European Racing

The transition to Europe went really smoothly for me.  The 7 hour time difference from Minneapolis can mess with your body, but I seem to have handled it easily.  I met up with a large group of Americans coming from the World Junior/U23 Championships in Ezerum, Turkey.  My good friend, climbing partner, and college teammate Casey Fagerquist is the wax technician for the trip.  Plus my former Coach, Bryan Fish is the head coach for the trip so it is great to be working with familiar friends.  

Tad (Birkie Champion) and I out for a classic ski on our first day in Europe.  We are fierce competitors but also good friends

Our first set of races were Swiss Cups in Feutersoey, SUI.  The field were small but there were a few very fast guys.  Remo Fischer the World Cup veteran from Switzerland won both races.  Remo and Tad caught me in the skate race but I was able to hang on to them for a short while to finish 4th.   The weather was pretty unreal with highs near 60 degrees all week.  Thankfully there was over three feet of snow throughout the valley.

After our week in Switzerland we drove 9 hours to Rogla, Slovenia.  This weekend we will race the OPA cup. These races are very competitive and are just a small step below the World Cup.

Tad and I are in bunkbeds in what is described as a bungalow.  The room is tiny, but we have everything we need.  The rooms have a kitchen, table, shower and bathroom and are not much larger than 10' x 16.'

Temperatures are just below freezing and we had great skiing this morning.  We had a relaxed start to let things soften up a bit.  It is cool to ski many of the same hills that I have seen on televison watching the annual World Cups in Rogla.  

Fish and Casey are taking extremely good care of us over here.  This morning they wouldn't even let me scrape or wax my own skis.  It is serious business over here.  

Tomorrow we race 10km Freestyle, this is a great race for me and my focus for the weekend.

The Best Race of the Year

Saturday I had my best race of the year so far in the 'greatest show on snow,' the 39th American Birkebeiner.  The race had a deep field with 14 foreigners from Sweeden, Switzerland, Norway, Russia, Canad and Frace joining the Americans at the line. After 5 years of living in the Hayward/Cable area I know the trail perhaps better than any other elite racer and the race really holds a great importance to me.  

I have gained some wisdom during my first 5 Birkebeiners and focused on conserving my energy for the first half of the race.  Two guys broke off the front only 10km into the race and built up a lead of over one minute.  It made me pretty nervous to be so far back.  I wanted to go to the front of the pack and try to catch the two guys up front but in the past I have worked hard at the front only to have many others sit and draft behind me and out sprint me in the final meters to the finish.  I went to the front and made one strong pull for about 3 minutes before drifting back into the pack.  It was obvious after my pull that it was way harder to be at the front.  

At 34 kilometers, two other Americans, Matt Liebsch and Tad Elliott came to the front and I prepared for their attack.  Our comfortable pace disappeared and our group of 12 skiers stretched out as everyone tried to hang on.  We were flying, in a few minutes we went from not being able to see the leaders to being right next to them.  The pace slowed and everyone tried to recover from the attack.  

At 39 kilometers the trail gains elevation the a series of rolling climbs.  About halfway through the climbs Tad Elliot attacked again and this time no one could stay with him.  In a matter of seconds he had a gap and things got craze.  At some point Matt Liebsch fell into Lars Flora, somehow I just managed to avoid those guys but Tad was off the front.  

I still felt great and I looked around for someone else int he field who might be able to help me catch Tad.  One of the Frenchmen made a few surges and I began to question whether I had the strength to break away from the field.  I decided to wait to make my move on the final climb at 45km.  

At 45km I went to the front and went as hard as I could.  I could tell there was one skier right on my tail but I forced myself to not look back.  When we made it to the top of the climb I finally looked and saw Lars Flora.  I asked him to take a pull, but he said he was spent.  I really wanted him to pull, but he had been at the front for most of the race and had certainly done his share of work.  I continued to try to push the pace. The pack was only about 20 meters behind.  Finally as we entered the final downhill Matt Liebsch pulled through.  I rested as best I could behind him.

The pack behind us was right there so I came through to make another pull as we skied on to Lake Hayward.  After a few minutes I saw that our group of 3 had grown to 6 but we had gaped everyone else.  I relaxed and drifted to the back to prepare for the final sprint on Main Street.  

Everything felt as thous we were in slow motion.  We came off the lake on to main street and I went to pass the other skiers.  The snow was softer than I expected and my legs screamed as the muscled attempted to cramp and shut down.  With only 20m to go I felt myself starting to fall apart and I became worried I might fall.  I focused on the image I had rehearsed in my mind so many times before and threw my foot forward.  I earned third place by just two tenths of a second.  

Caitlin (2nd) and Me (3rd), a good Birkebeiner for the Gregg's

I have spent the last 4 weeks putting in a training block and preparing for the Birkebeiner.  Last weekend in Madison I got my beaten pretty bad so it was very good for my confidence to be right in the mix on Saturday.  Tomorrow I fly to Germany for 3 weeks of racing in middle Europe. I started saving and planning for this trip last year and am excited for the opportunity to race against the next level up of competition.

Green Grass and Skiing

 It is the heart of February and the snow in the yard is almost entirely gone and I swear the grass is starting to look green.  It is a strange feeling for me to walk outside and cross the grass on my way to go skiing.  For the first time in my life I actually put on my roller skis in February.  Thankfully there are still places to find great skiing in the Twin Cities Metro.

