February 2nd could become "Marmot Day"

Bunny usually stays out of the political scene but this caught my attention:

State of Alaska, Senate Bill 58:
"An Act establishing February 2 of each year as Marmot Day; and providing for an effective date."

http://www.legis.state.ak.us/basis/get_bill.asp?session=26&bill=SB%20%2058

How could I not be in favor of changing "Groundhog Day" to "Marmot Day"? Mind you I have nothing against groundhogs, but serious differences with "The Groundhog". He's had a quite a year wreaking havoc on our weather.

But then I learned a groundhog IS a marmot (genus "Marmota"). Same animal - different name. They are also known as "woodchuck" and "whistling pig" (I like that last one).

How about they just give us a day off for no reason and leave the critter out of it.

Round Three - HERE WE COME!!

Alright hoppers, it's getting close to that time, and we can't back off now. We've managed to secure victories in two rounds, and you know San Diego is going to come out swinging in the final round. Right now they're holding a small lead on the overall miles, but I think we can get that licked. Here's the challenge bunnies - keep enough miles going on the bike so we don't slip too far, but rest up those legs so we can open up a can on the 1st.

On a lighter note, I wanted to share this wisdom with you all. Shot Blocks do not taste good when frozen. Now I know what you're thinking, and it's probably along the same lines as my thoughts. Shot Blocks are like delicious chewy candy. Jolly Ranchers are delicious hard candy. Freezing something usually makes it hard, so therefore a frozen Shot Block should be like a delicious hard candy.

Now I'm not saying that this experiment started out as an intentional taste testing of a frozen shot block. No sirree, Incognito did not go and put a bag of Black Cherry Shot Blocks in the freezer for an evening to intentionally eat frozen. That would be planning, and that my bunnies just isn't Incog's game. No, this particular pack of nutrition was left in a truck bed during that wonderful week we had. Upon returning home from a run, this bag called to me like a siren under the sea "Eat me Incog, I'm delicious!". Alice herself couldn't have felt a greater pull from that magical cupcake that sent her spiraling down the rabbit hole.

With some trepidation, and a lot of anticipation, I tore into that bag like a hamster going through a newspaper. I could already taste that Black Cherry goodness that would tide me over until I could get some real rabbit food, and that would throw that spring back into my step. Much to my surprise however, I discovered that you cannot chew a frozen Shot Block, and it no longer has that delicious flavor. One might say it was down right nasty. I think I preferred the sand covered ones from my last vacation over these disgusting morsels. Blech.

So with that tip bunnies, warm up your blocks and set your clocks. The final month of the NCC is just around the corner and it's time to put San Diego to bed.

HOP ON!

Park the Pugsley

Wanna' go outside and play? The seriously-messed up record-setting weather has made a mess of our playground:

• Hilltop Ski Area: Closed


• Arctic Valley Ski Area: Closed


• Alyeska Resort: Open (huh? must be synthetic snow)


• Local X-Ski Trails: Stay off!


• X-ski HS Races: Cancelled


• Chugach National Forest: Considerable avalanche danger in areas
  
  (Read the bit about the anonometer at Alyeska blowing apart)


• Ice skating: Wear rubber boots


• Snow shoeing: What's snow?


• Low areas: Flooding


• The Frosty Bottom 25/50: Postponed till next weekend.


• Local roads: Dry, wet, icy, flooded...and that's just the first mile. Bunny was thinking of going for a bike ride in this warm weather but I wasn't sure if I needed a road bike, mt bike, skates, or a boat.


• The Freeze Art Project: Now renamed "Thaw"

I guess you could always go for a walk or run. Hmmm...YakTraks or Xtra Tuffs?

By the way, if you're pining for a Pugsley but are suffering the January checkbook blues then stop by Chain Reaction. They're raffling one for $20 a ticket.

Make Up Your Mind Varmint

The Groundhog has been playing with the remote! Last week it was so cold the pipes in my hutch burst and my hot tub froze over. Yesterday the varmint cranks the volume to 11, the temp hits 50, so my hutch flooded and the roof blew off.

Remember after you clear the water out of your basements and patch your roof to get a ride in.

Trashed Trainers

What's this? It seems the colder it gets, the more miles we log. Despite near record-setting low temperatures all over Alaska last week Bunnies have held off uglies from all over the U.S. Anchorage and Kenai haven't seen a positive temperature all week, Juneau has been buried in snow, and Fairbanks is 45 below - don't even get me started! (Actually I think should read, "don't even get your car started" but I digress).

Very few of you have ventured outside. Sure there's been a lone Bunny here and there, and some die-hard bike commuters covered in 15 layers, goggles, and masks, but overall there's just a lot of Bunnies with Cabin Fever. "Guess what?! You've got a fever, and the only prescription...is more cowbell! more trainer"

So what do you do? You retreat to your trainers and log more miles. You leave a wake of trashed trainers, wrecked rollers, compromised Computrainers, and tired treadmills. So keep wearing out the warranties and pack in the miles. Trainers are cheap but victory is priceless.


Got a Trashed Trainer story? Share it in the comments.