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Hiking at Devil's Lake

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Published on Sunday, 11 December 2011 17:22

This winter in Madison has been a bit weird - it's been cold but no snow, when it does precipitate we've had a warm spell so it only rained.  The median freeze date for Lake Monona (our closest lake) is December 15, but that doesn't look likely.  So no snow, no freezing lakes, this winter has been below-satisfactory so far.  

With a mild day (high 30's and sunny) planned for Sunday, we decided to head up to Devil's Lake State Park for some hiking.  DLSP, about 45 minutes north of Madison, is a super-popular summer location for many from Wisconsin and Illinois (or FIBs, if you prefer), but it clears out considerably once the cold arrives. 

 
Hiking up the Balanced Rock Trail, roughly 400 foot vertical over many uneven rock stairs - the dog loved it

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Winter Bike Training

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Published on Sunday, 04 December 2011 14:47

Is there anything more boring than running on a treadmill?  How about riding your bike indoors?  If that's not more boring it's at least on-par.  I think I may have found a solution.

 
Indoor training. 

Bike trainer + college basketball.  Here is my strategy:

• During the gameplay, ride at steady-state, IE a comfortable pace
• During commercials kick it up a notch and attack

Skijor Training

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Published on Saturday, 19 November 2011 21:24

The first accumulating snowfall has arriving in Minneapolis, and I was in town this weekend to experience it.  One of the things we wanted to do this winter was teach our dog to skijor.  The thought was 1) He's a Husky-mix, so I'm guessing he will enjoying pulling 2) He has a TON of energy 3) We like to cross country ski.

Prior to this weekend we purchased a skijoring setup for him:

First thing this morning we went to the Minneapolis airport dog park early morning:

Next, we found a semi-secluded area and put the harness on.  No cross-country skis involved yet:

I was trying not to hold too-high of expectations for this first go-round.  We ran around the park for a bit, he did a pretty good job at following the path and staying on-task.  Now it's time to teach him some other commands: "come around", "line-out":

In the end, he had a great day.  Here is the result:

Winter is coming soon...

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Published on Wednesday, 02 November 2011 19:50

First snowfall of the year earlier this week.  Winter is coming :)  We're also just over three months away until skiing in Hokkaido :)