Last winter was ideal for cross country skiers in the Midwest with several feet of snow and trails 'groomed' or 'skied in' all over the city.  We are very fortunate that one of these areas is Theodore Wirth Park which is literally out our back door.  A few years ago the park put in an artificial snow making system and have been able to produce a 3.1km loop.  Sometimes there are things beyond your control and you simply have to make do with what you got.   The loop takes about 10 minutes skiing easy.  One advantage of the repetitions of the laps is that you can get really good at skiing the different sections of the course.

Another option for Metro skiing is at the downhill ski areas prior to their opening for alpine skiing.  The lifts open at 10am so you need to get up early to cross country ski.  This past week was a beautiful one with the sun rising into clear blue skies each morning as the full moon set to the east.

On top of the hill with downtown Minneapolis in the background.

It has been fun to train and race at home for the past two weeks.   The neighborhood kids have been excited to have us back in town and to follow the races.

We have also been playing my favorite card game Nickel.  

The game is similar to Rummy and requires some simple math and the calculation of odds.

Not much snow this winter, yet it is still awesome!

Tour de Twin Cities

Today concluded the Tour de Twin Cities a series of 5 Super Tour races right out our back door.  Three races were contested at Wirth which really is right out our back door.   On a good snow year it is faster to ski to the venue than it is to drive from our house to the race trails at Wirth.  The final two races were held just 30 minutes across town at Green Acres Park.

One joy I have in ski racing is getting to know my competitors.  As a Minneapolis native Caitlin and I really took the initiative to welcome the skiers from out of A to the Twin Cities.  A big thanks to the Handlers, Carters and Kuzzy's for hosting skiers and to the many others who offered to host.  

Leading the train in the 15km Freestyle Race at Wirth Park

Caitlin and I hosted my good friend Sam Naney in the basement of our little house.  Sam and I grew up  together in the Methow Valley and have been neck and neck in races since we first toed the line together as 10 year-olds.  It has been fun to live and train with Sam these past weeks.  My cooking skills haven't grown much since my J3 years, but Sam has come in to his own as an excellent cook.  Sam had some great races throughout this week culminating in his first Super Tour distance podium in today's 20km Freestyle.  Recently Sam has been known as a strong sprinter so it is cool to see him establishing his strengths as a distance racer as well.  Nice work, buddy.  

My first year as a Minneapolis resident worked out well and I started the series off with two solid 4th place races.  Unfortunately I struggled in the latter races to match my performances from earlier in the week.  I still felt good in the races, but didn't have the snap to match the pace of some of the other guys.  My desire to win is strong, but it is also good to see my friends do well.  Congratulations in particular to Sam, Brent and Matt today.

Thank you to the organizers and volunteers for a great week of racing.  It has been an exciting week and I am ready for bed and a day off.  Check out this video of the crash at the start of Saturday's 10k Classic race.

 

results

Double Win Today

There is green grass in our front yard in Minneapolis and although it was great to be home for 4 days we set off this weekend to find natural snow in Hayward, Wisconsin and race the Seeley Classic.  Six years ago I moved to Hayward and Cresthill Resort and started my professional ski career.  It means a lot for me to race in the Hayward/Cable Community and it was fun to get back for one of the big Midwest marathons.  

The storybook weekend started friday evening with a fantastic family ski on the Seeley Trails.  Groomed by volunteers and the funds raised through the Seeley Classic ski race the dog friendly trails are a real treat.  It was the first time the Caitlin and I had skied on natural snow in 2 weeks.  Lahti did what he does best and ran ridiculously fast as we attempted to race him on the downhills.  We finished our ski refreshed from the drive and ready for the big race.

The Seeley Classic is a 42km classic marathon race on the Birkie trail with about 500 participants.  Unofficially called the classic citizen championships of the Midwest the race rose to a new level this year with  the addition of a $1,000 purse for the top male and female. The award was in memory of the late Garry Pennman one of the founders of the town of Seeley and the Seeley classic ski race.  Cailtin and I were very happy to both earn the win and the cash purse.  Results.  

Enjoying the natural snow in Hayward, Wisconsin

The CXC Team is spread around a bit this weekend and congratulations to the entire crew for a great weekend of racing.  Jessie Diggins finished 2nd in today's World Cup Team Sprint, Santiago Ocariz won the Sissu Ski Fest Classical race, and my good friend Matt Liebsch won the Sissu Ski Fest Skate race.  Great work.

Happy New Year

The first race of the US Nationals Championships is tomorrow (Monday). We race every other day here in Rumford, Maine. There is no natural snow on the ground, but the race organizers have worked hard to make artificial snow and the 1.6km loop we are racing tomorrow is in great condition. Today the high is supposed to be 38 F so we are very grateful the conditions are as good as they are. The hard work is all done and now it is time to rest, relax and toe the line. There are 405 entries for the US National Championships and there are a lot of skiers cruising around the little man-made loop. We are limited to internet only at the Venue and every other elite skier in the country seems to be on it right now. Will try and post some pics of racing the Freestyle Sprint tomorrow.

Map of the 1.6 KM Sprint Course

Home for the Holidays

There are so many great things about being home for the holidays.  I especially enjoy skiing with the local junior kids and my past coaches, and past Olympians, Leslie Hall and Laura McCabe.  It's so much fun to see kids skiing and having fun just like when I was a junior.

Skiing with the Methow Valley Jr. Team

Another fun tradition is watching the fireworks our neighbors light off every year.  The show lasts about 10 minutes and we have a great view from the front yard.

The Gregg house back lit by fireworks

It wouldn't be Christmas without a few Christmas cookies.  Every year we have a ton of fun spending an evening decorating cookies with our friend Ardis.

Decorating Christmas Cookies

And of course the skiing in the Methow is always incredible with over 200km of trails and daily grooming it's  hard not to have fun.

Fast skiing and blue sky in the Methow