Re-discovering Lego

 Resurrections: Emerging from the Bin, Technic, Mindstorms:

There is a term for the period in one's life between when one loses interest in Lego as a teen and when one rediscovers it as an adult and becomes an Adult Fan of Lego (AFOL): The Dark Ages. Mine lasted until I was 33, while quarantining at home after being hospitalized with covid while undergoing chemotherapy. I had thought about playing with Lego again while undergoing chemotherapy, but thought that the construction would be too hard on my fragile skin.

The sets were still there, still built in my brother's room. I was a little curious if I could find information on some of the sets. I discovered that there were various websites dedicated to Lego that would help me find information on these sets: number of pieces, original prices, inventories, and instructions. I was re-entering back into the world. There were actually less sets produced each year than I expected and we actually had a good representation of the sets at the time.

As I mostly kept my models fully built, I never build up the alternate models or suggestions on the back of the box. So first I rebuilt the 735 Fire Truck alternates. My next goal was to rescue 8277 from the bin. The build that I never got to do. I started by removing anything technic related from the bin, then moving on to any interesting parts from the bin. Alongside 8277, I found parts for 6835, 6879, 6898, 6889, 6852, and 6341. As mentioned earlier, these sets were early in my Lego life and I didn't even remember them but by cross-referencing that special parts that I found, I was able to deduce that those parts came from these sets. I built those sets and any others that had found their way into the bin as best as I could. I made a spreadsheet listing all of the sets that I suspected were in the bin. I added the sets that were in my brother's room to the spreadsheet. Even a Lego Znap set 3571 Blackmobile is interesting because it contains instructions for many different models!

Helicopter

Giant Model Set Robot

I finished all 6 alternate models of 8277. The large models were impressive. The scale of the 16L bricks combined, and the functions led to a thirst for more. I rebuilt the alternate models for 8445 and 8446, the bricks dusty after sitting on a shelf for so long. Next, I collected all of the remaining technic sets from my brother's room and rebuilt them and their alternate models. Rather than leaving sets built up, I was excited to take them apart so that I could build the next one. At first, the disassembly process was hard on my hands, but now they are tougher. Rebuilding the sets has been another highlight because when I was younger, I would get into a trance while building, but neglect to appreciate the part usage and functions that are hidden from the completed model.

While playing with Meccano, I had another revelation. Meccano has a limited number of unique parts and if one had multiple Meccano sets, it is conceivable that one could build even more official Meccano sets by combining the multiple sets together. Meccano has a similar database of instructions and inventories but what I found was a little disappointing as while they don't release new sets very often, they do update their shapes from generation to generation and larger sets also have larger parts making it hard to build different sets.

In a similar vain, the larger Lego sets did include some specialized pieces that I did not have in my entire collection. But while closely examining some Star Wars sets, I noticed that they included many very old Classic Space elements. From before my time. This led me down an ever expanding rabbit hole. Not only could I build some space sets, there were sets from other themes like Castle (including the classic yellow castle 375, which I did build) and Town that I could build. I could build the skulls from Pirates. I could build classic Technic Sets. My spreadsheet has expanded to include an ever increasing list of sets that I can build although I doubt I will have the time to build all of them. My current interests are the technic sets that are a larger scale and have good functionality and space sets. My experience with Town Jr. has made me less interested in boring town sets. While I had originally cleaned out my brother's room of all technic and space sets, I cleaned out the rest of the Lego to add to the part collection I could use for building other sets.

Classic "yellow" castle

Next to make up for my dark ages, I looked for Lego Mindstorms. Mindstorms had evolved 3 generations since my time and I was able to pick up a set from the 2nd generation NXT for pretty cheap. Alongside the software which included instructions for 4 builds (and more with the education package software), I discovered more websites dedicated to this model released back in 2009 and was able to build and program even more models. Some of these models shared similarities to my other technic builds, cranes, steering vehicles and a switch was turned on in my head: motorizing my sets with the NXT!

Lego NXT Alpha Rex

The first build I attempted with my parts collection was 8450 The Mission. A fairly large technic set, I brazenly begun grabbing parts from sets in my collection, keeping track in a spreadsheet. This familiarized me with the parts in my sets, knowing the limitations. It was a time consuming process, but eventually I got it finished and fortunately never ran out of parts or encountered a roadblock requiring a special part. The finished model was amazing and again I was impressed by the scale and features. The time was eased when I was quickly able to build the alternate models because the parts were already sorted out. I refined my system for later parts bin builds by choosing a more similar Lego bag to base the build out of and taking greater care into making sure that I had the parts to complete the build.

