South Carolina and xc skiing

Hey, don't have a lot of time to write, Mark just got home from BC and we are about to sit down to a good old fashion family dinner.
South Carolina was great, lots of good riding and decent weather, it was a little cold on the last day but not too bad.
Today I did my first XC ski of the year, the conditions were better then I thought they would be, they had just got a few cm of snow last night and was snowing throughout the ski. I think I am going to go back on Friday so conditions should be great by then.
Lastly today I went with my mom and Jackie and cut down a xmas tree from our farm, it was really cool not to have to buy one, just walked to the back cut it down carried it back and set it up!!
Cool, so here are some pics from SC
hope you have a great holiday season.

Getting excited

First off I would like to congratulate Gears Bike Shop on their amazingly successful evening Friday night. Simon Whitfield was there with his new book signing autographs and doing what Simon does best. Simons Gold in Sydney was the reason I made the switch to triathlon and I remember my first ever time racing him I actually beat him out of the water then rode with him for the bike. He did out run me by 10min lapping me part way through his last lap. After that race I knew I had a future in the sport because I knew I could compete against the Olympic gold medalist. I am sure every pro triathlete in Canada has a story as to how Simon has motivated and helped them reach a level of the sport they never thought possible.

As for myself, I have been getting back into training, doing a few trainer rides and running a fair amount. Just getting back into it slowly. I have been feeling pretty good and I am very excited about the new year. I have bene back swimming for the last 2 weeks and it is coming back quick although the 6000m workout Monday took a lot out of me and I think today is 40x100!!

To help kick off the new season a few friends and I are heading down to South Carolina for a mini camp of mostly riding. If you have never been it is a cyclists dream. There are endless mountain roads amazingly paved and courteous drivers. There is a national forest there as well that has miles and miles of gravel access road to run on and the town of Pickens has a 25m indoor pool which is only 20min away. We leave in about a week but it can not come quick enough for me!!!!