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It was another beautiful day this year for the American Birkebeiner Kortelopet race. Temps were in the mid 20's at the start and mid 30's at the finish. There was plenty of snow. Like last year, my finishing time was a little over four hours, which is embarrassingly slow. The winner completed the 18 mile race in about 1:20.
Being old, I got to start in one of the first waves, but also being slow, most of the over 3000 skiers passed me by the time the finish-line in downtown Hayward, WI was reached.
Hey Jim, that is great to hear - and you finished the race. Doesn't matter how long it took as long as at least one person finished after you, and some didn't finish at all. And if you put the bumper to one or two other skiers, even better.
Sounds like that event is a good way to push away cabin fever in those northern winter months.
Tom
Jim, I'm amazed that you can go 18 miles regardless of how many skiers may have finished before you. Congratulations on completing the race. We still don't have any snow in CT but I'm in northern New Hampshire this week and managed to get in a 4 mile run along the Ellis River yesterday. We were hoping to get out again today but instead of the 8-12" of snow they projected, it rained all night and most of the morning before turning over to snow as it tapered off during the afternoon without any real accumulation. Here's a shot of the friends I was with yesterday. We're all retired and enjoy skiing but none of us would attempt the distance you've covered. Again, way to go. Dan
Great pic, Dan with the river in the foreground and the beautiful snow contrasted with the dark open water. It almost looks like someone must have climbed up a tree to get the perspective of your shot.
In younger days, I was pretty much able to just get off my couch and do the race. These days, it takes a little training. I try to get out skiing two or three times a week. I think most of the people skiing in my wave (70 plus) must train year-round because they were almost all faster than me--I finished 39 of 42 in my age and gender group. Skiers that were slower than me were mostly younger. The oldest guy in the race was 86! The slowest was out on the course for about six hours.
How's your truck coming? I'm hoping to meet you at Truckstock in October. As you know, nothing really warms Abe's heart quite like a meadow green truck! LOL.
The 2020-21 cross country ski season is off to a late start. With only about 2 inches of snow on the ground, skiing laps on the lake is about the only alternative:
Four laps around our little bay equals a mile--not very interesting skiing, but better than nothing. In the far distance, you can see our sledding hill. It's scary fast even with as many leaves on it as there is snow. I probably won't be taking the plunge, but our children and grand children have been. We are expecting an inch or two of snow tonight, but quite a bit more will be needed for our trails to open.
The 2020-21 cross country ski season is off to a late start. With only about 2 inches of snow on the ground, skiing laps on the lake is about the only alternative:
Four laps around our little bay equals a mile--not very interesting skiing, but better than nothing. In the far distance, you can see our sledding hill. It's scary fast even with as many leaves on it as there is snow. I probably won't be taking the plunge, but our children and grand children have been. We are excepting an inch or two of snow tonight, but quite a bit more will be needed for our trails to open.
Happy New Year!
Jim
Jim, I'm jealous. We had a nice storm a week before Christmas that dropped about 10 inches of snow but then we had temperatures in the 60's and over 3" of rain on Christmas day so now the snow is all gone. And, our annual ski trip to New Hampshire in February has been cancelled because of covid-19. Looks like there won't be too much skiing for us this winter. Enjoy what little snow you have. Dan
It's hard to believe that Central PA hasore snow right now than Wisconsin, New England and evenaime where Pinecone Ford lives. We got a big storm the week before Christmas. I got 18" in my backyard. And even though the day before Christmas it was in the 40's and we had hard rain all day, my backyard is still covered!
Hi Abe. The lack of snow is disappointing, but it happens sometimes. I was thinking though that this was going to be a strong La Nina winter with colder temps and above average snow fall. So far, that has been a bust! Here's a pic of the sledding hill--as you can see, it has more leaves than snow, but it's still exciting. In fact, it's hard to make it to the bottom and still be on your sled:
The kids seem to be enjoying their Christmas break despite the marginal snow conditions.
Good luck Dan with your snow situation. It's too soon to give up. I would think some ski resorts are still going to open. I know of one around here that closed for the season because of Covid, but others are going to welcome guests (with various restrictions) as soon as there is enough snow.
We got a decent snow fall night before last. We drove north about five hours yesterday to check out a dairy operation with our oldest son and it seemed you guys in the upper part of the state didn't get as much as we did. There was a belt of snow going across the lower middle part of the state.
Hey Bob. Nice looking farm! Even looks like a playhouse for the grand kids. If you drove north for five hours, you must have been close to Canada. We got about two inches of new snow yesterday, so we are getting there. There's a cross country trail near Three Lakes that just opened.
