Biathlon

Tried biathlon last week. Pretty damn cool!

Quick overview: the two sports are skiing and shooting. The skiing component uses the skate skiing style of cross-country skiing, which is way faster than classic. You ski with a 3.5 kg rifle on your back, then stop, try to get your breathing and heart rate under control, shoot 5 times at 5 targets 50 metres away, and ski a short penalty loop for each miss. I believe a race usually has half the shooting from standing, at a target 10cm diameter, and half prone (lying down) at a target half the size. We were practicing standing the night I went.

I felt a little bit like one of the commandos in a James Bond flick, skiing around with a bad-ass gun on my back. :) We used the same targets as the ones used by the Olympic dudes, but I still hit a few, so that was neat. Unfortunately being a crack shot doesn't help me ride up hills really fast...shame.

Oh, the observant might notice the lobster claw glove. I brought them for warmth, but true to form, couldn't one of my 5-fingered gloves on the night (turns out it was down beside the seat) and used that one instead...luckily it was the left!!

Sweeeet spots

MEC's annual Sweetspots video competition has come up with a very worthy winner!

Trail report: bare patches at 1st St and 5th Ave downtown

Last night the forecast was for 10-15cm of snow. And that was after last night being so warm, I walked home carrying my jacket! This morning the warning was still in effect:


So I decided to ski in! Even though I got up 4 hours earlier than Monday morning, I still didn't beat the traffic...people go to work really early here! Or...yeah, I get to work not so early. :)




The bike path along the river was already plowed, but the greenspace between Memorial Drive and the river was perfect, and once I crossed over, there was a good wide strip that had not yet been plowed. Downtown was a little wind-swept, but it was only three blocks to the office.

Turns out skiing in to work is a better conversation-starter than walking a puppy! Women were literally coming up to me to congratulate me on a great idea and ask where I'd skied from...I guess I don't look intimidating in spandex tights.