He's won World Cup overall titles, an Olympic medal, and the attention of everyone who wants to watch incredible alpine racing. But what you may not know about Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) is that he's a funny guy who likes to spend his down time relaxing, doesn't wait till New Year's to make resolutions and likes to learn from the pros...pro volleyball players, that is.

Well, what have you been up to over the holidays?
- My ankle still has been pretty injured, but I've been resting that and trying to rehab it. I've also been spending time with Dace (Bode's daughter Dacey) at Christmas, so that's been fun. It's nice to have some time to hang out with her. And other than that I'm just relaxing having some American food for a change.

Do you not like European food?
- No, it's that once you've had European food for awhile it's nice to change back. I like them both.

Did you make any New Year's resolutions?
- If I had a resolution to make or I thought in some way it would improve my situation, I wouldn't wait until New Years to make it.

Touché. So, what do you do with yourself outside of skiing?
- I play golf and tennis and lots of outdoor stuff. I like beach volleyball a lot.

Wait, wait, wait...Beach volleyball?
- Mhmm

You mean beach volleyball like the scene from the movie Top Gun?
- What do you mean? Those guys were playing pretty hard. (laughter) No it's not like Top Gun. I play usually in Austin or San Diego, where there are some good players who either played in college or tried to play pro or whatever. So they are usually much better than me, which makes it fun because I can learn from them quickly.

Do you read when you are on the road?
- I do a lot of reading. When you are traveling as much as we do you kind of have to take something up to fill the time in planes and in the cars so yeah, I do a lot of reading and spend a lot of time on my computer.

And what do you read?
- Everything. I read everything from autobiographies to science fiction to business success stories to...everything.

So when you're done with a long ski season, do you ever take yourself on a vacation somewhere cool?
- Yeah, except we spend all season going somewhere. So usually when I have time I go to one of my home bases, just because we never have any time to spend there. I either go to San Diego to hang out with Dace, or go to New Hampshire or Austin. I usually like to go somewhere warm. If it's right after the season New Hampshire is still pretty cold so I try to stay out of there in the early spring and late winter. I usually don't go somewhere exotic because all winter long we are in different places, I just want to go somewhere more home base-y.

OK, we know you're busy so this is the last question: The Olympics are soon...any thoughts on Whistler?
- I've been there before, but the last time I was up there was when we had the World Cup a couple years ago and that was right after Dace was born. I literally flew from Zagreb to San Diego, was there for her birth, and then flew up to Vancouver the next day and raced the next day so, it was pretty rough. I was exhausted and not really focused on racing. I didn't pay much attention to what was going on up there, so I don't really know the area or hills well. But I do know it's a beautiful area and I know they will put on a good show.

Original story published by USSA
http://usskiteam.com/alpine/news?storyId=2298
Monday January 11, 2010

FISalpine.com
Tuesday 12 January 2010