8450 The Mission

8855 Plane

These builds introduced me to many different building techniques and interesting ratchet mechanisms. The time that I had sunk into building these models encouraged me to troubleshoot these models to make them work with the parts I have.

Battle Droid. These Technic Star Wars models aren't very well liked, but I enjoyed the non-machinery application of Lego!

While I hadn't integrated the NXT into my sets yet, I started to integrate it into my parts bin builds, perhaps starting off with the most ambitious: 8094 Control Center. It was here that I found the limitation of the LabVIEW like NXT-G software, mainly with math required to draw circles and a feature from the original set: being able to store and replay chains of commands. I discovered that there were other ways to program NXTs using text-based software that would be much simpler. After hours and hours of learning and programming, I was able to create programs for both of those tasks among the builds of that set.

Control Center

While that was my most ambitious NXT program, my most ambitious build was 8479 with over 1200 parts. After a couple of weeks, I was able to build the main model and then the alternate models came quickly. The programming was fairly easy. The original set was based around the older 9V system with smaller motors. To incorporate my larger NXT motors, I had to remove some of the aesthetics of the models, but the spirit of the model remained. 

Barcode Multi-Set

With 8479 coming close before the release of the original Mindstorms RCX sets, it shares many of the same parts, so I have been able to build many of the builds from those sets without having to sort more parts. 

RCX Grabber Arm

I asked for and received Lego 42128 Heavy Duty Tow Truck for Christmas, which is notable for a couple of reasons. It is over 2x the size of any set that I had when I was younger, and it contains pneumatics and many interesting functions. Parts that will be useful in other parts bin builds.

Heavy Duty Tow Truck

My Lego Journey

When I was young, I was very into Lego, definitely a Lego Maniac. Here I dive into my history with Lego. 

Early Beginnings: Duplo, Small Sets, MegaBloks, Azam:

Of course, I started with Duplo, but I don't remember this phase. My earliest Lego memories start with a tub of bulk Lego pieces (1708, 4162) and some small sets. My parents informed me that they would have to do most of the building of the small sets at this stage but a friend from down the street, Azam, would come over and take them apart and the pieces would end up with the rest of the bulk Lego. I don't even really remember the sets as they were built because they would quickly end up in the bin (6835 Saucer Scout, 6879 Blizzard Baron, 6898 Ice Sat V, 6889 Recon Robot, 6852 Sonor Security, and 6341 Gas 'n Go Flier) but I remember using the parts in the rest of my builds (My Own Creation or "MOC's" as adults call them), the "best" one I built at the time being a car-carrying ferry among numerous spaceships. Sets that I was absolutely drooling over because friends had them were 6195 Neptune Discovery Lab and Lego 6959 Lunar Launch Site.

Recon Robot and Sonar Security

Blizzard Baron

Ice Sat V

I also received some MegaBloks for Christmas. MegaBloks, while touted as being "Lego compatible" and subject to a lawsuit for that reason, was not created to the same standards as Lego pieces and either fit too loose or too tight to each other and to Lego pieces. One set we received was neat Castle with many small, decorative pieces that were to be attached to exposed studs on a castle shaped shell. The many small parts were probably too much for me to handle at the time and I have no memory of the castle in its final built form, but more of the poorly fitting parts making their way into the bin. Another set came in a rocket-shaped container which contained many neat transparent pieces but were not much use for adding to my Lego builds.

Middle: City Building, Leaving Them Built:

As I got older, I was introduced to the Technic Theme. For my 8th birthday, I received a fairly large (for me at least) Technic set, 8277 Giant Model Set. Like larger sets at the time, it came in a box with a flap and the pieces were organized in trays. More commonplace now, the set also featured multiple instruction manuals. The set required the construction of a central core (with one of the instruction manuals) followed by building up to 6 different models around the central core using the other instruction manual. In my excitement, I started building with the big, bright yellow pieces for the 6 different models, skipping the construction of the central core, that manual may have never made it outside of the box. I quickly hit a roadblock once it was time to start building around the central core, which magically appeared already build on the instructions. The thought crossed my mind that the central core was actually part of another set, like a motor, and I lost interest in the set, the parts made their way into the Lego bin. I used the many 16L Technic bricks in my MOC's but I never got to experience the large models of the Giant Model Set.

