happy easter!

 

ok, that may be a couple days late, but that's right on schedule in my book...

 

anyway, wow.  i just finished up the snowboarding season this past friday with my slalom race at nationals.  the race didn't go super great, but it was still a good learning experience.  my first run down the course i was just slightly "over anxious" and i crsahed 3 - yes three - times.  that made for a pretty shoddy run 1, and i was pretty down in the dumps.  i just rode like a novice and didn't handle some of the turns very well at all.  anyway, run 2 comes up and i'm much more relaxed - i take the course just fine - no kind of record time, but a clean run and i beat the guy i'm racing next to.  you see, it was parallel slalom - 2 courses side by side (like just 10 - 15 feet side by side).  race the red course first, then switch to the blue course for the 2nd run - the competition that you're paired with does vice versa.  anyway, even though you're still ultimately racing against the clock, you also race against the person just to your side.  kind of like a rabbit to chase if they're leading, etc.  right, so i beat that guy on my 2nd run which was a really cool feeling - i don't think i've ever beaten anyone in slalom before...  of course my combined time of runs 1/2 still put me in last place due to all the crashing my first time around, but hey, no big deal - it was my first time at nationals (and doing the parallel format).  very cool.

 

45 days on the snow this season - went from absolutely zero to a fairly decent rider.  just bought my season pass for mammoth mountain next year - it'll be even better.  maybe i can finally become that boardercross star i've been dreaming of...

 

so snowboarding ended right with easter and in memory of the resurrection of Our Savior i've decided to resurrect my cycling career.  got back on the bike today for the first time in 8 weeks - wow.  and over the last 24 weeks - 6 months - i've only ridden about 686 miles.  yeah, 686 miles is what you should be riding over about 2 to 2 and a half weeks.  oops.  well, at least i'm well rested...  track nationals are in the beginning of october - 6 months away - plenty of time, right?  right...