Birthday boy, Chris Rose, seen here crushing the dreaded Big Hill.

Sept. 9-  Despite dire predictions by the Lord of Destruction, Chris Rose did not fall off his porch in a drunken stupor and end his ski season.  Rather, Rose celebrated his 36th birthday with friends and family, and a plan for NYSSRA domination.   Starting the day with his traditional birthday rollerski timetrial, Rose marked a new PR on the standard Peru 10k course.  A few beers into his post-workout routine, Rose was surprised by a "good luck" birthday greeting from Rene Sommerfeldt.  Rose was visited during the day by various Peru Nordic well-wishers, including paleolithic Charlie "Mitch of hell" Mitchell.  Charlie, who, after foraging for some grubs, twigs and berries, gave some sage time trial advice to Rose.  "...the secret to a good timetrial is to make sure to get a running start..."  Jim "Harvester of Sorrow" Kobak was also on hand.  Kobak managed to consume 66.6 lbs of various sausage/shrimp/nacho hors d'ouvres while talking race strategy with Rose.    It was leaked to the press that there is a bootleg copy of INERTIA being circulated on the net,  likely a feeble attempt to upstage next weeks world premiere.  Needless to say, a good time was had by most.  Rose added that although he is a year older, the birthday he is most looking forward to "...is when Kobak turns M3."