Only 2 class sessions left. Then the Pizza Party!!

COL: The City of Lakes is this weekend. Even if you don't volunteer or ski, come on out and watch. The Sprints and Ski-joring on Saturday are quite interesting. And the visual effects of the Luminary Loppet are very nice. Ski it or just watch. Then on Sunday there's the Tour, classic and freestyle events. We've got 6 people doing the Tour with Arvid. Come on out and cheer them on.

Mora: The Vasaloppet is next weekend on Sunday. We usually have a carpool up to Mora. Then we also run a shuttle of cars up to the start and then volunteer drivers run the cars back to the start while watching the race along the way. If anyone wants to go up an watch and be a shuttle driver speak up. I can handle about 6 people in my van for the ride from Mora to the start. 4 slots are already taken. Any more people want to drive up and/or shuttle skiers to the start. We car pool from the Lifetime Fitness Parking Lot at 694 and Central at about 6am on Sunday. Meet us there. Leave your car and Carpool up there. This is the only way to fly for Mora. It makes things very easy. Take it from the experts.

Video Taping: The video taping session will be Feb 9th at Como. 10am. It's time to see what you really look like. We'll take videos and then go inside to analyze them. I'll e-mail yours to you if you like. Classic or skate. Intermediates and advanced for sure, it's really good to see yourself. Everyone is welcome. If you're still struggling it's of lesser value. You need practice more than video taping. Come out if you want.

North Shore Trip: The trip is just about full already. If 4 or more are interested we could get another unit. We stay in Tofte at Superior Ridge. March 15-16. Usually the best skiing of the year.

Clothing: I have the clothing. It will be available for pick up on Tuesday nights. if you need yours for the COL, maybe we can hook up during registration on Saturday. I've got extras, including lots of hats if you still want something.

From Eric Nevalainen

Here's my race report from the Gov cup last weekend. Good race!

I did my first race of the season last year (my first since 2006) last weekend, the Governor's Cup 25k Freestyle race at Camp Ripley MN.

The course consists of a combination of riverflats, rolling hills, and quite a bit of heavy-duty climbing, utilizing every piece of elevation along the trail to its limits. The layout is an "out and back" from the Rec Center, to the biathlon range , and then back to the rec center. The Biathlon range, the middle 8K, contains the majority of the hard climbs (it's only one hill , you just climb it about 6 times over 8K), with the rest of the trail containing either rolling hills, or flats.

Conditions at race start were about 22 degrees, overcast, with a humid breeze out of the west. Camp Ripley hasn't had significant snow in January, so the base was mostly old transformed snow on a very firm base. I set my skis up with Fastwax LF Teal, but could have gotten away with warmer wax as the temps did not drop as significantly as predicted the night before. I opted for a harder wax, I wasn't wrong, but then I wasn't totally correct either. Conditions varied from the expected hardpack base to include: old powder in the woods, and marathon sugar in some parts of the biathlon range. The skis were fast enough, it wasn't the wax that held me back, it was gravity. Dragging my 215 pound butt up some of those hills is a lot of work.

The pack took off at a brisk pace, and things stayed pretty tight through the river flats leading to the first set of hills. There was some moderate congestion on the uphill parts of the rollers, and I had to brake hard a couple of times to keep from running over the skier in front of me. By the time we swung west (KM 6) towards the biathlon range, there was enough spacing that everyone could ski their own race without too much interference. After the first feed stop, we entered the biathlon area-lots of climbing, but there were some fun downhills to allow for a little recovery. The trail was wide, well marked, and well groomed, but the hills took their toll. The course was a lot more physical than it was technical. It was a relief to cross the road out of the biathlon range, and start the return leg. I was able to maintain a nice brisk pace and make up some time, through the rollers to the river flats, and then open it up for the final 3k dash to the finish. The sun came out for the last 6k or so making for a nice trip back to the Rec Center.

From D Luoma

I ventured north to Duluth last Sunday to do the Duluth XC Clubs' Nordic Spirit race. They offered three races- 10k Classic, 13K freestyle, and 25K freestyle. I opted for the 25k. freestyle. My goal was to finish and hopefully not be last. I finished and was 20/21 women. The race was well run.( good aid stations and post race food) The start was at Spirit Mountain downhill area. All racers received a hat similar to the ride and glide hats. The course utilized the spirit mountain nordic trails and the Magney Snively trails system.

From Eric Snider (check this out as an alternative activity at our Bike sponsor Now)

It probably doesn't count.  But I did the 15.4 mile virtual TT at Now Bikes.
My results are not up on the web yet.  I took the lead, and the opportunity
to beat me ends by 8 pm today.  So I may win it.  I finished in 41:06.  The
next rider is at 41:14 (see
http://nowbikes-fitness.com/page.cfm?pageId=198).  They were going to
contact him--apparently the folks at the shop know him--to see if he wants
to ride this afternoon to beat me.  I understand that he rode it twice
already.  He had the lead, then a guy rode faster than him, and he rode
again to sit 1:45 ahead of him.  So now he'd need to get another 9 seconds
to beat me.  You'd think someone could go an extra half second per mile to
beat me.  It was a hard course.  It simulated an Alps time trial.  I do not
know how much total climbing there was, but some of the gradients were over
17%.  On the "ascents" the resistance unit would increase resistance.  But
on the "descents" it would not ease up as much to simulate road feel.  The
max speed I got on descents was 28 mph, and I should have hit 45-50 mph on
some of them on a real mountain.  I averaged 22.5 mph, average watts of 239,
average HR of 160.  I am pretty sure I will be sore tomorrow.  I was hoping
to be closer to or under 40 minutes.  It was hard enough.  I overheard that
they are supposed to have another for February, and I think I heard the guy
say it is suppose to simulate the Alp d'Huez climb.
Eric
 

None this week. About 10 hearty souls braved the 20mph winds and -5 degree temps to trek over to Como. We sat around and talked racing. Things like what/how to eat. Pacing, Race morning logistics for specific races, Recovery, lodging, etc