So I’m sitting here in Saariselkä, Finland, learning about the relationship between space weather (the interaction between the sun itself, the sun’s magnetic field, which permeates the solar system, and the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere) and climate. There have been some interesting talks on the possibility that the sun’s last fifty years or so of increased activity might be coming to an end (which could have big impacts on the climate) and the difficulty of separating the effects of solar forcing on climate from man-made effects on climate. (Nonetheless, the consensus seems to be that climate change is real and mostly man-made.)

Ski track in Snowy Lapland!

But of course, being north of the Arctic Circle brings some other benefits as well. We’ve sledded on a 1 mile sled track under the northern lights, and I’ve skied all over the place on the pretty much perfectly groomed and well-marked ski trails. With appropriate gear, you could probably get anywhere in Finland on skis, there’s so much infrastructure around here dedicated to it.

Aurora!

On Wednesday, I did a nice little trip to a small cabin about 7 or so km away with a French scientist from Orleans. It’s set up so you could ski in, fire up the wood stove and cook some dinner, warm up the hut, then climb up into the loft and spend the night. Below is a map of the ski track I took (one way).

More photos are up on Flickr.

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I just want to announce that it was warm enough to ride in shorts today. So what if I had to slather on 10 layers of embrocation — I got to ride in shorts! (And it was really, really nice.)

p.s. Click on the link!

Because I am lazy, I just posted a bunch of photos from Cyclocross Worlds on flickr. Yes it was more than a month ago, but it’s been busy. I’ve been working on riding, interviews with some of the US Worlds team and a write-up about the race for Cyclocross Magazine’s Issue 6, plus, you know, actual work.

Start of the Juniors Race in Hoogerheide.

The riding here for the past couple of weeks has been absolutely spectacular. Temperatures around 10°C (that’s 50°F for you Americans), not much rain, and daylight rapidly growing have meant an exponential increase in the amount of riding I’ve been doing. I feel especially good about the weather here in light of some of my friends back in New Hampshire’s latest riding experiences. Nothing like freezing temperatures and thick slush to make a ride enjoyable!