I received many other sets, this time leaving them build in their original form. Space themes were my favourite and the highlight was 6949 Robo-Guardian. 6544 Shuttle Transcon was also a highlight with both a space shuttle and an airplane with many special airplane parts. I received the Lego Club Magazine and was kept up to date on the themes and also had some Adventurers featuring Johnny Thunder sets . Western sets were also of interest (my brother had 6761 Bandit Secret Hideout, which sadly ended up in the bin although the interesting parts lived on in our MOC's), I even built a MOC of a fur trading fort for a school project, but I was surprisingly not interested in the castle sets at the time.

Robo Guardian

My brother and I had a table with L-shaped baseplates surrounding a 'pit' with a net. Our part collection overwhelmed the net and made its way to a big Lego bin. The table with the baseplates quickly became home to a bustling Lego City with multi-story buildings, replicas of local landmarks (like the Butterdome) and even an attempt at an elevated railway. Windows and panels from deconstructed sets that found their way into the bin were the highlights of the builds.

We also had a fairly extensive (and expensive) HO train set at the time, so never got into Lego Trains, but it would have been great to have been able to build rolling stock, tunnels and stations instead...

Visits to grandma and grandpa often included Lego sets, but breaking open the box, building, and then glimpsing at the mini-catalog inside only fueled the desire for more sets: 6451 River Response leading to 6473 Res-Q Cruiser, 8226 Mud Masher leading to 8252 Beach Buster, and various Tech-Play sets: like 8229 Tread Trekker, 8215 Gyro Copter.

The big thing in this era for Lego was Star Wars, and I had a couple of the early sets, 7141 Naboo Fighter and 7110 Landspeeder were highlights.

My Lego sets peaked around my 10th birthday with my "Big 3": 8445 Indy Storm, 8446 Crane Truck, and 5563 Racing Truck, with the 735 Light and Sound Fire Truck getting an honorable mention. Of note is that aside from the big 3, there were many sets with piece counts between 100-300 that were very memorable which is important to remember when comparing against the many modern modern sets where even 1000 pieces seems small. Lego Mindstorms was in its early days, I definitely wanted it, but the $400 price tag was a lot. I don't really remember lusting after many other large sets at the time.

Crane Truck

Indy Storm

Basic Building Set. The fire truck is less basic than the name suggests

I stored sets from this time built up in a rolling cart and would take them all out and arrange them to play with them. I would never take them apart to build alternate models, and tried to limit them having parts falling off beyond repair and ending up in the bin. A Lego Book, Krazy Action Contraptions included some technic parts and instructions for many builds, but again, I only built one, a cable car that traversed my bedroom for a while.

End: Constraction, Regrets, Town Jr., Soccer, Games

Throwbots. They were cool. I didn't have any Power Rangers action figures when I was young (but I had Batman and Star Wars figures), so there was something about an action figure that was novel for me at the time. The throwing feature was neat, but the worm gear head movement was underwhelming due to the slow nature of worm gear drives. We had lots of these and Robo-Riders as they were priced within reach of an allowance or two. Sadly, while my mom has kept all of our Lego and other GOAT level toys (Brio Trains, K'NEX, Hot Wheels, and lower tier stuff like Playmobil), except for one set 8523 Blaster, the Throwbots and Robo-Riders were the only sets to have been donated or end up at garage sales. Which is a shame because they contained some unique parts that were used in other Technic builds from the time.

Which brings me to the major Lego regrets from my childhood: Chasing after sub-par sets. First up was Lego Soccer. Going to lots of football games at Commonwealth Stadium, I was fascinated with stadiums and when the Lego Soccer line came out, I was inspired to make a stadium, using many of those previously mentioned 16L technic bricks. We eventually got the 3409 Championship Challenge soccer set, but I then wanted the stadium sets: 3402 Grandstand, 3403 Grandstand with Lights, 3408 Super Sports Coverage, a field expansion 3410, and 3 fricken team buses. The sets were as underwhelming as their names with empty builds featuring large panels.

