Steve Tilford

This morning it is pretty brisk up here in Cable, Wisconsin. It is -8 right now and the ski race that Dennis runs starts in 45 minutes. There are close to 600 people signed up to ski either 42 or 24 kilometers. Classic skiing, not skate.

I don’t have any desire to do that/this, even if I could. For one, I don’t classic ski, don’t even own classic skis. Two, I don’t get enough personal reward from it to justify the potential suffering. I’m pretty sure I my number one sport could never be a winter sport.

Unless you are going to travel the world, following the cold weather, most winter athletes end up training way more than racing. Using nordic skiing for an example, the season is relatively short compared to cycling. The rest of the year you are doing some other sport to train. That isn’t that appealing to me.

Then, the first line of the paragraph above. Following the cold weather. Who wants to do that. I would be happy following warm weather around the planet, but going out of my way to be in cold weather doesn’t do it for me.

I say this, but am happy riding a cyclo-x when the conditions are harsh. But that is usually the exception and not the rule. And I do seem to function better athletically when I have cold water spraying on my legs, which isn’t the the optimal situation for road racing. But again, that doesn’t happen very often.

Anyway, cycling is my sport. We’re lucky there are so many different disciplines of it to keep us amused. It sort of amazes me when someone says they only ride road bikes. I try to convince them maybe they should expand their horizons and try riding on gravel some. No, I’m a road rider. There would be no way to convince them to ride MTB. I like it all and like switching around during the season. I like it all.

Funny observation. The afternoon before the night I was violently ill, I was horrible riding the trainer. Like 2/3’s the wattage as normal and I was struggling. Then yesterday, last night, I rode and I felt pretty good, nearly great. I think I must have been sick before I ate dinner that night and it just took that long to set in and progress to being terrible.

I’m going to suit up pretty soon and try to ski to the North turn around of the ski race. Trudi, Jeff Bradley, Deb Wood and George’s family are there feeding the skiers. I’m trying to figure out the quickest way to get there. I’m not going to ski with poles. That really didn’t work a couple days ago. Kind of setback for my ribs and thumb some.

The puppy is still lost. I’m hoping now that someone took her. Update**** Puppy found.

They put her dog bed out in a field and then this morning she was there. Pretty great.

Brooke is found!

This is Tess, Mick and Beth's puppy. I'm teaching him back habits with my cast.

This is Tesse, Mick and Beth’s puppy. I’m teaching her back habits with my cast.

Or woods, just depending on where you happen to be. I woke up to -20 and now it is -15. I think it is going to warm up to -8 this afternoon, so I’ll wait until then to venture out for a dog walk.

Dennis’ ski race was a success yesterday. No one with much frostbite and everyone seemed super happy at the finish.

I did ski up to the Firetower food stop, but got there right after the last competitor went by. Jeff Bradley’s pickup was having a starter problem so I got to help them out pointing out the starter to bang on with a hammer. That worked, which it will 80% of the time initially. It would have been bad having his truck stuck up on the Birkie Trail at -6.

I skied back down to the Birkie Ridge parking and it was way colder. It was headwind and mainly downhill. You know it is not the temperature, it is the wind. That is so true. Standing around at -20 when it is calm is no problem. As soon as you add the slightest amount of wind, it gets ugly.

Today is the last day we’re spending up here. I’m heading back to Winona tomorrow morning and then driving back to Kansas. It is only 7 degrees there right at the moment, so it isn’t that much warmer. The weather doesn’t look that great there the next week. Mid 30’s and a little snow. But it is winter, so what should I expect.

I’m kicking around trying to do the Fat Birkie. I don’t have a fatbike, so I’m going to have to borrow one. I talked to Scott Daubert and he said he might have an extra race bike laying around. It’s 6 weeks from now, so I have a while to figure it out.

My ribs are a mess. But I’ve been riding the trainer over an hour a day the last week and my ribs aren’t getting any worse. The thumb is just broken, which is business as usual.

Okay, football yesterday was depressing up here. Kansas City got beat, then the Packers game was a disaster for Wisconsin locals. That was a good game, right up until the end.

Alright, I guess we’re heading to Seeley, the Sawmill, to clean up a little and then are going to snowshoe out to new land George bought. Maybe George will fire up his wood sauna. Last time I was in that, it was over 220 degrees. That would feel pretty good right about now.