White Stuff II

Yesterday's post was written Saturday, because art (e.g. this blog) takes time to craft and mold and caress into something of beauty that will stand the test of time.
 
Saturday night my wife told me the Dome collapsed because of the snow load. Sunday morning I was supposed to ride around in circles on the Dome track. Instead I rode the trainer. This winter I got to ride exactly two sessions at the Dome. That number will stand, as it will not reopen this winter.
 
From the pictures, it didn't so much collapse as implode. That's going to take some time to fix (as well as a bunch of insurance money). I hope they pull it together, because the Dome is a huge asset for a large part of the active Anchorage community that don't like braving the elements or shifting their activities throughout the year.
 
I was a fringe Dome user of a fringe Dome user group, but I really will miss the option. It provided a great social option that Zwift just can't replicate. 
 
Note: First person that tells me I should just get a fat bike gets punched in the lady parts.
 
It's not the end of the world, but it still sucks. I'm all for ways to keep our increasingly-sedate populace moving year-round, especially multi-use ones like the Dome.
 
I have to look on the bright side, though. That dump of snow gave me the best day of skiing I've had in years. Dry, light powder on steep terrain and a bunch of enthusiastic kids begging to do another run. Zwift keeps things engaging enough on the trainer that I don't have to resort to my stack of old race DVDs anymore. A few more months and winter will be over. I'll be on the road again.
 
Big picture- the Dome coming down is a bad thing, but there's a lot of good out there to offset it. Given the choice between the Dome/crappy winters and no Dome/awesome winters, I'll take cold and snow every day.
 
I still really enjoying the hell out of the return to winter.

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