The other regret was Town Jr. I didn't even notice the "Jr." in the name at the time. These were sets with larger bricks and panels and pre-built vehicle chassis with simplified building intended for younger builders. These parts were actually the subject of much criticism of the Lego of this period and the many large, specialized parts are said to have contributed to Lego's near failure years later. My brother received 6554 Blaze Brigade, 6330 Cargo Center, and 6556 Bank (actually the most decent set of the bunch as it is way cheaper, while despite being similar built size). These were multi-story town buildings that seemed large and impressive and I wanted my own for my Lego City. I was probably 9 or 10 at the time but I got 6332 Command Post Central. The 3 story building that was quickly constructed was very underwhelming. I found the open back and lack of stairs to get between floors unrealistic.

Compared to my L-shaped baseplate donut city which was a 100% Lego environment, these Town Jr. and Soccer sets  featured separated buildings with open backs on small 8x16 baseplates that could be slid around on carpet and arranged how one wanted and either played from street level with the buildings acting as a facade or inside the interior with the open backs. I didn't want this, I wanted realism with enclosed buildings in a Lego environment. Similarly sets with many small builds (carts, small landscapes) scattered about to get lost about my Lego city versus putting all of those parts into one solid vehicle or building frustrated me. My approach at the time had more in common with modern Lego cities with modular buildings rather than the sets at the time. The regret comes from what could have been: Insectoids, Aliens, technic or even whatever the castle subtheme was at the time (although castles do feature large panels that remove many of the joys of building). 

Probably due to other interests: video games, skiing, peer pressure, I got out of Lego. After Robo Riders but before Bioncle came the next year which is a shame because the bevel gear action of Bionicle and parts are a large step up from the slow worm gears of Robo Riders and Throwbots. The last bit of life in my Lego was 8353 Slammer Rhino, a decent technic for the price but underwhelming compared to 8445 or 8446, which still stood proudly on my shelf.

Slammer Rhino

Lego video games were also a highlight at this time, Island, Loco, Chess, Racers, and Rock Raiders. 

Finding vertical where it isn't expected

 Those that know me or follow along on Stava probably notice that when I leave Edmonton on the weekends, I don't intend on hanging around on flat trails. We have enough of those in Edmonton. I seek out elevation gain and other than total activity time, elevation gain is the main stat I chase when I am out. 

So, I "gravitate" towards big climbs, which of course lead to equally big descents. Of course, having rested on Friday to travel to the mountains, I am somewhat rested and ready to race up challenging climbs. I don't complain, I don't beg for shuttles and batteries. When I am tired and when I get old and frail, I'll ride the flat trails that I currently bypass.

My main activities are mountain biking in the summer (with running and road cycling becoming more prominent) and ski touring in the winter. Ski touring obviously lends itself well to climbing. Modern mountain biking is trending more towards continuous, one way, downhill trails that require continuous climbs, rather than loops and out and backs. 

Cross country skiing has also increasingly crept into my weekend activities and although most popular trails are flat, following summer fire roads or trails along rivers and creeks. Slogging along the flats isn't interesting to me: in classic skiing, it is heavily reliant on the upper body for double poling and skate skiing is reliant on balance and fast conditions. Fortunately, there are a couple of longer climbs around and it has been fun to race up those as well. 

I am a bit of a fan of World Cup Cross Country ski racing and in the leadup to the Holmenkollen 50km race, I saw it mentioned that the course also contained 1800m of climbing. So not only are those athletes covering 50km in just over 2hours, they are also doing that while climbing 1800m! 

When you put it that way, it makes you realize that climbing is an essential component of competition cross country skiing. It's not just double poling in classic technique or riding the glide while skating! Now you have my interest. In a similar way, cross country mountain bike racing is requiring an increasing amount of downhill skill to put in fast times on the courses and at the competition level is removed from what one would think of when they picture typical cross country mountain bike riding (aka, going across the country on easier trails).

The Canmore Nordic Centre hosted the 1988 Olympics and has since been upgraded with a more modern set of competition trails that feature shorter loops. They all feature roughly 30-40m of climbing per kilometer. Like any good international governing body, FIS has created its own bureaucracy requiring that courses be certified to meet certain climbing statistics before a race can be held. Compare this to cyclocross or mountain bike, where we make changes to the course as we are setting up the night before!

This means that course maps are published, although it can be hard to find maps from the earlier days of the internet. 

At Canmore, the older loops can be up to 15km long (the 50km race had a 10km loop followed by a 15km loop) while the newer, more modern loops top out at 7.5km. While the climbing per kilometer is approximately the same, the newer courses are wider to allow for mass start racing and have shorter climbs (105m climb on an old 15km loop vs 45m on a newer loop). 

