Winter has arrived... or has it?

Ah, the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is here in the valley. Guests are starting to check in for the holidays and seeing Broadway in Eagle all lit up just brightens the now dark evenings on the way home from work. Funny though, we have been very fortunate in Eagle to not get much snow at all. Even on December 9th, the Front Range is still riding real well.

It has been a few weeks since I logged on here. It's not that I haven't had anything happening, just a little transition into the winter season buzz. The snow has been the best I have seen it during my 4 years out here this early in the season. Blue Sky Basin in Vail almost opening in November?? Crazy! That being said, I have yet to make it out to Blue Sky to get some of my own early season powder stashes. Maybe this weekend!

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well. I know ours did. We went to our friend Tate's uncles house here in Eagle Ranch and let me tell you it was a feast! Every item on the table was unbelievable and was by far some of the best food I have ever had. Thank you for taking us in and letting us spend the holiday with you. Despite being stuffed and tired from a huge turkey dinner, Danielle, Tate, Kristen and I went out to do some overnight Black Friday shopping at the Silverthorne outlets and boy, they did not disappoint. I had been looking for a mid-weight down jacket for awhile now, checking out brands like Arcteryx, Marmot, North Face and more. Even with some amazing pro-form deals, I was still looking to spend around $100 for a jacket I wanted. Cruising through Eddie Bauer, I find exactly what I was looking for! Even better, it was only $60 thanks to a 40% off everything deal that night. Let me tell you, this is not part of Eddie Bauer's First Ascent gear but if the quality and warmth of a jacket in their regular line is this good... I can only imagine what the FA gear is like.

I am about 3 weeks into the winter training plan from Yuki Saito and the progress is looking pretty good so far. I have realized how important it is to get a well-rounded workout plan that uses different sets of muscles. Even after a few weeks I can already notice a difference in my all-around strength. Better yet, I suffered through the first few days, but have regained a desire to run again. For awhile, running has been a challenge for me, mostly due to the fact that I really have not ran since cross-country back in high school. When you steer away from it that long, you forget how good of a workout it is for strengthening your feet, ankles, and helping improve your balance and agility.

Even though CX season is just about over, I did happen to pick up a great deal on a 'cross bike from a friend at work. Mostly used on the trainer in the living room, I look forward to breaking it out for Cult Cross in the Spring. Good luck to Jake Wells at CX Nationals this weekend in Bend, Oregon!! Bring us home a National Title.

A couple of weeks ago I made a trip down to Boulder for our Bach Builders team night, hosted by Specialized and the Sports Garage. It was good to finally put some faces to names and meet some of our team. Every week gets me more and more excited for next season to start! While the pro-deals on bikes were especially enticing, I walked out with a set of S-Works Carbon Shoes and some super light and fast S Works tires. At that point, Christmas was done for me! We should be getting a sneak peak at our final kit designs for 2011 in the next week or so. I'll post some pics as soon as they are available to show.

In the next post, I will begin my initial review of my new 2011 Yeti ASR Carbon that I got back in August. I've put on some decent miles on it since then so well take a shot at telling it like it is. Big Thanks again to Mike at Venture Sports for setting me up with the bike!

TMP