My only memories of Whitecourt Alberta are of playing hockey up here in the middle of winter. It was always a deep freezer. This fall has been much different as the weather has been A+. Blue skys, crisp fall air, golden leaves and even a couple +25 days. Work on the seismic lines is interesting with all walks of life up here. Some are winners, some aren’t and then there are the others which make you wonder about the future of mankind.
The Newfies know how to enjoy themselves better than anyone out here, there is no worries about them overworking. They are probably the most environmentall y friendly fallers as they only fall what is necessary, saving not only tree lifes but also chainsaw gas. Then there is the certain group of workers which no longer exists as all 7 of them opted out of working at there own discretion, just vanishing 
whenever the time felt right. For a while everyone was on edge, wondering if there work partner was going to show up the next day or be gone in the ablyss. It was like self survivor. I can’t understand why anyone would be bailing on such a rad job in which we are making doctor wages but everyone has there own agenda.
Training has been an experiment. With a 5 day race in Malaysia on the schedule for mid October, I have been experimenting with different ways of training while working up in the woods. I can’t lie, I am usually pretty worked over by the end of the day and the bed looks alot comfier then a bike saddle. With the unreal weather there has been a bit of extra motivation to get on the bike and the town of Whitecourt has some pretty descent paved bike trails winding around the hills which makes riding quite nice.
Riding 3-4 hrs a week isn’t exactly a huge quantity of training time but the quality is right up there as I have took up drafting semis. The stop lights on the main drag, and the 60 kilometer speed limit, creates the perfect combination for latching onto the draft of semis and trailing them through town. These work out into perfect 2-4 minute max efforts. After 5 or 6 of these I am out. I really don’t know where my fitness will be after 5 weeks of this but it is an experiment. Hopefully the 11 days of training between work and when the plane takes off to Malaysia will give the legs something to work with over in Asia.
As for now its time for some shut eye as being tired while falling trees isn’t wise when your still green. Its still a gamble at times to which way my trees are falling which isn’t pro but theres nothing like experience to get good at something. It’s definatly a learning curve as when a tree doesn’t fall where my mind is trying to send it, it can lead to a cluster f””” of trees hung up all over the forest. This creates a a big gong just waiting to be hammered and at times it can make a 2 minute fall, end up taking over a half hour as I try to get down all the buggered trees. All in all this september has been unreal and I can’t wait to get back up here this winter to show these trees where they belong.