Switching Gears

Well, these times they are a changin'...

My life is in a period of transition as I am prepare to begin graduate school this spring. To give you an idea, I recently sold my car and had my last day of coaching for APU....unless I can manage to do some fill-in sessions in the future.

Here's Angela and Joanna cutting up their gourmet cake they brought to share after practice on my last day of the APU noon group, which also fell on St. Patty's Day. There's nothing more that I will miss about this transition than the incredible people I've been able to spend my time with in the skiing community. This includes the masters & juniors I've been able to work with through coaching, my coaches (current and former), competitors, supporters, and teammates.

I don't have any recent pictures with my teammates since they've been scattered around the globe at World Championships, OPA Cups, AK Supertours, etc... but I did find the above picture in the "Ski Trax" magazine yesterday. The photo is by Flying Point Road and is of Morgan Smyth, Holly Brooks, Myself, and Sadie Bjornsen. Excelling together at the classic sprint at US Nationals in January was certainly icing in the cake for a great year of training and racing with them.

In the coming month and a half or so I am thrilled to get to see some activities I've been organizing work themselves into fruition. Up on the plate next:

1. Volunteering and exploring Guatemala with Justin! We will help out at Maya Pedal, where we will make Bicimaquinas (Pedal Powered Machines) from donated bike parts/pieces, that can be used by the locals to pump water, mill grain, etc... We are thrilled to get to take part in this NGO and also experience a part of the world and culture that is new to us.

2. Going north to rural Alaska to help introduce the joy of xc skiing to elementary and high school students living along the Koyokuk River (which is off the road system). The idea to do this was a seed planted in my mind many years ago when Jennifer Johnston began organizing these types of trips. It has been something I've wanted to do for many years, however I was never able to participate due to my late season racing commitments. After some dreaming, calling around, and networking, it looks like it's going to happen! If you have used ski equipment you would like to donate to leave at these villages, please let me know.

3. Soon after I will be bonding with textbooks in the library, Im sure!

Before then, I hope to upload some pictures of recent adventures soon to help spread the word on what is possible to do in AK in the spring with so much daylight. Spring in AK is paradise, so soak it up if you're there!