Hi Everyone

Last winter, I did really miss the Norwegian winter. I mean, winter in Mumbai is ok, but it is not really winter. Winter should be cold, white, ice, snow and all such things. So when I was in Norway in the summer, I just had to use the opportunity to do some roller skiing. Not that roller ski is something that really reminds me of winter, but well, at least it was skiing. I also decided that I should get some roller skis to Mumbai and try it out here! A crazy idea maybe, but well, you know, without crazy ideas, you might not have as much fun…

So yesterday morning (Saturday) I woke up at 5 am to try to find a good spot for skiing. My plan was to be up at sunrise and find a place that is almost empty. And given that this is Mumbai, there are not that many places that are empty at any time. And surely there are not many places that are really suited for skiing at all! The first big mistake I did was to even think that the sun was up at 5 am. It didn’t get up until closer to 6, so I spent some time waiting until it came up. Then I set out to the Powai lake, yes, the one with the crocodile. I thought it would be possible to do some skiing at the footpath there. Unfortunately, most of the area has some pavement stones, so it is not that very well suited for skiing. Later in the day I had lunch with my Norwegian neighbor, and she suggested that I should try out to do skiing in one of the gardens in Powai. We did a quick check on it, and the area looked ok for my first ski trip here.

So this morning, I had my call bell at 6 am, packed the skis in the car and went over to that garden. Unfortunately there were quite a few folks walking around there. And I’m not that very used o do roller skiing. So I decided that it was maybe not really the best time to give it a try.

A little bit devastated with that, I decided that I should try out the club house at Lake Homes. Of course there are some grey areas even here, and my membership has not been really approved. Apparently I do need a few more photos of myself, and copy of some more documents. But ok, after some not really arguing, but well, you know… I managed to get in there and could jump on the bike. Just for fun, I decided to use the Sports-tracker to check out my performance. When I checked out the result I’m not really sure what should worry me the most. Is it the fact that I only managed an average of 0,24 km/hour on my 40 min training or the fact that I managed to move the exercise cycle 0,16 km, and even across the swimming pool…

Quite a few people tell me that I must be so lucky having a swimming pool in my own society. Off course, I’m, but I do really think that this is some kind of a consolation for the things we don’t have here. Like snow. Or the opportunity to go skiing. Or just the opportunity to roam around in a nice area without worrying about pot holes. Off course, I do know that not all people in Mumbai have a swimming pool as a consolidation, but to me it is a bit like that. And have I given up skiing in Mumbai? Ha-ah think again! I have some ideas…

Talk to you soon!

Karsten