So, I was recently able to throw myself at various loops, racing 10km, 15km at a time. I was curious if having a course punctuated by climbs that I could run up and then coast a descent would actually be faster for me than double poling or skating the flats. I didn't have ideal snow conditions, but I think I might have been faster. And it was a blast. The climbing was a major portion of the loops, while the descents were a nice rest (compared to sprinting out of corners in a bike race), although requiring some commitment to go fast. 

Something I'll look forward to doing more of next winter and there are a bunch of possibilities for comparison. Classic vs. Skate. Flat vs. proper course. 

An old course map with stats and elevation profile

Dynafit Speedfit Pro Boot Review

Dynafit's TLT5 boot was revolutionary. It brought decent ski-ability to boots barely over 1kg and simplified walk-ski mode transitions. At the time, only the Scarpa F1 (with the bellows) and Garmont Masterlite (that didn't last long), were similar in weight, but well behind in skiability (for the former) and durability and simplicity (for the latter). They were light enough that I used them as 1 boot quiver for 1 year as they were as light as the F1 Race they replaced and were able to drive bigger skis like a 95mm x 187cm Dynafit Manaslu.

The design was refined slightly with the TLT6, losing the miniscule forefoot flex that didn't do much and better buckles. I skied the  TLT6 from 2014 until 2020. The liners were getting worn, and buckle hardware loose, so I looked for a replacement.

As with the skis, there were lots of options of boots around 1kg in 2020, but again, the unfavourable exchange rate made the boots seem much more expensive than I remember from 2014. And at the time, Dynafit was experimenting with boots without toe welts with the Dynafit TLT7 and TLT8. I don't use crampons very often, but it would be nice to not have to buy new hardware on top of having to buy new boots. 

Fortunately as part of their budget Speedfit line, Dynafit sold a slightly modified TLT6 in 2020 branded as "Speedfit", with both composite (fiberglass instead of carbon on my TLT6) and plastic cuff versions. Like the Ski Trab Stelvio skis, the Speedfit Pro boot brings the performance of carbon...er fiberglass at a lower price. Combined with the Stelvio skis and the Dynafit Speed Turn bindings, they make a great high performance budget setup.

There are a few notable differences between my Speedfit Pros and my TLT6. My TLT6 had the thicker liners and the lighter weight and less cuff restriction of the Speedfit liners is noticeable on the way up. The Speedfits on the other hand, lose the capability of installing a plastic tongue to stiffen up the boots for the way down. I only really used this feature of the TLT6 during infrequent ski resort days or when touring on bigger skis like. But that brings me to another knock on the Speedfits. The cuff feels less stiff, so I definitely miss being able to stiffen them up with the tongues during the rare times I feel like I need to (last lap of the day?). Fortunately, the Speedfits feature an awesome powerstrap. I never bothered with the velcro powerstraps on the TLT5 and 6, leaving them undone. My TLT5 strap didn't like being loose under my pant cuff and actually ripped itself out of the eyelets. The powerstrap on the Speedfits is a cam lock design that can be tightened by pulling on the tail of the strap (once fed through the cam) and loosened for the next climb with a pull loop. I definitely don't use the powerstrap for short laps, but it doesn't slow things down at the transition area that much for bigger laps.

So you have thinner liners, and can't install tongues to stiffen them up, and the cuff isn't as stiff to begin with, but the powerstraps are much better to use so they have that going for them. Aside from the uphill performance, which is a little bit better due to the lighter weight. Again, a decent budget boot that probably skis better than the plastic boots in the same price range.

Ski Trab Stelvio 85 Review

 I am a couple of years late and this ski is now discontinued, but I thought I would share my thoughts on this ski if you can find a pair on clearance somewhere

Before I start this review, we have to travel back in time to 2014. The Canadian dollar was at par. I had just spent a long weekend following Reiner Thoni around the three mountain ranges that surround his hometown of Valemount. I was on a 95mm underfoot, 187cm long ski weighing in at around 1700g per ski. He was on the Dynafit Cho Oyu: an 88mm underfoot carbon ski that weighed under 1200g per ski. I stood a chance when he was breaking trail, but as soon as we hit the broken trail on lap 2, he was gone. I knew I had to get a pair, and I did in the fall.

