Well here we are in 2013 and indeed I am signed up to RR1 starting on March 7th, so there is not long to go. This year I cannot arrive in Kuusamo until late on 3rd March (thanks Finnair for making it impossible to get from the UK to Kuusamo on a Saturday) and thus get one day less training before the start.
However, this year, for the first time, I have had real training on snow beforehand, having just spent the half term week with family at Gala in Norway. This has pros and cons - much more up and down than Finland, and less oxygen (at 1000m or so). Overall I have just about managed to match increasing age with more fitness training, so one cancels the other out.
Because of the lack of time to stop and take nicely posed pictures, I have been experimating with a tiny headcam, which records in HD. Getting it level is tricky, and you don't know if you have got anything useful until you look at it afterwards, Still, it records approx 2hrs and weighs 35g and I can attach it to my glasses without it being too heavy.
I got the camera after incidents this summer when training. In the first, a car driver clipped me and failed to stop. I got his number and reported him, but he simply told the police that he wasn't aware of hitting anyone and so that was that. Days later a car cut across me on the roundabout at the motorway junction when cycling (in a fluourescent shirt), so I decided that it was time to start gathering evidence. And if the police continue to be as unconcerned as they have been so far, then I will name and shame the offenders - look out for a web site which I will call something like "theynearlykilledme.com".
