Upgrading.

Jade and I had a lot of fun with our kicksled last year, but I was always bothered by it's high centre of gravity. When Norris, Tim, and I went spring camping on Richthofen Island, I couldn't help but think that a bigger deck would have been better for hauling gear.

 Originally, I had intended to purchase a kicksled with a bigger deck and a lower centre of gravity, but the one that I bought (a "traditional" kicksled) was, literally, the last kicksled in town. Andy Lera of Solitude Designs, the manufacturer, had gone out of the country for a few months and there were no Cross Racers (the ones with the bigger, lower decks) left.

The traditional model is great if you're using it for kicksledding and you're not planning to strap your child to the seat and then hook up a couple of eager pulling dogs before launching out onto hilly and winding trails.  Strapping on my child, attaching dogs, and flying over hilly and winding trails is how I use the sled, however, and I wanted a sled that was more suited to the task.

Fortunately, Andy was willing to arrange a trade-in so I could upgrade to the sled that I originally wanted. He dropped it off yesterday.

It's so sweet. I've been out for two runs with the dogs already and can't wait for the weather to warm up so I can take Jade out. The lower deck really does make a difference to the sled's stability and the addition of a breaking system means that I can now go on downhill trails that I avoided before.

Winter just got even better!

The Cross Racer. Picture from Solitude Designs.