First Ski Race Of The Season

My first ski race of the season was Saturday, January 29th at Phalen Golf course in Saint Paul. It was the revival, after many years off, of the King Boreas 15K event. Things went about as well as could be expected for a guy who needs to lose a few pounds... I started out with Bill Stuber and John Wyland. Bill was right in front of me during the early going until a couple of skiers got in-between us. Stubes looked very smooth as he gradually pulled away from me. I kept up my pace and found some other guys to ski with. After a while, the top women, who started one minute later, started to pass us. I never got into a good rhythm though and wound up passing skiers, who then passed me back and then I'd pass them back again. Amy Cichanowski caught up to me and stayed behind me for a kilometer. Then, she passed me and I figured her pace was pretty good so I decided to follow her. I finally got into a comfortable groove and passed some more guys. We passed one more guy with a couple of hundred yards to go. He passed me back on the inside finishing corner but I out-sprinted him to the line to grab 68th place. Stuber got me by about a 1:30 and I got Wyland by 1:50. Lori Belz, Tina Olson, Nora Bengel and John O'Connell all did the race too. Afterwards, we all went to Bill and Kim Stubers house for food and beer. Others there were Tom and Jan Bengel, Jerry Engen, Bob Woodruff, Pete Thurmes, Joe Stuber and a few more.

Back from New York

I had a good time in Upstate, New York in the Saratoga and Lake George Region. The total time out there staying with Kathleen's relatives was almost three weeks. I cross country skied at Cronin's Golf Course in Warrensburg and at Mount Van Hovenberg in Lake Placid with Dave and Wendy Matthews. I also climbed French Mountain in Lake George. It's 1,040 vertical feet to the top. As always, I climbed it without stopping. Don't know why but I'm much better at climbing mountains than I am at riding or skiing up hills... I also went downhill skiing at Gore Mountain with my Co-Bro (Common Law Brother In Law) Frank. The place has 2300 feet of vertical. During a crash though, I pulled a calf muscle that put me out of commission for skiing and climbing for the rest of the trip. The broken toe from November was still healing too so it was probably good I didn't do any workouts for over a week. Also went to the Saratoga Battlefield National Park. Colonial General Gates defeated British General Burgoyne there in October 1777. Since getting back, I've cross country skied a lot at Lake Elmo and Green Acres. I'm not as concerned about my skiing but it is a great weight loss program. I came back from New York at 181.5lbs. Mid-170s now. The picture above is Lake Elmo from a couple of days ago.