2014: Post 1 – It ain't quite like paddling, but it'll do...

December 26th was the last time I paddled.  We've had wind and some poor weather during the weekends which is the only time I can paddle unless I take time off work during the week... yeah, I have done that on occasion.  It was supposed to be windy again today.  Soooooo.......

A bunch of my regular paddling buddies are cross country skier's and they decided to get together this afternoon to do some skiing.  One of them had some older gear and offered it to me to come along to give it a try.

We only covered about six kilometres.  I was overdressed and fell down on every hill except one. It certainly wasn't anything like paddling.  But as I was huffing and puffing along in the back of the pack, doing my best to stay upright, and keep up, my mind often drifted back to when I started kayaking...

About five and a half years a go, without ever paddling a stroke, I decided I was going to be a kayaker.  I went to one of the local outfitters, got a kayak and all the basic gear, and began my paddling journey.  I was skill-less and didn't know a thing; I couldn't stay up-right in the kayak, couldn't keep up with others, couldn't go in anything that resembled a straight line.... I sometimes wonder what the other paddlers thought of me in those early stages of my paddling life.  But I stuck with it, and I learned.

And so now I have decided to become a cross country skier.  In fact, even before today, I had ordered up a set of skiing gear from the same place I bought my kayak(s) from!!  During the winter days when it is too windy to paddle on weekends it will offer a fun alternative to getting out there.  And if I am skiing with my paddling buddies it will give us something else to talk about when we do paddle or go on camping trips.

I can see it now...  We'll be sitting around a campfire during a paddling trip somewhere this coming summer, or the next... and someone will say "hey, remember that time when Dean tried skiing with us for the first time and he kept falling down..." and we'll all have a good laugh.  Well, that's what it's all about.... getting out there in the great outdoors and sharing some laughs with some good buddies, whether it be paddling, or attempting to ski...

Thanks Hazen, Tony, Gary, and Neville for the fun, tiring, and even a bit painful ski trip this afternoon.... oh, my poor ribs!

Wish I had remembered to bring my camera.