Skiing & Mountain Biking

So far in 2009, we have gotten to do a few fun things. We went skiing at Homewood Resort in Tahoe and we tried a new (for us) mountain bike course in Granite Bay. Both were great days. Our trip to Tahoe was an awesome day because it was sunny and warm, which is my favorite time to sky...haha. We haven't been skiing in over a year because of my foot surgery last year. So, I was pretty nervous. We started with the bunny slopes to get comfortable, but I HATED the lift. Hard to explain but I fell every time! I got so frustrated and mad so I decided we should head to higher ground, which has better lifts. Crazy! The only way back down is to ski blues (harder than the greens). We stayed up top on some of the greens and we were both doing very well. Andy was getting to cold as he didn't bring anything to cover his ears. So, we need to go back to the bottom and get him a hat and us some hot chocolate. Andy is a great skier and had no problems getting down the slopes. I am a nervous skier so I go slower. I did so well, I couldn't believe it. It is funny that what you tell yourself you can do...you can do and what you tell yourself you can't...you can't. I was really nervous at how steep some of the hills were, but I just kept saying you can do this, over and over, and I did. I was so pleased. After warming up, Andy took on some more skiing by himself and I hung out staying warm as I felt I was too tired to go down anymore steep slopes. Hopefully next time I will be able to do more and we can ski together most of the day. We got to go to our favorite mexican restauraunt for dinner that night...and boy were we starving! The way home was frustrating with bumper to bumper traffic for most of the way. We finally made it home around 10pm. It was very easy to fall asleep! Definitely a great day! Oops...no pictures for this one as we forgot the camera. Now, for our mountain biking trip, we do have pictures. Here they are.

This was our first time moutain biking the Granite Bay course. It is a 7 mile loop course with no more than 600 feet of elevation gain. It is a beginner/intermediate course so not to technical (rock). It is a fast course, but being out of shape makes the hills hard on the lungs!! haha. Andy and I are working very hard to get back to our normally fit state of being and recovering from the holiday eating! We had a lot of fun on this course. Andy is very comfortable with mountain biking and again I am still nervous. We both did very well though. I only had to walk around a few portions of the course that were to rocky for my comfort. We chose to ride this course because they have mountain biking races in February here. I don't like to race a course unless I have rode it before because it makes for to much pressure during the race. Single track means only one rider can fit so, when there are a lot of riders you have to pull off to the side if you are going to slow. If, I am already comfortable with the course I can ride faster and keep the pace of the others without always having to stop for others to pass. We were both exhausted after this ride, but agreed that we will have to do this again. So, we went to subway for lunch and then we toured IKEA on the way home. Another great day!