Timberline (West Virginia)

A sunny day in the upper 70's isn't exactly what you want the day before a snowboarding trip, but that's what we got this season.

Rebecca & I broke up our drive to Timberline by heading to Winchester the Thursday before our weekend in Canaan Valley. That day, we worked remotely and even got out for a mountain bike ride at Shenandoah University's Cool Spring Campus.

The next morning we hit the road to finish our drive to Timberline. Around noon we were checking into our VRBO, a beautiful chalet just minutes from the chairlift.



The rest of our crew arrived that afternoon & night.

The next morning we rose to coffee, bacon & eggs before rolling over to the resort to find snow falling on the slopes.

Eventually, the snow subsided and we found ourselves in a thick cloud for the remainder of our day. No issue, though, as we were just happy to be on the slopes. On Sunday we returned to get the clear, sunny conditions we were hoping for.

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Shenandoah University, Cool Spring Campus (Winchester, VA)

If you get a fluke 70degree day in February, you take it!

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VCORR Oak Ridge (Arrington, VA)

To prepare for the start of the 2023 season of VCHSS harescramble races, I decided to attend one of the last stops of the winter VCORR series in order to "knock off the cobwebs."



This stop was at Oak Ridge, which will be the same venue for the first race of VCHSS (although it will be a different course).

I felt great at the start of the race, but about midway through my first lap I was getting a bit worn out from riding out of the saddle. I decided to have a seat, but the course was slippery, rooty, and rocky - conditions that were better suited to the "loose and fast" style of riding while standing on the pegs.



I did my best to mix time in the saddle with that of the "attack position," but it was clear that my arms were beginning to feel fatigued. Midway through my second lap I pulled to the side, primarily for a rest and secondarily to reinsert the goPro battery in order to reset my non-operational HeroMAX. With the camera rolling and a bit of rest in my forearms, I took off again, coaching myself to take it easy in order to last the rest of the race. Within a few minutes, though, I was having too much fun and slid out in a muddy corner littered with rocks.

The goPro smashed the handlebar and broke its chest mount, dangling from the auxiliary power cord as I picked myself up off the ground.



After that mishap, I stuffed the HeroMAX in my riding pants and leisurely completed the lap, tossing the camera where I could retrieve it near the race's start line. With these delays, I would only complete three laps in total, which was perfectly fine with me considering how worn out I felt. Somehow, that netted me a fifth place finish in the field of 13. I suppose I wasn't the only rider feeling out-of-shape after too many hours on the couch!

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