Colorado Snow

Colorado sure knows how to do it. Most states get their snow during November and December, but not Colorado. We’ve been getting weekly snow for the past couple of weeks. Thankfully, the snow comes early in the week and leaves by the weekend, so long rides aren’t a problem. But trainer rides all week are starting to drive me INSANE!

I’ve tried going for a few runs and a swim or two, but those just don’t quite have the same effect on me as riding. They’re just not quite as fun.

Saturday’s team ride was great though!  It was good to get out with the guys for a few hours of endurance riding.  I saw a lot of old faces and a few new ones.  It’s pretty incredible how our junior squad has nearly tripled in size since last year and I bet they are going to clean up the BAR/BAT titles for next season.  Not to mention the SM4 and P12 squads have also gotten a serious boost in numbers.  The SM3 team on the other hand is going to go through something of a transformation this season.  Many of the seasoned vets who have been an SM3 for a long time upgraded to the P12 team and are leaving many of the fresh SM3 behind.  There are some massive leadership roles to fill, but I’m optimistic that we won’t have any problems filling them.

The biggest issue I see is going to be keeping the SM3 BAR title.  Many of the guys that upgraded were extremely strong in certain disciplines and could often pull of big results without huge amounts of team work.  I foresee that the remaining SM3 guys are really going to have to bad together and push each other to get results this season.

Unfortunately, I had to peal off at Hygiene to get some food and I discovered some that made me sad.  The gas station that has been servicing cyclist since I first started riding (and probably before) has finally gone out of business.  It was always the placed that I stopped to fill bottles and get a Hammer Bar or two before heading off to Carter Lake or taking Hygiene road off in to the mountains for a day of climbing.

Anyone else seeing big changes around them for the 2011 season?  Maybe they’re roster changes or a favorite rest stop gone out of business, possibly new additions to family and changes in how you’ll have to structure your training?