I had those skis for 6 years. They were great. They were light enough to let me get an extra lap or two in, but easy enough to ski that I could still enjoy that final lap if my legs were shot. The rocker and tip taper were not fooled by breakable crust or windslab. The tight sidecut, while quirky when trying to open it up also allowed for some fun to be had in less than ideal conditions. The 88mm waist and 182cm length offered enough float for the Canadian Rockies. All in all, a great ski. But with a such a light ski, durability was a weakness and after those 6 years, sidewalls were compressed and opening up (from hitting buried avalanche debris). So it was time to look for something new.

In those 6 years, lots of new carbon skis came to the market, but with a poorer exchange rate and 6 years of inflation, they demanded a higher price. And I would rather ski my Cho Oyu's until they explode (I still use them as rock skis) than take the weight penalty of a full wood core ski at this time.

Then I saw the Ski Trab Stelvio 85. A carbon ski for the price of a wood ski. 120g heavier than the carbon variant but cheaper. 85mm underfoot to provide that perfect compromise between weight and float for the locations I ski, similar to my 88mm Cho Oyus. I picked up the 178cm and mounted them with another great price-weight compromise: the Dynafit Speed Turn binding, for another great price-weight compromise the Dynafit Speedfit Pro boot. A brand new budget setup for hundreds of dollars less than the best carbon.

I have now put in a couple of short seasons in on these skis. Another benefit of being similar dimensions to my Cho Oyus, I was able to use the same pair of Pomoca Climb Pro skins that I have been using since 2014, with just a minor trim at the waist that does not affect their ability on the Cho Oyus during rock ski duty. The verdict is that the Trabs are still light on the uphill, but require more aggressive and attentive skiing on the way down. They are simply stiffer and with less sidecut than the Cho Oyus. In predictable snow like hardpack and powder, this is fine, but in the chop, breakable crust, or slabby snow, I'd rather be on the Cho Oyu's. That said, I am still able to get in that extra lap with fresher legs compared to a wider and heavier ski. 

Durability-wise I am not sure if my skiing habits have changed since 7 years ago, but through the 2 seasons I have used the Stelvios, they have held up a lot better than the Cho Oyus through the same period; the sidewalls are still intact. 

All in, a light, budget ski, but it doesn't live up to the skiability of the Cho Oyu. Ski Trab made the Gavia at the same time as the Stelvio which is even softer, and I would be curious to try those if they came in a 178cm.

2023 Ski Mo Canada Season Recap

Canadian skimo returned after a year hiatus during the pandemic in 2022. I was only able to race Castle in 2022, but in 2023, I returned for a full season.

Castle Mountain Skimo

Castle Mountain Skimo kicks off the skimo season every year and has recently expanded into a 3 day event with a vertical on Friday, sprint on Saturday, and the classic individual race on Sunday. 

The vertical race starts from the base of the Whiskeyjack run and finishes near the top of the Tbar, 450m later. Last year we had deep trailbreaking, this year was the opposite. A firm groomer necessitated improvised techniques near its top before gaining the cattrack. This technical element really shows who has the skills and finesse to make the skins grip and continue making uphill progress. I dangled off of Matt Ruta, who is strong this year and finished 20 seconds back in 2nd. A pretty good result for my first race back.

The sprint race is the longest running event of that discipline in Canada and the only sprint race this year. Usually, I don't mind sitting out the sprint (there are 2 previous years where I didn't race it), but with the sprint being the Olympic discipline, it is time to give it the attention that it deserves. In a sprint race, each person has to do a solo qualification run before seeding in the heats. In Canada, everyone usually qualifies for the heats, but in international competition, the qualifier is everything because we never make it into the heats! I qualified in 3rd. I then won my heat and was ready for a battle for the final. I quickly found myself on my back foot in 5th place at the top of the bootpack and it was up to giving everything on the top skinning section and a quick transition at the top to move up 3 places into 2nd.

It was a tricky snow year with a lack of snow and some cold temperatures earlier in the season but the typical Castle course was ready for us, except without the ridge bootpack. The descents were extremely firm but the snow was predictably hard. The Castle course consists of just 2 big climbs and 2 big descents. It is always good to be able to push the pace on the 2nd climb and I got to the top in 2nd. I held my position through the cat skiing area, but I was out of control on the ungroomed cat track and crashed after getting bucked. Akio a great skier and he passed me so I had to settle for 3rd. Not a bad result, I wish my skiing was better after not finding great skiing over Christmas.

