Spring Time!

I almost wrote up a 30,000 word post, but instead I'll put up 30 ish pictures and a few words to summarize the highlights of the past few weeks.

For a sobering touch, we'll start with the Dachau Concentration Camp.  That's where I spent my last afternoon in Europe about a month ago.  Makes you appreciate... absolutely everything.

On a lighter note, spring was kind enough to greet me upon return to the states...

Late March flowers out the back door.

After a week of easy training at home in PC, I road-tripped out to Truckee, CA for a final week of racing at Spring Series.  Spring series is the US finals for cross-country skiers - no jumping, so a change of pace and relaxed atmosphere for us NC guys.  Spencer Knickerbocker, Tyler Smith, Aleck Gantick and I compromised the Nordic Combined portion of the field. 

Yep, those strange lines in the picture above are classic tracks. It had been four years since I had raced in a classic race, but I've classic skied more this winter than ever, so I did manage to survive the two classic races.  Barely.

The final race of the series was a pursuit style hill climb up Sugarbowl Ski resort.  The only way to scout the course was on alpine skis.  It was quite a sight watching a whole field of Nordic skiers work there way through the rental line and down the hill in spandex and Rudy's.  

The hill climb treated my team and I pretty well - it helps to be a light and quick guy when you're going up a wall of an alpine hill.  I was psyched to be 25th on the day, out of 100 some guys.

Our digs at Truckee - thanks to the very generous Flynn family!

Here's us above Donner Pass and Donner Lake.  At the end of the day, no matter how our races went, at least we didn't have to discuss eating each other.  (That's a bit harsh - we all had a lot of fun and some of our best races of the season.)

After Spring Series, Tyler, Spencer and I drove down to Yosemite National Park to spend five days in paradise with my parents and brother.  I'm not sure if I'd want to go there in the summer, because it must be crazy busy, but Yosemite has some of the most stunning scenery that I've ever seen.

45 miles miles on foot in 4 days was a good way to kick our legs into running/hiking shape.  And in a place like Yosemite, it's pretty impossible not to be out exploring every day.  Here's a handful of pics.

We completed the road trip by looping back home through Vegas.  A couple hours there and one excessive dinner-buffet is about all the time that I needed there.  We got right out of dodge and spent the night camping in Zion before driving the rest of the way to Park City.

Vegas...

Now back in Park City it's been backcountry skiing and road biking time.  And back to work for me - where I've recently been promoted to server.   Next week, school starts at Westminster for Maymester and Devry Online!

Thanks for your time!