Yeah I know I should post something, but it has been slow around here. I've been chilling out since finals and just been enjoying all the snow. Sam has been doing allot of skiing, and he recently signed up for the City of the Lakes Loppet and the Mora Vassalopet. It will be his first time racing the skis. We did the City of the lakes course Christmas day which was great. Lake of the Isles wasn't groomed so we did a lap on the Theo golf course. Almost 3 hrs on the skis and I was drained. I raced the skates for the first time today. You think mtbing has a small turnout, come to the oval. They combined the jr, senior, and Masters and we had 7 in the pack race. It was fun and painful. Here the pain lasts only for a couple minutes max. Slow ice today so we did 1000,800,and 600 meters. They resurface between races so we come in, take the skates off and sit around until the next one. I did alright. I got 4th every time. For the first 2 races everyone came in in the same order and about the same distance apart, about 2 seconds between each guy. I'll bet all this speed work will help out my starts on the mtb. Its all technique to put the power to the ice which is very difficult to get down especially while racing. Oh, and I busted my bridge on my skates last sat (the part that the boot mounts to). So now I'm on some older borrowed skates and its hard to get parts for these things. I'm going to try and get a warrenty, but its getting to be a long story and a long wait. Oh, well that is it for now.

Ham Ski

The Swansons bros have their Turkey day ride. This Christmas there is plenty of snow so Sam and I are planning on our own Christmas day Ham ski.
Where: City of the Lakes Loppet course starting in Theo-wirth park. Go north on Theodore Wirth Parkway off of Hwy 55. We'll start in the parking lot on the left right after the train tracks.
When: Christmas Day 7:00ish am
If they have the lakes groomed we can do the whole course. Skate only. Plan on 3-4 hrs on the trails.
Watch trail reports on http://www.cityoflakesloppet.com/. The forecast looks good

Speedskaing webcast

late notice I know.
Friday, December 21 - 6:00 pm Ladies and Men 1500m Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals

Saturday, December 22 - 11:00 am Ladies and Men 500m Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals

Sunday, December 23 - 10:00 am Ladies and Men 1000m Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals Ladies and Men 3000m Superfinals Ladies and Men Relay

http://www.usspeedskating.org/livefeed.php

Winners!

We won the best of show award at the robot show today. We got some gift cards to the bookstore. I tried talking the instructor into letting us skip the final and he could keep the gift cards. I am so glad it is over with. Now I need to burn off all the weight I gained after spending the countless hrs at school with nothing to eat but Papa Johns and taco hell. I haven't had a workout in 4 days either.

Finals

Now I know what its like to have finals. Crunch time all week. Was at school working on the robot till 10 last night, and 7 tonight. But we got her done.

3 weeks left

3 more weeks of school and the robot should be done by early this week. We decided on using a laser for triggering the program to run instead of an RF remote. I'm going to set up my laser level like 20ft from the robot and shoot the laser to a photo sensor. When the beam is broken with the wheel it will start the program. There will be a robot show the 13 at Century around 3 I think. So show up and give me your vote for best of show.
I'm glad we got all the snow we did. Didn't get as much as they predicted but it is a good base. I'm looking forward to getting the skis out. Speaking of skis, over Christmas break it would be nice to get a group together and go up to Maplelag for some eating. Oh, and some skiing too:) Let me know, if anyone is interested and what days work best.
I've been trying to find my groove with the skates but things just aren't clicking yet. Seems like last year it was easier to get started and I don't know why. It will come sooner or later. Flyod and his wife invited me out to lunch after the saturday races. Good food and even better company, thanks Flyod.