Culture clash

At around 8:00 last night Kyle, Connor, Bogden and I were in Cornwall, crossing the water to the USA. With our stomachs full of gas-station A&W burgers, we gunned our 15-seater gas guzzler over the bridge and blasted the Team America theme song as we rolled up to customs. That's when I realized how much I love our country. We do everything over-the-top and love every minute of our indulgent lifestyles. Of course, as a responsible team we do our best to shed the image of the typical lazy, environmentally destructive American stereotype. Every once in a while though, you just have to embrace your heritage. This was one of those times. We all needed some good old 'merrrcan time after a tough week of hammering it out Canuck-style in Stoneham. Intervals, s'il vous plait! Though we got our snow feet wet on a 500m loop for a few days, most of the week was devoted to hard training either by foot, rollerski or Go-Kart. Some of us (me) learned the hard way that Mariokart driving abilities don't hold up so well when you're in the real deal. All in all there was a positive atmosphere despite the lack of ski time. Some incredibly tough workouts stand out, like switchback rollerski striding intervals, a great 2.5 hour trail run and all-out bounding ladders, but a couple of us agreed most of the week felt like a consistent blur of naps, egg-frying and sore appendages. Mostly shredded quads, particularly for Lanky who (with a broken wrist) toughed it out with all legs all week. Maybe they don't have dollar menus or SUVs in every driveway, but our neighbors to the north know how to accommodate skiers. When it comes to training like, this I guess Canada's alright.


Smooth roads and no traffic made the local park a great place to train


Baby Calvin, taking some fashion notes from Wolcott


Kelsey and Andrew skiing the loop


We traded dinner duty each night: Wolcott and Lanky's kabobs