Challenge Accepted!

Welcome back to the chronicle of my pre-SWISSMAN, this week also pre-Engadin Ski Marathon escapades! The week kicked off with a dilemma over my bicycle, now more a jigsaw puzzle of memories post a fateful feline encounter. Decision made: farewell old companion, hello Trek Emonda ALR 5, a dazzling steed promising balance and flair for my upcoming Swissman challenges.

Diving into the techno-tangle of my evenings, I’ve been fine-tuning my timing gate project, a concoction of Adafruit ingenuity. I’ve amalgamated the Adafruit Feather M0 Bluefruit LE with its kin, armed with SD card logging, GPS, and LoRa tech, crafting a network of self-locating, chattering sensor nodes. The pièce de résistance? Two SICK WT18 sensors, their diffuse reflection prowess now harnessed by the microcontroller’s brain. It’s a symphony of signals, a ballet of bytes, all coming together in this DIY orchestration. What a ride it’s been, from coding to connecting, all in the pursuit of that flawless timing precision!

On the ski front, nostalgia meets necessity as I pivot back to my decade-old race skis, the new ones now off-balance post-repair. They’re waxed with precision, poles at the ready for the predawn journey to Engadin. The race awaits at 8.18 am, on a course shortened by temperamental lakes and a generous southern snowfall. It’s a blend of excitement and adaptation, a test of old gear’s mettle against nature’s reshuffled deck.

As the cross-country ski enthusiast I am, it’s early to bed tonight, with dreams of future experiments in ski waxing and gear. The intriguing non-fluor waxes and my ski collection are on hold, eagerly awaiting the next snowy season. I’m particularly keen on exploring Madshus and Rottefella’s Skate-X system, boasting a speed-skating-like pivot that’s caught my eye. With luck, the coming months might allow for some new additions to my ski arsenal. And for those intrigued by DIY tech, my latest project files are up for grabs on GitHub, ready for your inventive touch at Rasanza on GitHub.