Skimo Alberta Norquay Race

I attended the 1st of 4 Norquay Saturday night races. These races challenge skiers to complete as many laps as they can in 1hr, having to begin your final lap before the 1hr marker. This format is really good for dialing in transitions and finding out strengths and weaknesses. It can be frustrating because it doesn't have the long climbs to really show who has the legs, but it's a good break from the comfort zone. I had a decent race with no major mistakes and ended up winning, doing 5 laps of the ~200m course. In later weeks, the winner sometimes got in a 6th lap!

Whitewater Skimo

Whitewater is a long trip from Edmonton, but after Castle and Norquay, I was looking for another skimo fix. Whitewater was a 2 day event with a vertical race on Saturday and an individual on Sunday, which was similar course to some of the previous Roam Randonee Rally's. This course is notable for having all descents beyond the ski area boundary, which makes it a pretty special place to race.

The vertical was my first "encounter" with Jessie in 3 years. While I don't think I am quite back to my previous levels after chemotherapy, he has clearly gone beyond where I was before and he showed that all weekend. The race went up the cat track to the top of the Silverking lift, then beyond on a new cattrack to top out the ridge before a couple of switchbacks and a flat section to the finish. The vertical race started extremely hard and most of us using a skimo-running technique on the lower angle cattrack to eke out as much speed as possible. I finished 4th behind Jessie, Jeff Mogavero, and Matt, each of us separated by about 30 seconds. I have to think back to 2018 North American Championships where I haven't been right at the front of a domestic vertical race and although this lacked the glory of a podium, I enjoyed that I had been pushed by the other skiers the entire race.

10cms of snow fell before the individual and combined with softer conditions underneath, the skiing would be way better than at Castle. The race started on the same climb as the vertical the day before, except forking to the right at the ridge towards the Goat slide. I was ahead of Jeff at this point and not far behind Matt, but got lit up on the descent. I worked my way back into 3nd on the next climb, really trying to keep the speed up on the flat, traversing skin to the 2nd descent. Jeff caught me at the bottom of the final climb and I yo-yo'd behind him, but was still behind at the top of the final descent and further back at the finish, where I finished 4th again. This descent was a leg burner, but was enjoyable skiing. I think by the end of the weekend, I still wasn't feeling like I had got enough skiing in the legs this winter. 

Steep Dreams

Marmot's Revenge

The road back

I took my time getting back to activity after covid. Fortunately, I didn't really have any symptoms. I did the full quarantine for a bit, then got out for some walks. Then I started to go for easy bike rides and runs. I kept busy sorting through my old Lego bin, pulling out parts and building long lost sets from the mixture. It was time consuming enough that it kept me distracted. But I really wanted to see where I was at fitness wise because I wanted to get back to riding up mountains.

I've never really taken a long break from training that was enough to notice a drop in fitness. I've also tried to avoid pushing myself really hard while sick, hard enough that I would see how much the sickness has taken out of me. I have never found myself saying "that sickness/work trip/family trip took 10 Watts off my FTP!".

I was starting at my bottom. This wasn't a matter of some breathing obstruction disappearing. I had few red blood cells. But you have to start somewhere, so I did a ramp test. The result was about 80% of my pre-chemotherapy number. Not too bad, probably similar to the average recreational rider out on the trails. But the mountain was daunting. It was late April and if I wanted to get back to my pre-cancer levels to crush some big rides and runs by the end of August, I would need an improvement of 5W per week, 20W per month. Breaking it down like this made it seem unrealistic and impossible.

In Edmonton, the maximum height difference in the river valley is about 40m. It's not a lot to work with and serious racers only get their fix of high intensity by sprinting up them in under 1 minute. If I wanted to ride easier, I had previously been able to sit and spin up them, even if it took 2-3 minutes, it wasn't long enough to make me hurt. Now, that 2-3 minutes was pushing me over my threshold. It was eerily nostalgic of my earlier days cycling and something that a lot of recreational riders feel. It made me appreciate all of the training that I have done that has allowed me to not have to suffer up every climb. It seems weird that recreational riders are afraid of a little voluntary intensity, otherwise known as "training", and just accept that every hill they encounter will make their legs hurt!

I was at the level of the average recreational rider, but I was lacking endurance. Before, I would be able to ride at an easy for me pace for over 1 hour with little more than water and a couple of cookies. Now, I was bonking after an hour and those cookies weren't going to save me. Going for a ride now meant bringing more snacks! It was nice to encounter friends who had heard of my battle and encouraged me. Thanks for all of the messages!

