Cool rides and burning blubbah!

OOOhhhh it's cold out there! But whenever I'm complaining about the cold I try and stop myself and check out Alaska Tim's Bicycles and Icicles blog from Anchorage, Alaska. Those guys are tough as nails and make me feel like a sissy complaining about the cold "down here" in Victoria. But in saying that, they also know how to dress warm.
It was a strange feeling nevertheless, when me and Justin went for a ride at the dump last night and I wore pants. Yeah that's right, pants not shorts... I have not done that since the new years day ride. It was worth it though, because it really was freezing. Justin was tougher than I, and wore his custom Louis Garneau cross knickers from the mid nineties. The trails are in great condition since it's been pretty cold lately: No mud and lots of grip, frozen puddle here and there. We got a decent ride in although the water was freezing in or Camelbaks and my navigational skills failed us a bit (we hiked up Big Ugly). Also, we were both feeling slow and out of energy, Justin because of his Snowboarding trip on the weekend and me because of excessive beers and junk food. But there's nothing to do but to keep going out, it'll get better if you do and I certainly don't want to loose the little fitness I managed to accumulate during the Cross season. That season is over now (at least on the island) and therefore it's time to get back on the Mountain bike. So we are going to try to be consistent in going out to the dump on Tuesday nights at 6:15. Everyone is welcome to join us. Don't bury your cross bike too deep under the empty beer cases though. We're working on a midwinter Cross race to be held in January. Location and specifics are still unknown but we have a tentative name: The Post Holiday Blubber Burn Classic. This will be a technical cross race with lots of tricky sections (and probably flats). Think the dump or a similar terrain for this one.