Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Birkebeiner 2009
OK, a long time coming; but I told myself I'm going to write at least a short Birkie story every year -- so hear goes... This year the family made it up early for Birkie weekend. We took the boys out of school Thursday and Friday, hey, it's a national holiday, right? (well, in Hayward anyway) . On Thursday we went into town and Joe and Ethan skied the Barnebirkie - Fun! Art Gorr came up on Thursday as well; I went to Telemark on Thursday night. I helped Dorcas at the Alpina booth. I met some other Alpina folks, and talked to lots of people. I also picked up my bib and lots of goodies and reading material. On Friday the rest of the gang came. This year we had Eric Hedman and family (Leah, Tommy, Claire);Brother Tom and family (Shalini and Evan) , Art Gorr and John Strand; We've had a great group going for some time now... This year was extra special as Art was skiing in his 20th Birky.
Art Gorr and Bill Baldus - 20 Birkies
I was hoping I could hang on and even push for a strong finish this year but it didn't happen. I "survived the last 20K, but I calculated that I got passed by 50 people in the last 15K or so -- that really sucked. Actually, I was pretty excited to still finish top 200, about 180th this year. After the race I changed and talked with some guys in the Tent. I found Maureen and the rest of the gang near Anglers. I saw Bjorn Daehlie finish 2nd in the classic race in a Neck and Neck race -- it was cool! I also saw Tom finish so the spectating was good this year.
We all headed back to the cabin about mid afternoon, and Maureen made some great Roast Beef sandwiches and other good food. Odd Osland and Will Gosnold came over and we did a slide show with last years pictures of McCall World Masters. We had a Congrats BirchLeggings cake for Bill Baldus and Art Gorr -- the party was a lot of fun! Later, some of us went to the River Eatery in Cable where we met up with John S.
It was a great Birkie 2009. Already thinking about next year!
Waxing
Like a lot of folks, I was unsure what the nighttime temps would be -- at
one time the forecast was for -8 degrees; but it turned out that it only got down to about 12 degrees! I had begun waxing a cold and warm ski; but had not finished my warmer ski. I got up early and finished up with Cera F Cold -- HF7BD, with Cera F FC7 on top.
The Race
It's nice starting in the Elite Men's wave. It's a pretty small wave of about 200 skiers. As the gun went off -- we all moved forward fast. I saw lots of familiar folks; John Schneider, Steve Sonnysen, Gene Kay, Jay Carlson, etc. as we were moving up Powerline hill. I felt good through the first 5K or so.. but I was a little out of sorts with Bill Baldus not near by. Going into the race I was sure we'd ski a long ways together; but we got separated early, and I did not see him until about 5K; It was good to ski with him, and I started to get some confidence in how the race was going. Bill dropped back a few K later, however, and we ended up not skiing together again this year. I felt pretty good, and had fast skis, similar to other skiers. At about 15K we got passed by some lead women; a few of us hung onto the 2nd group of women but at about 22K, our pack starting splitting up -- and I knew I didn't have it for a strong push. Luckily though, the group ahead of me (including John H. - Wisc) slowed down as they caught some skiers ahead of them, and I caught back up.
Like a lot of folks, I was unsure what the nighttime temps would be -- at
one time the forecast was for -8 degrees; but it turned out that it only got down to about 12 degrees! I had begun waxing a cold and warm ski; but had not finished my warmer ski. I got up early and finished up with Cera F Cold -- HF7BD, with Cera F FC7 on top.The Race
It's nice starting in the Elite Men's wave. It's a pretty small wave of about 200 skiers. As the gun went off -- we all moved forward fast. I saw lots of familiar folks; John Schneider, Steve Sonnysen, Gene Kay, Jay Carlson, etc. as we were moving up Powerline hill. I felt good through the first 5K or so.. but I was a little out of sorts with Bill Baldus not near by. Going into the race I was sure we'd ski a long ways together; but we got separated early, and I did not see him until about 5K; It was good to ski with him, and I started to get some confidence in how the race was going. Bill dropped back a few K later, however, and we ended up not skiing together again this year. I felt pretty good, and had fast skis, similar to other skiers. At about 15K we got passed by some lead women; a few of us hung onto the 2nd group of women but at about 22K, our pack starting splitting up -- and I knew I didn't have it for a strong push. Luckily though, the group ahead of me (including John H. - Wisc) slowed down as they caught some skiers ahead of them, and I caught back up.
I was hoping I could hang on and even push for a strong finish this year but it didn't happen. I "survived the last 20K, but I calculated that I got passed by 50 people in the last 15K or so -- that really sucked. Actually, I was pretty excited to still finish top 200, about 180th this year. After the race I changed and talked with some guys in the Tent. I found Maureen and the rest of the gang near Anglers. I saw Bjorn Daehlie finish 2nd in the classic race in a Neck and Neck race -- it was cool! I also saw Tom finish so the spectating was good this year.
We all headed back to the cabin about mid afternoon, and Maureen made some great Roast Beef sandwiches and other good food. Odd Osland and Will Gosnold came over and we did a slide show with last years pictures of McCall World Masters. We had a Congrats BirchLeggings cake for Bill Baldus and Art Gorr -- the party was a lot of fun! Later, some of us went to the River Eatery in Cable where we met up with John S.
It was a great Birkie 2009. Already thinking about next year!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Barnebirkie 2009
Joe and Ethan did the Barnebirkie on Thursday. Joe had his usual pre-race nervousness -- but he worked through it. The organizers decided to shorten the race for all skiers. All the kids started by Marketplace and pretty much just did the ski up Main street. Very short, but, the kids didn't seem to care - and they were happy to get their Medal. The big Tent had Hot Chocolate and really good cookies for after the race.
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