Catch the Groomer

Look what we found on the trail this morning - the groomer!

Oh boy,  a day of "catch the groomer" fun!

"Groomer ahead, groomer ahead!" declare fast running Jack & Rudy as
we came upon this groomer after rounding a corner on the trail.

It's always fun to catch & play with the groomer on the trail. The groomer drivers love it too as they always wave and smile at us. It turns out that Jack & Rudy are faster than a groomer on flat, downhill or slightly uphill terrain whereas the groomer is faster on any steep inclines. I think today's groomer driver was having as much fun as us! Here we are at a loop in the trail where the groomer turns around (the groomer went right where Jack & Rudy are heading before looping around the trees in the center to come back towards us). We had just finished a steep incline to this point so the groomer was ahead of us. The driver stopped and waited for us at this junction and then smiled and made a "come on" gesture with her hand/arm for us to follow :)

"Hi groomer! Take your head start and we'll come after!" says Jack & Rudy.

I stopped Jack & Rudy for minute or so to give the groomer a big head start and then off we went racing behind. The result? We caught the groomer again of course!

"Groomer ahead! Caught it again!" says flying Jack & Rudy.

Come along and watch one session of "catch the groomer." When the video starts, I have just released Jack & Rudy from a pause to start up again. If your volume is up you'll hear me say, "Woo Hoo, Catch the Groomer!" as we take off. Jack & Rudy knew what I was saying and zoom we go. Eventually we do catch the groomer (as shown above) and I pause Jack & Rudy again to give the groomer another head start. Fun day of "catch the groomer"!

[watch on youtube if no video loads below]

After a fun few rounds of pause/chase/catch, the groomer turned right whereas Jack, Rudy and I needed to go left to head back towards our intended trailhead. Our final glimpse of the groomer for the day:

"Bye groomer, it sure was fun running with you!" says Jack & Rudy.

Finally, back to the trailhead to celebrate the fun day with elder Zorro:

"You should have seen us 'catching the groomer' big bro!" says proud
Jack & Rudy.
"I know, I taught you both that game!" declares Zorro who had many
days of 'catch the groomer' in his skijoring career :)

Fun day of 'catch the groomer': 8.2 miles traveled with 600 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 23 MPH.

2020/2021 Season to Date: 63 days on the trails covering 502.0 miles with 44,300 feet of elevation climbed.