Testing a new sitski

Today started with Isabell and me being waked up early.  We had an appointment with Anders that owns the company Skeno.  His company produces bicycles and sitskies.  Isabell is going to get a sitski in carbon.  Anders has been developing this sitski based on the experiences of a couple of disabled athletes, among others Isabell. 

The sitski Isabell has had from him in aluminium has been working real good for her.  Getting a new on in carbon that is further developed will be just great.  This is a sitski that will suit many disabled persons – not only top athletes.  Skeno is a company with a broad range of disabled.  One of the things Isabell tried today was an explorerbord.  You put the sitski on the board, which have a brake and can use different types of wheels.  The clue with this explorerboard is that it gives you a range of possibilities – you can use it in the forrest on tracks as well as the road.  You also have the possibility to go downhill because of the break.  Another fine thing wit the explorerboard is that you use your hip to do curves.  For Isabell this means a possibility to try to work further with how to manage curves in the cross country siktracks, which is a problem related to the muscle strength in the lower part of her stomach.   This is how it looks on an exploreboard on the road, as the new type of sitski also shows how she gets a much more upraised and better body attitude.

This picture shows three different sitskis.  To the left is the new one Anders has developed, but in aluminium.  In the middle is Isabells today bought from Skeno.  To the right is the new one in carbon.  When putted the right equioment on , the carbo sitski will look more or less lke the one to the left.

As you can see on the next pitcures Anders is really working and putting his effort into getting things right.

Isabell stayed there all day.  I went off to Gardermoen to pick up Birk, one of our grandson, that arrived from Bodø and will follow us at the rest of our holiday.  He got a great start.  Randi, Beatrice, Maya and Birk used the afternoon to go to the biggest amusement park in Norway -  Tusenfryd – just outside of Oslo.

Isabell and me?  We relaxed in the motorhome – recovering for training later.  Around 20:00 we arrived Maridalen – outside of Oslo and had a 1,30 hour training.  Isabell on sitski, me running.  It’s really nice to be able to train again.  I’ve experienced one thing with low carbo.  I haven’t lost a single gram – you have to count calories also with low carbo.  I will keep on not eating food like potato and rice, and ofcourse no sugar, but I will not eat for instance fat cheese or the crisp bread being low carbo but with many carbos.  I’ll count may calories, train and hopefully loose plenty of kilos.

By the way, this evening was really full of thunder and lightining, far from what we have at home.  And the rain, well heaven just seemed like sending rivers over us.  It was again a late dinner.  Around 23:00.  Birk doesn’t understand our crazy rhythm, but we will soon destroy his rhythm so his mother has something to work with when he comes home (no we’re not grandparents from hell – it just sounds like it). 

Before ending I think I want to use some words about cycling.  When we where at Skeno’s we talked about how to get bicycles for terrain and road for Isabell.  I will not go into discussion about how the Norwegian cycle federation has not been able to integrated disabled good enough and how difficult it is to get a classification.  Norwegian cycle clubs are however fantastic.  They facilitate because of a genuine interest if disabled persons want to attend their competition.  Isabell had an idea about also being a top athlete on bicycle, but it’s just to state that it  went out to the left without starting the story all over again.  It still seems like a good idea, but again it is a question of money to buy bicycles.  It’s frustrating – everything is about always hunting for money in your own or others wallets.  Will se what to do.  Anders at Skeno was positive to help with necessary equipment to adjust a bicycle, will see what we’re able to do.  Summer para next year is maybe to soon?