Monday, February 23, 2015

Slopes to the sand

I started the week on a ski slope and finished it on a beach; sadly neither was real. My snow experience was a prickly one on the artificial slopes of the Mendip ski centre just outside of Bristol. A group of my friends were given the opportunity to have a taster session snowboarding, I'm always keen to try new sports, so I jumped at the chance. As a child I was never allowed to sample the board sport due to my father’s strong dislike of snowboarders. Apparently they carve up the slopes for skiers but I'm staying out of that debate. I made an error in my clothing choice opting for a pair of tracksuit bottoms which offered no protection for my derrière from the wet toothbrush like bristles that we had to sit on. I'd also forgotten how difficult artificial slopes are after being spoilt with skiing on real snow. Sadly I didn't master snowboarding in those two hours but it did reignite my desire to hit the real slopes - time to start saving for next year!

No time for real snow though as I headed west across the Atlantic to Sarasota in the state of Florida for the first modern pentathlon World Cup of the season. The Americans don't do things by halves and this World Cup was no exception. The riding and run/shoot event were held on a small man made island adjacent to an international rowing lake and the closing party was a beach barbecue. Slightly confused, I asked where the beach was and received a few strange looks. It transpired the artificial sand next to the rowing lake was ‘the beach’. Sadly I haven't had enough time to discover the real extensive coastline of Florida, maybe next time.