I went skiing with my bike club at the local nordic center this morning. There were 7 of us and also a group of snow shoe-ers who went off on trails on the other side of the road.
I have learned that it's important to get out there early at this place, and it is really only good when there's powder. The grooming at this place is not like the other places I go to; it's great to have it in the next town, but there's a few woodland trails with twisty, not steep downhills, where it's narrow, there's piles of snow on the side, moguls and basically not a lot of room to maneuver. The snow was not icy, but crunchy, as it went above freezing at the end of the storm. The leader is a slow cyclist, a good hiker, and apparently a faster than me skier! Two other guys were also pretty speedy, two women who were a bit faster than me on the flats, but coud not climb or descend as well, and a guy who was really struggling. He went back before the rest of us. It was beautiful out, but I fell more today than all of the other times I've skied this year. Almost every time i ski here, I feel like a terrible skier, which is weird, since it is where I learned to ski.
So, in the end, about 8K, I worked hard and I got outside. I did go to lunch with the group, where the 2 women who are similar to me were annoying me, making fun of others who are scared of steep hiking ascents and calling someone who had trouble getting up from ski falls a beached whale . I am not sure what is going on with this... one I have never liked. Her bike skills have become horrible and she always tries to drop me, until of course, I drop her on climbs. The other one I like more, mostly because I feel badly for her, since her DH got killed in a bike accident, when he left a group ride early for an appointment. Generally, I hang out with the guys in this group, who even if they are fast, are more forgiving in nature.
I wish I could go to NH tomorrow, but work is calling. Will be doing that on Saturday.