Changing Activities (for the off-season)

[Charlie Schuessler]

All late fall, winter and early spring a.k.a. SKI SEASON, in addition to skiing, I’ve been riding indoors either an exercise bicycle or a road bike on a hydraulic trainer. And since late March I’ve been road riding (paved & dirt) outdoors and last weekend we spent most of the time riding single-track trails in the rain.

The difference this year in almost seventeen is a new hardtail mountain bicycle. Front suspension and lightweight frame with disc brakes. The brakes are worth every dollar spent for the whole bicycle. Smooth & consistent braking on wet rocky downhill conditions is common with disc brakes as compared to rim brakes.

The technological advance between the two bicycles is intriguing. The older style MTB designs were road based with higher gearing, however today’s MTB designs are more like a small motorcycle with much lower gearing. And all the years in between, the advances in "common sense items" such as the type of braking systems (cable or hydraulic operated disc brakes), cable routing, lowering of the center-of-gravity, hub design and tubeless wheel-tire sets is fascinating. Enough gear talk…

I’ll still get some hiking in…however riding bicycles around New England is what I’m doing to keep from being bored (or boring to live with) without snow, and it allows me to socialize with the non-skiing masses living around me.

If you suffer from the same malady as me, what are you doing during the off-season?

 

[BeanoNYC]

I'll mountain bike in the area. I belong to an organization C.L.I.M.B. :

http://www.climbonline.org/

Kinda like an AMC for Long Island Mountain Biking.....AlPiNeZoNe has also peaked (pun intended) my interest in hiking and camping. I will slowly work my way into doing that. I'm going camping with some fellow teachers and the boy scouts of my school's sister school in a few weeks up in the "skills" (like that DMC?) .... I'm looking forward to learning some good techniques from the scout leader.

At the end of June, My wife and I will move to Norway for a Month and maybe backpack through the rest of Europe to cap it off.

 

[loafer89]

I own two inflatable kayaks (ducks) that I like to use on the Housatonic river during the summer. Last July I took my son on a day trip on the river in our two person Kayak and he loved every minute of it, so hopefully we will be on the river more this year.


Kayaking is a little bit like skiing for me in that I can slalom around rocks, and going down a river is a bit like skiing down a trail.

 

[loafer89]

Hey beanoNYC:

Where do you go in Norway? I visited there in July 1991 with my uncle from Germany. We visited Bergen, Sonnefjord, and Flam. We then took a flight up to Tromso in the arctic to see the midnight sun. It is a spectacular country with very friendly people.

 

[Lostone]

I've started hiking. So far it is just walking the ski trails, which is what most of my hiking has been in years past. Easy to start as I live on the mountain.

Come June, I'm planning on hiking a number of other places.

Between now and then, I'm planning on starting to ride. I have a really old mountain bike. I'm planning on changing tires to some that have a bit less rolling resistance for road riding.

Then I'm planning on doing a bit of exploring around here. I have to do some exploring in a car, but the real local stuff I have to do on a bike. It is the only way to really look around. 8)

 

[BeanoNYC]

Hey beanoNYC:

Where do you go in Norway? I visited there in July 1991 with my uncle from Germany. We visited Bergen, Sonnefjord, and Flam. We then took a flight up to Tromso in the arctic to see the midnight sun. It is a spectacular country with very friendly people.

We fly into Kristiansand in the south and stay nearby. My wife's cousin has a two family house in a town called Høllen and we'll be taking over the downstairs apartment. My wife has been to Bergen plenty of times, but I've never made it there. We'll probably make our way out to the west coast this time. I would like to check out Telemark too.

First order of business is a music festival: http://www.quart.no/template3.aspx?m=1102

Scroll down and check out the lineup. Greenday, Foo Fighters, Audioslave, Snoop .... it's going to be a good 5 days. We saw coldplay there a few years ago .... quite a good scene. To top it all off, we're cashing in our SAS Frequent flyer miles for a free trip!
:idea:

Here's a picture of the center of town:

 

[awf170]

Hey beanoNYC:

Where do you go in Norway? I visited there in July 1991 with my uncle from Germany. We visited Bergen, Sonnefjord, and Flam. We then took a flight up to Tromso in the arctic to see the midnight sun. It is a spectacular country with very friendly people.

We fly into Kristiansand in the south and stay nearby. My wife's cousin has a two family house in a town called Høllen and we'll be taking over the downstairs apartment. My wife has been to Bergen plenty of times, but I've never made it there. We'll probably make our way out to the west coast this time. I would like to check out Telemark too.

First order of business is a music festival: http://www.quart.no/template3.aspx?m=1102

Scroll down and check out the lineup. Greenday, Foo Fighters, Audioslave, Snoop .... it's going to be a good 5 days. We saw coldplay there a few years ago .... quite a good scene. To top it all off, we're cashing in our SAS Frequent flyer miles for a free trip!
:idea:

Here's a picture of the center of town:

thats a sick lineup of bands... snoop :-? that doesnt really fit in with those other bands

 

[BeanoNYC]

thats a sick lineup of bands... snoop :-? that doesnt really fit in with those other bands

That's the beauty of it! They are playing on different nights though.

 

[thetrailboss]

My change of the season activities? Well, thought about doing whitewater kayaking and did it in 2000 for a few weeks, but it's an expensive sport to get into and my legs were just too darn long for the kayaks :x

So now I hike, walk, and dream of skiing

 

[skibum1321]

Mountain biking as soon as the trails dry out. There's some really sick biking in VT. Also, hiking is a big part of my summers. It's really cool to hike into the glades that you ski in the winter and see what they're like in the summer. It gives you a more intimate knowledge of the woods for ski season. Also, if you have the time cutting a secret stash is always a good summer pastime.

 

[thetrailboss]

Mountain biking as soon as the trails dry out. There's some really sick biking in VT.

I take it you've hit the Kingdom Trails?

 

[skibum1321]

Yeah I've been up to the Kingdom Trails. Even in Chittenden County there is some awesome stuff. The Fellowship of the Wheel has done a great job the past few years. Mobbs Valley in Jericho is one of my favorite places. Also, if you go a little more south there is some sick stuff in Waterbury.