FasterSkier

Category: XCFeeds

A collection of live feeds from cross-country ski blogs around the web.

  • Where Skiing Can Take You 2010-09-08 11:04:00

    a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/TIgWxDpgsOI/AAAAAAAABBQ/YLzIMOeUg9I/s1600/IMG_1464_2.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 238px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_k1DHbqzFvCE/TIgWxDpgsOI/AAAAAAAABBQ/YLzIMOeUg9I/s400/IMG_1464_2.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514682775763988706″ //adiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1362992899157556571-5060787665602301884?l=comeskiwithme.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Is It Panic Time For The Norwegian Men’s Distance Skiers?

    There’s been some commentary over the last several years remarking that the Norwegian men, usually quite dominant, have been struggling to crush their competitors into tiny little pieces.  From the perspective of US skiing fans that might seem absurd, but for better or for worse, Norway has exceedingly high expectations.

    It occurred to me, though, that I haven’t actually seen anyone look at some hard data on whether the Norwegian men are actually doing worse these days in distance events.  To do this, I’m going to drop the more “academic” measure of performance (FIS points) and focus in on finishing rank (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc).

    My rationale here is that Norway is so good at skiing and has so many skiers near the top of the results list that any changes we see in FIS points are going to be very, very small.  From their perspective, measuring themselves using “percent back from the fastest skiers in the world” is silly, because, come on!  They are the fastest the skiers in the world!

    So what I’ve done is to chart the number of results at a particular level (victory, podium, top five, etc.) per race for each season:

    The y-axis here is “results per race”, meaning in the 1991-1992 season, the Norwegian men had around 3.5 top ten finishes per race (first dot in the blue line).

    Aside from an unusually good season for the Norwegian men in 2001-2002<1 you can see a general decline here.  This decline seems less noticeable with the Victories category, but that may be an issue of scale (all the numbers are smaller, harder to pick out differences).  I supposed I could replot this and scale everything, but I think this gets the point across just fine.

    So the Norwegian men seem to have been getting fewer top results in distance races over the years.  But again, a lowly American like myself might object that while Norway may be seeing fewer top results in an absolute sense, they may still be doing better than everyone else.

    To check this, I went back and calculated the equivalent values from the graph above for the men from (most) every other nation.  How do Norway’s numbers compare to everyone else’s?

    Season Victories Podiums Top Five Top Ten Top Thirty
    1991-1992 1 1 1 1 1
    1992-1993 1 1 1 1 1
    1993-1994 2 1 1 1 1
    1994-1995 2 1 1 1 1
    1995-1996 1 1 1 1 1
    1996-1997 1 1 1 1 1
    1997-1998 1 1 1 1 1
    1998-1999 1 1 1 1 1
    1999-2000 1 1 1 1 1
    2000-2001 3 1 1 1 1
    2001-2002 1 1 1 1 1
    2002-2003 2 2 3 2 1
    2003-2004 1 2 2 2 2
    2004-2005 5 2 2 2 1
    2005-2006 2 2 2 1 1
    2006-2007 1 2 2 2 1
    2007-2008 3 3 1 1 1
    2008-2009 2 2 2 1 1
    2009-2010 1 1 3 3 1

    The rank of the Norwegian men, compared to other nations, in results per race (i.e. podiums per race in a given season).

    I think it’s fair to say that Norway has seen a decline in a relative sense as well.  They are still the dominant force in terms of number of skiers finishing in the top thirty, but things have slipped somewhat elsewhere.

    If I asked you to split this table into two halves, where would you do it?  The Norwegian men were top dogs across the board until 2002-2003.  I think that particular year isn’t terribly special, but they did have a series of retirements leading up to that season.  There was Bjoern Daehlie, of course, quitting due to injury after the 1998-1999 season.  Thomas Alsgaard stopped raced in 2002-2003<2, but his last good season was the year before, 2001-2002.  Erling Jevne’s last season was 2001-2002.  Espen Bjervig’s last season was 2002-2003.

    Of course, while Norwegians aren’t likely to embrace these kinds of distinctions, there is a difference between “Norway is getting slower” and “Other people are getting faster”.  And some of that is probably happening.  Also, we could be seeing the effects of a slightly lengthened World Cup season, which helps to spread the victories around more.  Finally, it would really help to have data from the 70′s and 80′s, which would provide a richer context for these trends.  I’d be very curious just how unusual the Norwegian men’s dominance in the 90′s really was.  It could be that the Norwegian men simply had an extraordinary collection of skiers in the mid to late 90′s.

    In any case, should Norway be panicking?  I think the obvious answer is no, but panicking at the prospect of dropping from best in the world to third best in the world is probably partly why they’re so good in the first place.

    1. Not so much in the Olympics, maybe, but across the season as a whole. <↩
    2. Technically, he did one World Cup race in 2004, I believe. <↩

    Related posts:

    1. <How Well Prepared Are World Cup Rookies? (Part 1a: Distance)
    2. <Most Improved: Women’s Distance
    3. <Most Unimproved Men: Distance


