Here are some photos from our ski today.  The snow is thin and there are some sunny spots that are completely bare.  Fortunately, about 98% of the trail is completely covered and the skiing is still great.  The sun was out all day and several members of the CXC team have rosy cheeks.

Caitlin Compton

Alastair Duncan

Between our workouts, Bryan, Garrott and I walked over to Bullwinkle’s Bar to watch the Packer game.  Bullwinkle’s owners are from southern Wisconsin and have the place filled with Green Bay Packer memorabilia.   It is wonderful that a town halfway across the country containing only 1000 people has two Green Bay Packer bars.  Garrott even had a couple of Johnsonville Brats for lunch.

Tomorrow we are taking the day off from skiing, and I look forward to getting out and exploring the town some more.

After about 16 hours on the road, we made it to West Yellowstone.  There is not much snow in town, but plenty to ski on with rock skis.  We went for a short skate ski around dusk, and then walked back to our hotel rooms at the Brandin Iron Inn.  When we got back, Coach Fish had a delicious pasta dinner prepared.  We are all moved in now, and I can’t wait to get back out on the snow tomorrow.  I hear there are 6-8 inches of snow (that have not been groomed) up on the Plateau.

I did not take any pictures today, but here is an awesome picture of West Yellowstone skiing in 2005:

Morgan Smyth, Lindsey Weier, and Lindsay Williams (Photo courtesy of Morgan Smyth)

Rainbow in the Bicycle Doctor parking lot when we arrived

Last week, Bryan and I left Marquette on Wednesday night.  We drove to Rhinelander to pick up Salomon skis at the Cook’s.  Thursday, Bryan got a chance to train with his brother and US Ski Team athlete, Chris Cook.  Then, we drove down to the Milwaukee area for a weekend packed full of events.  The majority of our time was spent at the Bicycle Doctor ski and bike shop in Dousman, WI.  CXC’s Yuriy Gusev brought Salomon’s high performance, digital ski flex testing mat to help everyone in the store find the perfect fit.  We even had people coming in to test their old skis and decide what skis they need to add to their quiver.  CXC Teammate and US Development Team athlete, Garrott Kuzzy and CXC Elite Team Coach Bryan Fish joined us for the ski sale on Sunday.  The local junior ski club, Peak Nordic had their biggest annual ski swap ever on Saturday in the Bicycle Doctor warehouse.  I went out to Lapham Peak to do some trail clearing with the Milwaukee Nordic Ski Club and Peak Nordic on Saturday morning and there was a very nice fundraising/thank you event in Mequon on Saturday Night for CXC supporters in the Milwaukee area.  Sunday Morning I conducted a, “Thank You” clinic for the Lapham Ladies who have done many things to support my skiing career, and Sunday afternoon Bryan and I conducted a small open clinic on the bike path near the Bicycle Doctor.  More details about specific events from the weekend will be posted on the clinics page of the website so check back soon.

Peak Nordic boys at the Lapham Peak trail clearing

The whole trail clearing crew

We stayed with my high school coach, Mary Eloranta, for the weekend.  Mary has done tremendous things for cross-country skiing development in Southern Wisconsin.  If you have kids anywhere near Dousman, get them involved in Peak Nordic just so they get the chance to have Mary Eloranta in their lives.

Lapham Ladies

Carrie Furey and Bunkie Miller sporting the Lapham Ladies vests

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween yesterday!  We had a blast in Marquette, as usual.

Today, Bryan and I woke up early and met some local skiers at the Sports Rack Nordic Ski and Bike Shop for a skate roller ski clinic.  The air was crisp and the skies were blue.  It was a blast to finally work with some people from Marquette.  Everyone at the clinic made huge improvements in their skating.   The group learned a lot about ankle flexion and getting the hips forward.  We are going to see some fast times in the 2009 Noquemanon from this group.  Tomorrow, we will meet again for some classic technique work.

In the afternoon, I met a new group of people for a Nordic Walking clinic.  We spent some time talking about the differences between “Nordic walking” and “Nordic trekking,” and all the benefits that Nordic walking has to offer.  Then, we did a little technique work and went for a brisk walk on the new bike path section behind the Sports Rack.  There were some new faces at the clinic which is always refreshing, and hopefully we will see some of these faces out on the trails with poles in the near future.

After Nordic walking I hustled out to the Marquette BMX track to watch the 2008 U.P. Cyclocross Championships.  I was very excited for the race since Team Farmer Q’s (Bryan’s race team) scored a 2nd and 3rd last year (Joey Graci and Bryan Cook).  Unfortunately, the boys did not have it today and could not crack the top 10.  Team Captain, Joey Graci was in third place for most of the race, but hit a wall with 2 laps remaining.  Bryan had a rotten start and was never able to turn the peddles over fast enough to recover.  It was still an exciting day and very fun to watch.