Summertime Rolls

The UAA Ski Team has scattered to the ends of the earth in June, leaving me with little to report.  But here's the latest: 

I heard a rumor that Lucky has seen nothing but rain since he left Alaska last month. I have two sets of friends who both went to Europe for bike trips in the last month and they both came back to tell me that Europe is "pretty much flooded out". Earlier this week, I guess Lucky had finally had enough so he got on a jet and flew to China to do a little ski racing.  No, I'm not kidding.  Lucky says he's going to update his blog daily, but that was a few days ago and we've heard nothing since.  I guess he didn't bother to read any newspapers any time in the past few years; everyone knows the Chinese government isn't too psyched about "bloggers".  In time, I'm sure we'll hear all about the trip from Lucky.  In the meantime, you can check for updates from him at http://lukasebner90.blogspot.com/

Lasse is staying staying busy searching out vertical relief for his training missions in Copenhagen.  His latest dream has come true: Marine's buddies in Villard de Lans are going to let Lasse hang out with them next fall, so Lasse moves to France on August 1.  I have a suggestion for Lasse's mom: Don't speak any more Danish with Lasse this summer.  Stick to French and make him deal with it. http://www.lassetilol.com/

I think I saw some photos recently hinting that Marine is, or was, somewhere in the Mediterranean, catching a few rays and splashing around in the ocean.

Viktor's in heaven in Sweden, training 5x/day with his training buddies. Hard intervals for breakfast every day. http://viktorbrannmark.com/

I went for a little run and some strength training a couple weeks ago with Coach K, Davis and new UAA skiers Alex Loan and Andrew Arnold.  Those guys are getting together from time to time around Anchorage for some workouts.

Patricia is in Switzerland for the summer.  The Swiss are very secretive, so of course I have no idea what Pati is up to.

Former UAA skier Kjetil Hagtvedt Dammen has joined Thomas Alsgaard's Team Leaseplan Go for another year of professional racing and will again be trying to win Worldloppet marathons this coming winter.  http://www.langrenn.com/-jeg-maa-holde-igjen.5221733-1743.html

Cara is jumping out of helicopters again this summer and battling raging infernos in the Canadian wilderness.

Brandon has been splashing around in a boat in the Carribean recently, but I assume he's back to Anchorage by now.

And the biggest news of all:  Assistant coach Tor found himself a new job as a counselor at Service High School in Anchorage.  He has been looking for a job like this for a while, and is happy to finally land his dream job.  And even bigger news: he and Rhianne are going to have a baby next winter.  Needless to say, Tor will be glad to have a job that keeps him closer to home instead of flying all around the country chasing the ski scene.  Congratulations to Tor and Rhianne!

As for me, despite the record-breaking heat and sunshine that we've been having in Alaska lately, I took a little trip to south Florida for work last week. I managed to rent a bike while I was there and did some of the hottest bike riding I've ever done.  Here are a few pictures:

Two weeks ago, there was good skiing at Turnagain. But a lot of snow has melted since then.

No better place to be.

Biking to Key West, Florida. Want to ride across a lot of bridges?  The Florida Keys is your place. This bridge is seven miles long. There were a few islands along the way, too.  On one of them, I accidentally ran over an iguana. Sorry!

109 degrees F and crazy-humid.  You Euros want to know how hot that is?  Google it. This was a 100 mile+ day for me.  I'm proud of that.

The Everglades is one cool-ass swamp!  I recommend checking it out for yourself if you get a chance.

 

Another 100+ degree day on the bike in the Everglades.

 

Caution: Jaguars crossing. They must have been hiding out because I didn't see any.

 

Wherever I go biking, I like to ride over passes.  Stelvio, Galibier... Give me a pass and I'll ride over it. In the Everglades, it's Rock Reef Pass.  The first foot was tough, but I started finding my groove in the second foot, and I totally rocked foot number three!

No matter how much fun I have traveling, I always love flying back to Alaska. Here's Blackstone Bay in Prince William Sound, and that's Burns Glacier at center right.