Zorro, who's not the biggest kisser (unlike Jack), giving me a little
peck as we dish out the 'end of run' treats today.
We had a wild day on almost "too fast packed" trails in & around Breckenridge Nordic Center this morning. We went from one trailhead to another with Zorro and then I took the kids, Jack & Rudy, for another out & back on higher elevation trails. A fun time had by all and a real workout on the human's legs to keep us under control on the almost too fast packed trails!
Zorro came with for the first 1/3rd of the outing. Here we are flying along the fast packed terrain:
Flying Zorro in the middle with sprint-tucked Jack & Rudy on each side
(and the 'hanging on for dear life' human behind :)
Here we are approaching the second trailhead to hand Zorro off to Nancy. A few things to note. First, polite Jack knows we are approaching a stop point and is nicely backing off to preserve the human. Rudy is in his "flirt with mom" mood as he is focused & flirting with Nancy on the side of the trail. Meanwhile, Zorro is still 'pedal to the metal', full throttle ahead. Where happened to my polite veteran Zorro?
"We should be slowing to preserve the human!" declares trotting Jack.
"HI MOM!" exclaims flirting Rudy.
"Let's keep it going! Floor it!" adds monster Zorro :)
Come along for the video counterpart of the prior photo. We start out cruising along the fast packed Peaks Trail. If your volume is on/up, you will really hear my skis scraping against the hard packed surface as I try to maintain some control behind the power trio. Finally, as we approach the trailhead and Nancy on the side of the trail, you'll see polite Jack slowing. Zorro & Rudy are still full speed ahead; but notice how perfect they are as they shutoff and stop on a dime once I say, "Wait!" Good boys.
After handing elder Zorro off to Nancy, I took the kids on an out & back on the upper elevation trails. We always get some nice views from up high:
Hovering Jack & Rudy as we approach the Hallelujah Warming Hut.
Nice view of the mountains behind the hut!
At our turnaround point and isn't this about the most adorable shot of happy Jack & Rudy?
"Hi Dad - we are having a BLAST!" declares the happy, happy pair!
A workout day for the human trying to maintain control on fast packed trails. A fun 1st 1/3 with elder Zorro and then second 2/3 with the fast & happy kids: 8.6 miles traveled with 900 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 22 MPH.
2019/2020 Season to Date: 131 days on the trails covering 888.9 miles with 81,000 feet of elevation climbed.
Young Jack & Rudy's first time topping 24 MPH skijoring this morning! Zoom!!!!
Flying Trio as we hit the youngsters top speed ever.
Two milestones this morning. It was the first time skijoring 6 days in a row for young Jack & Rudy. What did the 6th day in a row yield? The second milestone: topping 24 MPH for the first time for the two youngsters. I'd say "6 in a row" has got them into a real skijor groove!
There were two stretches on our outing where we most likely topped 24 (as clocked by the GPS shown in the photo above). The first zoom was the photo above. The second zoom is the video below. Come along as we are skijoring fast, then slow slightly into a hard left and then come out of the left like speed demons! 24 MPH coming out of the left? Likely...
The following photo is a great capture of our team personalities. If I (or my skis) ever make a new or concerning sound, Jack will immediately look back to check my status. Zorro will do the same, but as a 9 year skijor veteran, there are very few sounds he has not heard and cataloged. Rudy, on the other hand, is oblivious to any sounds. As long as we are making forward progress, Rudy could not care less what sounds are coming from behind him :)
"You ok back there?" asks happy & curious Jack wondering about the sound & placement of
my left ski (it is far 'out of track' to try and give me some speed control).
"He's fine, done this a million times!" declares Zorro.
"I don't care what he's doing if we are moving!" states all business Rudy.
This isn't to say that Rudy does not care about me. In fact, when I have fallen with the trio, Rudy shows the most concern for my well being as he will circle back to check on me quickly. It is just that if we are moving, Rudy is all for it and I can make whatever noises I want - just keep moving :)
At our turnaround point of the day's outing. Happy kids:
"Let's turn it around and get moving!" says happy Rudy.
"Turning around already? Well, ok." adds Zorro who wanted to keep going forward.
"Hey Z, what are you doing over there? You are usually first to listen and turn around!" adds
happy Jack wondering why Zorro is last to listen (a true rarity).
Celebrating 6 days in a row and topping 24 MPH at the end of the day's run:
"Ready for 'end of run' treats!" declares focused Zorro.
"Me too!" adds happy Jack.
"Hi mom!" says silly Rudy who is always last to remember we get 'end of run' treats.
6 days in a row + 24 MPH - will there be a 7th tomorrow? Unfortunately, no, Zorro & Jack are certified Therapy Dogs who read with kids at the local elementary school on Thursdays. I learned years ago that if you skijor and then go to school, you tend to fall asleep instead of listen to the kids read (not very exciting for the kids :)
So, we end our first long string at '6 in a row, topping 24': 5.4 miles traveled with 500 feet of elevation climbed and a top speed of 24 MPH.
2018/2019 Season to Date: 57 days on the trails covering 310.8 miles with 27,650 feet of elevation climbed.
