Eat Like a Bird, Get Skinny Fast

So my first mountain bike ride of the season didn’t quite go as planned. It was only going to be about an hour long ride after work but, because I flatted twice, I had to get a ride back to my car in the dark. This repetitive flatting perplexed me as I wasn’t sure why it happened. I was running the same tire pressure that I have for the last three seasons and the bike was set up the same but for some reason this ride was different. Then it dawned on me: I was getting flats because I had gotten fat. Due to this extra weight I figured I should explore ways to remove it or invest in rubber futures.

Recently I learned of the diet that the most intense guy I know lives by. Actually, to say Dave Case is intense is an understatement. I don’t think I know anyone who is more focused on getting the most out of every activity while also having fun in the process (all the while being a super nice guy). It’s hard to describe the type of person Dave is so I’ll use some analogies. Yes, I’m copying the idea of this next part from someone else but I think it applies quite nicely here too so please play along.

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When Dave goes mountain biking the rocks wear helmets.

When Dave goes surfing, the sharks put out Dave warnings.

People get sick because of the flu. The Flu gets sick because of Dave.

When Chuck Norris goes to sleep, he checks under the bed to make sure Dave isn’t there.

Telemark skis were created because you can’t contain any part of Dave, especially his heels.

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So I was talking with Herm the other day and he mentioned he had a copy of the diet that Dave created and, given my current propensity for flat tires, I was interested to know what it was all about. I thought maybe I’d give it a go for a little while and see if I couldn’t lose a few LBs. Of course, all of that changed once I actually saw what was required by this meal plan.

When I finished reading through the information I was in disbelief and thought (or actually hoped) I had missed a page or two. The document Dave prepared included a breakfast and a lunch that he eats everyday as well as several options for dinner. While I admire his dedication and discipline to follow this prescribed formula for super-human health, I realized his scientifically balanced nutritional map was a bit too advanced for me.

I haven’t completely written-off Dave’s guide for how to eliminate substance while still putting proper food in your system but when I read the words, “No Ice Cream, No Butter, and No Cheese” I decided it wasn’t my cup of tea (which isn’t allowed either). Quite honestly, I’m not sure how someone as active as Dave can survive on such a small amount of food per day but for the time being I’ll just plan to carry a few extra tubes.

The End & The Beginning

It finally happened. This weekend marked the official end of the lift served central Pennsylvania ski season. The local hill held one last hoorah on Saturday to end what was one of the best years on snow we’ve had in recent memory. The temperatures stayed cold, we didn’t get our standard January thaw, and we actually got a goodly amount of natural snow. Alas, Mother Nature decided it was time to kick off the growing season and has been providing us with warm temperatures and rain; two things that don’t mix well with snow.

I can honestly say I’m not upset that the season has finally come to a close. It’s been a long winter and once the thaw started I began thinking about the cycling season. Spring is now officially here and the forest has been released from the grip of ice packed roads and snow covered trails. The roads are being cleaned of the leftover grit from snow treatments and the signs of the seasonal change are showing up everywhere.

I embarked on my first official mountain bike ride and road ride this weekend. Sure I’ve been riding occasionally over the winter but only on my townie cruiser so that doesn’t really count. They weren’t long rides but just enough to make me realize two things. First, I really miss riding and second, three months of snowboarding didn’t do much to prepare me for being on a bike.

It’s safe to say I have a lot of work to get back into cycling shape which means is I’ll get to spend more time pedaling around and why would I complain about that? While the snowboarding season is over we definitely had a good one. The official tally was 82 days of open slopes. Now, I’ll have a solid seven months to ride. It’s just one vicious series of crazy fun activity. I’m just glad I’ve got the other two months of the year to reorganize gear and rest.

Build Me an Ark

I think it’s safe to say that this weekend was wet. A nice healthy rainstorm came in late Friday night and decided to stick around until early Sunday evening. Now that we’re into mid March the temperatures have warmed up but we still have snow on the ground. Well, I should say we did have snow. Thanks to the rain, what snow was left disappeared rapidly.

Normally the rain would put the kibosh on any type of outside activity but Herm and I thought it would be a good idea to go and explore the forest to see what kind of damage was being done by all the water and how badly the trails were getting washed out. We planned to do a short hike on the Owl Gap Trail to see what kind of condition it was in for riding and then drive around to assess the flooding. It’s safe to say we got more than we bargained for.

The roads getting into the forest were almost completely clear of snow and ice which was a bit of a surprise to both of us so we had very little trouble getting into the trailhead at Owl Gap. Of course, we did encounter a few downed trees across the road that needed to be moved and we had to pull one yokel’s car out of the mud but other than that things were just a bit sloppy but easily passable. We hiked the Owl Gap Trial in a mild rain. It was a little difficult to navigate the trail as it was now a stream running down from the ridge but we managed to make our way to the top. After we explored around on foot we decided to get back in the car and cruise some fire roads.

The amount of water running down trails, along roadside ditches, busting out of the hillsides, and raging through normally mild stream channels was mind boggling. It was so spectacular we decided to go back on Sunday to check a few more places. It’s was incredible to see what a healthy dose of rain mixed with snow melt could do. Hopefully the trails will dry out soon because it was nice to be back in the woods. However, next time I’ll be taking my bike.

Hitting a Wall

So the last few weeks I’ve been feeling very drained. I’ve felt physically and mentally rundown to the point where I haven’t been motivated to do much especially writing interesting blog posts. It’s been easy to recycle the same blog post about snowboarding because that’s what I’ve been doing. Riding on the weekends and going on trips to ride were helping me get through the week but eventually that wasn’t enough. Everything caught up with me yesterday when I was out at the mountain on patrol.

It was an amazing spring weekend with bluebird conditions and soft snow that was easy to edge. I was working the morning shift so I was at the mountain shortly after eight. The only problem was I didn’t feel like riding. I had no motivation to strap into my binders. I took a few runs to try and shake out the cobwebs but I just didn’t have it. My form was all over the place which usually leads to injury. I had no energy or desire to continue riding so I just sat back and waited until my shift ended. I was just happy to get home and settle into a quiet evening.

Sunday started off similar to Saturday with another early trip to patrol at the mountain; however I woke up with a little more energy than the day before. The conditions were firm and thin so it was difficult to set an edge, but the forecast was for blue skies and more warm temperatures. Instead of waiting until later in the day for the sun to soften the snow I just kept riding. I didn’t want to stop.

As the conditions improved so did I. Throughout the day some friends showed up with their kids so I tagged along to help keep an eye on their shorties as they attempted to hit every kicker on the mountain (even if it wasn’t really a jump). I also met some new people and rode with them for a while. Sunday was the complete opposite of Saturday and also turned out to be very cathartic for me.

As the weather continues to warm up I’ll have a larger variety of activities to occupy my time and that will definitely be a good thing. At the end of the day though, it doesn’t matter how hard I stomp a booter or how deep a trench I dig. What really matters is that I’m having fun and getting rejuvenated for the 9 to 5er that lies ahead and that was exactly my Sunday.