see if I don't have a little wiskey I might have forgotten in the freezer. Cheers! Linden