The best of all medicines is resting and fasting. ~ Benjamin Franklin
Happy day. After three weeks of rest, I got back out there Sunday with Luke and Pete. Check out the shots: Stu's photos, Luke's photos, Pete's photos.
During the past three weeks, I have tried to just give my body (and mind) a much needed rest. Not sure I accomplished that completely but I did tinker with my new motorcycle a lot, read, watched some movies, played a little golf with my pops. That kind of fun and/or games.
So I have never been the world's most adept mechanic but really wanted to start wrenching myself on this bike. In the past, the thought of rebuilding a carburetor was daunting, to say the least. With my new bike, however, I have just jumped in there and gotten my hands dirty (both figuratively and literally).
I started out with a bone-stock 2008 DR650 and then went to town on some of the pieces that needed some improvement. I started small, essentially updating bolt-ons. Easy for sheezy. Then I moved on to more complex projects: Updating the front and rear suspension, changing tires, doing a crazy airbox mod, rejetting and modifying the carb, etc. Now it runs like a champ. And I definitely got a big feeling of satisfaction having done all the work myself. Good stuff.
So back to skiing... Pete, Luke and I met at the Brainard Lake gate at 6 yesterday morning and jumped on the bikes for to ride in as far as possible before starting the hike up Audubon. Pretty much immediately, I was attacked by my bike but my ass is fine, thanks for asking. We rode in as far as we could (just shy of the Mitchell Lake road) and then started the hike up Audubon.
Luke, Pete, then me on Audubon
It was a chilly, windy morning but that is pretty typical for this time of year and we made good time up the flank of Audubon. Much easier going than this time last year as there are still some large snowfields one can walk up and not too much trudging through sloppy willow patches. I was feeling strong all the way up and we paused to look into the Elevator Shaft on the way up. Well, Luke looked, Pete and I hung out, ate some food (chocolate covered cranberries are yummy) and relaxed in the sun at 11000+ feet.We quickly reached our ski destination: A nice fun snowfield which we hit at the ultimate hour for perfect snow conditions. This particular field wasn't too steep or exposed so one could pretty much ski without worrying too much about consequences. I felt pretty solid on the ski as well which, after not skiing for 3 weeks, was much appreciated.
We then moved over to the notch, booted up (thanks to Luke for leading the way, once again), monkeyed around up top trying to figure out a way to summit, then opted to just ski the Notch Line. This is a bit steeper and more confined than our first line but the snow was still quite good and it was a blast to ski. We then dropped back down to Mitchell Lake and worked our way back out to the bikes.
Pete got a flat on the way out but otherwise, it was a pretty problem-free day. I was fairly tired by the end but felt MUCH better than the last several times out and about. Not sure about the Leadville 50 (I think I have til the end of the month to decide on that) but this was encouraging, to say the least.
Today I am a little sore and fatigued but the weather is crap anyway so no real loss. I am hoping to head back up with Luke on Wednesday morning to ski the center chute on the flank or Elevator Shaft. I'll keep you posted on that.
In the meantime, don't do anything I wouldn't do first.
~stubert.
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