Early Season Update

As I sit here writing this I am back in snowless Chelsea for Christmas wondering why I was too stubborn to bring my rollerskis with me. The last few weeks have been a busy mix of traveling and racing. As is usual with ski racing there have been ups and downs. It’s been a while so I’ll take it from the top.

Kootenay cup Golden BC, November 26^th and 27^th

Although it was low key, these were the first real races of the year. The weekend started off with a skate sprint on Saturday. It was a long day with the final ending under the cover of darkness with floodlights illuminating the course. It was a great Day for me. I won the qualifier (unofficially as the organizers never did get proper results from that one), skied conservatively through the heats and skied away in the final. The course suited me perfectly with lots of steep climbs and fast descents.

The next day was a 15km classic individual. Conditions were tricky (zero degrees and snow) I decided to race on a pair of waxless skis just before the race and didn’t have time to get them glide waxed. The result was lots of grip with little glide (most people were in the same boat). This combined with a tired body made for a subpar day. Nevertheless I was happy to get my first distance race of the season out of the way.

Alberta Cup Canmore, December 3^rd

Because of the heavy race schedule I only did the sprint race at the Alberta cup. I was looking forward to testing my skate sprinting against a staked field including many national team members.  After a mediocre qualifier I won my quarterfinal and finished 3^rd in my semi gaining a lucky looser spot in the Final. In the final I was definitely out classed by the big guns of Canadian sprinting and finished 5^th. Overall I was happy with my day and felt ready for Nor Ams in Sovereign Lakes the next weekend.

Nor Am cup Sovereign lakes BC, December 10^th and 11^th

The Nor Am cups in Sovereign Lakes have always been an enigma for me. Although I have always had good sprints there they have always been accompanied by some of my worst Distance races. I have always struggled with the altitude and the demanding world cup courses. This year I was hoping that living at altitude in Canmore and having much more time on snow would be the solution to my Sovereign Lakes enigma.

 The week end started out with a classic sprint (my best event). I had a subpar qualifier where I struggled to find grip on the long demanding softish course. I ended up with bib 17 going into the heats. In my quarter things went much better. I stayed in 4^th place until the last climb where I attacked on the outside of the course and moving myself into 1^st and holding it to the line. In my semifinal, I Again, stayed at the back of the field until the final climb were I moved up into 3^rd earning  a spot In the A final in my first Nor am Cup as a senior racer. In the final I gave it my all trying not to be intimidated by the much more experienced skiers I was up against. In the end the best I could manage was 4^th. To finish 4^th in my first Nor Am cup as a senior racer was a pretty special experience.

Rounding a corner during the heats
Photo Credit: Dan Roycroft

On my way to a 4th place finish in my first Nor Am cup as a Senior
Photo Credit: Dan Roycroft

The next day was a 15 km classic Individual. Individual classic races were once my best event, yet the last couple of years I have had trouble with them. This year I really wanted to turn this around. I started relatively slow and tried to go faster as the race went on. I felt good and not nearly as tired as I thought I would be following such a hard day of sprinting. I ended up 15^th on the day 8^th Canadian. Although I was happy with the result I was even more happy that I had finally broken the Sovereign lakes enigma and had two good races back to back one sprint and one distance.

Nor Am Cup Rossland BC, 17^th and 18^th of December

After the all classic weekend in sovereign Lakes it was time dust off the skate skis for an all skate weekend in Rossland. Classic is generally my stronger technique but this year I have been  feeling really good on my skate skis and after possibly the best weekend of racing I have ever had In sovereign Lakes I was feeling confident going into Rossland. Unfortunately things did not go the way I wanted them to. On Saturday, I felt flat in the qualifier for the sprint. I hoped I would feel more energetic in my quarter final but it didn’t work out that way. I was never really involved in the fight for positions and crossed the line 5^th making me 23^rd on the day… Not the result I was looking for.

My quarter final in Rossland I'm number 23
Photo Credit: David Greer

The next day was the first mass start of the season, a 15 km skate on a demanding 3.75km loop. With Bib 36 I had a lot of traffic in front of me. At the start I stayed calm and tried to look for opportunities to pass people. I quickly realized that although I was feeling pretty good, I did not have very fast skis. This was not a case of bad wax (our team in general had fast skis), but a question of bad ski selection. Most of the race I could see the group in front of me that I wanted to be in, however every time I would get a bit closer to them on an uphill section of the course I would find myself a bit further behind after a downhill section. On the last lap I tied up a bit and crossed the line in 25^th, happy with my effort but a little disappointed with the result.  

All in all, however it has been a very good start to my season. 

Cool Shot taken during the 15km skate in Rossland
Photo Credit: Angus Cockney

The thing about racing is that not every day is going to be a great day, you have to learn from the good and the bad. Now I am enjoying a few well needed days off before I get back to training for the next part of the season.

Anything can happen in sprint racing Unfortunately two AWCA skiers were involved in this quarterfinal mishap
Photo Credit: David Greer

Fortunately no one was hurt
Photo Credit: David Greer

That’s all for now...