I used to be able to go into a weekend, guns a blazing. Now, I had to stick to the plan, just making sure that I was putting in the right amount of hard work. Now was not the time to focus on the summits, because they wouldn't be anything spectacular at this point, but the process. All I cared about was getting back to my previous levels.

In May and June, I was actually able to manage to improve at about 5W per week. Week by week, I didn't seem to be making that kind of progress, but with regular periods of rest, my body was able to recover and produce those extra watts the next week. In early June, I was starting to feel strong again. I was the only one to complete 2 laps of the upper deck of Commonwealth Stadium (The Gristle) with the November Project, and I had a wonderful day where I ran up Opal Ridge in the morning, then cycled up to Highwood Pass in the afternoon. By Canada day weekend, I found myself back to being able to put in some solid days in the mountains. I finally felt like I was back in my element.

Then my progress stalled. I was still at least 5% short of where I was. But I was able to complete a goal that had been on my plate for a while: I ran the 55km Rockwall Trail. After a couple of years without races over the pandemic, this was the first day in a while to really take a lot out of me. It would take weeks to fully recover from, but it was so worth it.

In the fall, I experienced another setback: Reynauds syndome. My fingers and toes would go numb and white when experiencing slightly cold weather. It puts things into perspective because it is worse than not being as fast. I had to buy heated socks and mitts. I have to be careful going outside in the cold. It has taken away some enjoyment of winter.

It has been difficult to progress above the plateau. I was comparing myself to my previous all time cycling numbers, but these were from the pandemic, when I had little comparison to previous running and skiing performances at the same time. I was always a little hesitant to compare to my previous mountain running or skiing performances because I can't do such a test during an evening after work in Edmonton. I have to use one of my weekend days to test in the mountains. While I have been able to get within 5% on the bike, I seem to be a little further out on the run, especially with shorter efforts.

Typically, the Christmas break is a time when I can string together a bunch of really good skiing days to prepare for the rest of the skimo season. Unfortunately, this year the ski conditions were not very inspiring over Christmas and I felt I wasn't able to ski confidently or frequently enough. Conditions improved by the time I took my winter vacation later in February and I was able to put in some back to back days more characteristic of myself pre-chemotherapy. These days gave me the confidence that I lacked going into the later part of the race season.

Aside from some midweek bike and running races, my return to competition would be with ski mountaineering. It was 3 years since I last raced. The level of competition has increased since I last raced and I find myself in some deeper battles. I qualified for World Championships, but after lengthy contemplation, I declined because I wasn't feeling it. I wasn't feeling like I was downhill skiing very good yet. I wasn't feeling confident that I would have the ability to survive the back to back days of competition. Lastly, I wasn't feeling like I had the ability to launch myself into uncharted territory: to improve on my previous world championships results to race in the groups that are normally ahead. Instead, I would be in familiar territory and I didn't see the point. 

The last races of the season went well at Steep Dreams and Marmot's Revenge. I capped off the season with a win in the vertical and a hard fought 2nd in the individual at Marmot's Revenge. 

After successful treatment by chemotherapy, a 5 year monitoring process begins. In the first year, there are CT scans or chest x-rays along with blood tests for the tumour markers every 2 months. As the years go on, the frequency decreases. A failed test could mean additional chemotherapy is required, likely a different, more unpleasant treatment because the cancer was able to beat the first treatment. At the beginning, I was struggling to envision myself committing to any trips or long term goals, instead focusing on making the most out of more local adventures. Now I feel a little more willing to plan ahead, though I would prefer to ideally squeeze everything into the growing gaps between tests.

Before starting treatment, I had a phone call with another cancer survivor and he said "your body won't be the same, but that's ok". I ignored and still continue to ignore this while believing I will return to my best. 

I guess in a lot of cases, people who go through a health crisis see it as a wakeup call that they need to make major changes to their life. Because factors in their life directly led to the health crisis. Perhaps I am living in denial, but nothing about the lifestyle I have led has proven to increase the risk of cancer. Instead, I feel like some of the choices in my life have been confirmed and I wish to spend more time of what could be reduced life expectancy (because of the toxic chemicals that were put in my body) doing those things I love to do and not wasting time and money doing the things I don't want to do. People have asked me how I was so motivated to come back. I guess it's because I was doing stuff I wanted to do.