Birky Tour 2010

Yesterday, I skied the Birky Tour with a few friends - Bill Baldus and Eric Hedman. It was a lot of fun! The Birkie Tour was created to have a "open-track" style event that is non-timed. The Tour allowed skiers to ski the same Birky course as the regular Birky but in a more relaxed manner. We really enjoyed our ski!


Yesterday, I skied the Birky Tour with a few friends - Bill Baldus and Eric Hedman. It was a lot of fun! The Birkie Tour was created to have a "open-track" style event that is non-timed. The Tour allowed skiers to ski the same Birky course as the regular Birky but in a more relaxed manner. We really enjoyed our ski! We started at the Hytte at Telemark around 9:00 AM. We proceeded on the Birkebeiner Telemark loop, to the Korte Trail, onto the Birky Classic Trail - and then at Firetower Hill we skied on the Birky Trail to the end. We wanted to ski 50+ K; so we decided to ski to Lake Hayward and then back to Fish Hatchery for the finish. 52K! They bussed us back to Telemark from Fish Hatchery, it was very convenient. Along the way we chatted with folks, tried eachothers skis (Eric's were fast!) and even talked Vikings with some Packer fans at Mosquito Brook.
There were drinks at aid stations, and even Hot Dogs and Chili at 00 and Fish Hatchery. We were glad we signed up for the event!

JohnWaxLog

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

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.

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!

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.

Birky 2008

Russian (turned Canadian Citizen)

Ivan Bavikov

John skiing alongside Joe Haggenmiller

-----------------------------------

This will be my first post... I hope to keep this site active with ski related posts/blogs/wax information and the like. What better than to have the first post be about the American Birkebeiner 2008.

The race was held on Saturday, February 23, 2008. It was a great day to be skiing. I came up with the family to stay at our cabin on Thursday night. Brother Tom, Art Gorr, Eric Hedman, Leah, Claire and Tommy stayed with us; Scott Laven and Kim came over for a great dinner Friday night.

Friday... and the power goes out

It seems like that should have been a lot of time to get ready for the race, have fun at Telemark, wax and do the usual pre-Birky preparations; but I felt like I didn't have a moment to rest on Friday.

Maureen and Joseph skied the Cheqtel 5K on Friday. It was a blast to watch. Conditions were great; about 23 degrees, sunny for a change, and good classic tracks. I guestimated it would take Joe about 1 hour 15 minutes to finish -- and it took him about 35 minutes; he can really move when he wants to. Maureen had a lot of fun.....

I walked around Telemark/worked at the Alpina tent with Paul Gerten and talked to a hundred people. Maureen made a great pasta dinner; and at about 6:15 the power decides to go out; We ate dinner by candle light; me and others wondering how/if I'd be able to glide wax my skis. Luckily the power came on about an hour later...

Birky Saturday Morning

We got up early; got ready... and the power decided to flicker on/off about 5 more times. It didn't go out this time though! We left for the bus at 6:50; 10 minutes later than we wanted to... it was busier than usual at Como field for parking. We ran into John Munger and others getting on to the bus. While riding on the bus, I looked over at someone with their Timing Chip around their ankle and thought... hmmm, I didn't bring my timing chip! It was too late to turn back now; We got to Telemark, I unloaded and ran into the registration area; There was another guy that had the opposite problem, he had his timing chip but no bib -- the lady said we ought to get ready together! It took her about 30 seconds to give me a new timing chip; I ran out of there all ready.

The Race

I had a great race; and met my goal of skiing a good consistent race; not bonking and most importantly having fun! I received bib #150; and I said if I finish better than my bib number, I'll be happy.... I finished about 131st; so I was happy! The times were fast this year... 2 Hr, 28 Minutes.

I skied with a good group of folks; started strong but not too fast on the Powerlines; and then rolled thru the hills up to the High Point. I knew I was feeling good as I descended from the Hight Point; but I kept telling myself not to push too hard. I skied with an ol' college friend, Joe Haggenmiller; now the coach for Michigan Tech in Houghton MI. He was fun to ski with -- very relaxed; unlike some of the others I was skiing with; I got stepped on by one skier at the top of a fast downhill -- I went down hard and lost all of my momentum; another skier came to a complete stop at an aid station... I had to duck to miss yet another skier who was reaching over to grab a glass of water and then I ran over the ski of the first skier who yelled out "I'm going to complain to Dorcas..." blah, blah; recognizing my Alpina ski suit... ahhh, you know you're at the Birky.

Later, a few folks started passing me; and I started seeing stars at the top of bitch hill; but I hung on and actually felt pretty good on the 77 Hills. Dave Christopherson and Jey Carlson passed me around Hiway 77; I couldn't stay with them -- but then Seeley neighbor Craig Kalesheur came by me around Duffy's field -- I stayed with him; Eventually I tried to turn it up a notch on the lake and starting getting close to a pack of men; I couldn't quite catch them... But I was moving fast and did pass a couple of stragglers. Main Street was sweet! Packed firm with nice cordoroy. I grabbed a lane, and finished strong; Nice finish, but Craig K did get me at the end.

The rest of the gang did well; Baldus -- Top 150 finish was excellent starting in Wave 1; Eric was around 250; he had a very strong race. Tom almost broke 3 hours which was his goal