The US Season has pretty much officially ended. Now what? Read More »

Winter returned to Boulder today and that meant skiing in North Boulder Park.  It is best to go after 8:30AM to avoid the huge pre-work crowd that jams the 1.2km loop.  I dropped my daughter off at school and headed over to ski at 9AM, which is perfect.  Only professional athletes, housewives and househusbands (it is Boulder) at that time of day.

I have been working pretty hard on our kitchen remodel - lifting sheets of plywood, cabinets and things like that - and my arms felt like they were going to fall off.  It is amazing how weak I become after a season of ski racing without doing any strength.  Bad planning; I need to harrass my coach about that.  (I read something on Fasterskier about training 850 hours, so I need to talk to my coach anyway...)

I was struggling to ski with any sort of reasonable technique and I was getting pretty frustrated with myself when a group of cyclists I know showed u ... Read More »

Where to begin. While my season is winding down, things are going crazy on and off the trail. Read More »

Ski racing is a hard sport. Read More »

Well, Birkie 2006 is now in the books and the Fever is subsiding.  I wish the turkey gizzard heartburn would go away, too.  It was a beautiful day with great conditions, and FSx had a solid showing.  We had a great support crew with Zach Caldwell and Mike Wynn (?) nailing the wax and ski selection, and all of the Swix and Fischer crew chipping in after 3 exhausting days of expos, demos and standing all day.  A very special thanks goes out to the many people who have helped us out this season.  They are appreciated and we certainly wouldn't be able to compete at this level without them.

The Italians have taken ownership of this race and they once again executed perfectly to get the job done.  The pace went out perhaps the slowest I have ever seen, but they moved into position by 8km or so, pulled off the gloves and went to work.  Because of the slow pace, there was a huge lead group and a lot of pressure from behind up every hill ... Read More »

Summarizing this one is tough, but here goes: Jerry Springer XC; I am an old snow fairy and I like skiing nature blog; Wallow in the Fever; Turkey Gizzards and French Owl Pasta Read More »

The Boulder Mountain Tour is a unique race.  I have done it probably 8 or 10 times and every year it has come down to a sprint in the last 100 meters.  It is 32km of mostly downhill with some small hills near the beginning.  It is usually fast and turns out like a bike race - the people at the front work about 20% harder than the people in the back of the pack.  So, it usually ends up with a gigantic pack of people, many who I don't even recognize because I've never seen them at the front of a race before.

Then in the last 5km, everyone battles for position through the narrow, windy lead in to the sprint.  One S-turn and then down the straightaway, you sprint and are either ecstatic because you managed to stay out of trouble and sprint fast or frustrated for blowing something - getting shut out or making a tactical mistake.

Yesterday we had a strong team, good skis and everything worked out pretty well ... Read More »

Some comments on the wax, weather and life for tomorrow's Noquemanon 51k Classic Read More »

Babikov, Juniors and wild weather make for a typically unusual day at Soldier Hollow for the 5km/10km Skate Race Jan 8, 2006. Read More »

Wow. An epic. Photos and story inside... Read More »