  • More Race Pictures from Herve Pelletier

    a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TId4lTlz_lI/AAAAAAAAES0/ya5FI2j9a94/s1600/BF_Blog8.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 280px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TId4lTlz_lI/AAAAAAAAES0/ya5FI2j9a94/s400/BF_Blog8.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514508851047824978″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TId4fWstOuI/AAAAAAAAESs/bqrZWMg4DM0/s1600/BF_Blog7.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TId4fWstOuI/AAAAAAAAESs/bqrZWMg4DM0/s400/BF_Blog7.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514508748802833122″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TId4YVCj2kI/AAAAAAAAESk/rQqDvWjUwww/s1600/BF_Blog6.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TId4YVCj2kI/AAAAAAAAESk/rQqDvWjUwww/s400/BF_Blog6.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514508628098538050″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TId4SYbowaI/AAAAAAAAESc/qM9QMDRFOak/s1600/BF_Blog4.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 355px; height: 400px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TId4SYbowaI/AAAAAAAAESc/qM9QMDRFOak/s400/BF_Blog4.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514508525929808290″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TId4NDb-_mI/AAAAAAAAESU/T670wk1qMfQ/s1600/BF_Blog3.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TId4NDb-_mI/AAAAAAAAESU/T670wk1qMfQ/s400/BF_Blog3.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514508434394775138″ //abr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TId4GO8tRII/AAAAAAAAESM/ntuIDZuaTsk/s1600/BF_Blog1.jpg”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TId4GO8tRII/AAAAAAAAESM/ntuIDZuaTsk/s400/BF_Blog1.jpg” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514508317225731202″ //adiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-3711651585255183871?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • How The Bookies See It

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  • How The Bookies See It

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  • Artwork

    I’ve been hard at work.

    Basically, I’m not much of an artist.  There was a time in high school when I took a full month of sculpture to make an 8 foot long trophy case lock (see picture) model out of cardboard that had moving parts and everything and I got an A+ in that class and on that specific project but really since then I haven’t made much of anything in the art department.  Until now.

    I guess it started last year when I made a piece of artwork by cutting out a page of a magazine and extra-bluing it to a carboard back and hanging it up in the kitchen, but this year, I’ve been on a tear.

    My first major undertaking started when Pepa told me I wasn’t allowed to have a carpet in my room, because I was allergic to it.  I debated that, but not to Pepa, because I didn’t want to get yelled at anymore.  So I took the carpet out of my room, and my room immediately was no fun to live in.  I’ll quote a great man when I say “that rug really tied the room together.”  But there was a silver lining.  Pepa told me that I could do whatever else I wanted to my floor, like paint in the design of the carpet.  Interesting, I thought, but too complicated.  Maybe another design would be better.  Maybe something simpler.  Maybe something more…patriotic.  And so the next 10 days were spent clearing out my room, buying paint and supplies, sleeping in an open closet, and carefully painting 13 stripes and 50 stars onto my floor.  Enjoy.

    P5110041

    P5110040

    Then I took a break from my artistic career to focus on other things.  But as with any true artist, my work called me back.  This time it was through the medium of my fledgling business, lobsterjoke.  You see, we needed to refresh the whole thing.  It just wasn’t working for us, from the $15 shirts to the block print to the basic website.  We needed an update, and that needed to start with printing our own stuff.  So I looked into it, and it turns out screenprinting is not that hard, it just takes a while.  Well, I’ve got time, so this was for me.  It also cost some money to get into it, but since I plan to sell millions of shirts, it’d be ok to spend some.  So I bought in and figured it out.  It’s a pretty cool process, a little frustrating, but pretty fun overall.  And the final products are pretty sweet.  I made a couple screens to make 1 shirt and when that worked out, I went ahead and got the rest of the supplies for enough to make 5 shirts and I also bought 40 red shirts to print on.  So I’m now printing shirts and that’s been pretty cool too, and they’re coming out pretty well.  So well, in fact, that I’d put these things up against that cardboard trophy case lock as my best artwork yet.  Here’s a picture of some of the screens I made and the finished products (or at least the backs).

    IMGP0383

    IMGP0364

    So I know this is a little long and rambling.  And maybe you know that’s my style.  But let me sum this one up for you (for anyone going back to school and trying to write papers about me) in a couple bullet points:

    1. I have almost no history with art.

    2. I spent 10 days sleeping in a closet on an air mattress so that my floor could be an exact replica of the american flag.

    3. The new lobsterjoke shirts are totally awesome, and they’re just $10.  And I need to sell a lot of them now because I spent maybe too much learning how to screenprint.  So go to lobsterjoke.com, pick a shirt, and email me at lobsterjoke@gmail.com.

  • September Camp: Fall is here at 33 degrees

    Eric, Karl, Santi. 4*3minutes sprint simulation. Plus 4*400 to work on finishing speed

    Aga (Masters Team) and Jenny: Thanks Aga for joining us for a few days of camp

    Cool temperatures have arrived in the Northwoods.  I love this time of year, sunny and crisp.  We are getting ready for winter.

    Classic Sprint Simulation (training skis):

    Qualifying: Eric (3:02), Karl (3:12), Gregg (3:19), Santi (3:22)

    Quarter 1: Eric (3:04), Karl (3:07), Gregg (3:08), Santi (3:xx)

    Semi: Eric (3:02), Karl (3:03), Gregg (3:03.5), Santi (3:0x?)

    Final: Eric (3:06), Karl (3:07) Gregg (3:07.5), Santi (3:08)

    Video from the sprint is on Facebook: CXC Skiing

    We have a great group of guys pushing each other to be better.  Kuz got back Sunday night from skiing down under.  This morning’s intervals 2*25, L3 had a nice smooth train.

  • Ouch!

    By popular demand: Scott Johanik working on his V2 Hop Skate at the Northland Endurance Camp in August.  Nice work, Scotty!

  • Bellows Falls Race

    a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbbvsNT7nI/AAAAAAAAER8/P1uDLtH3gQg/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+7.57.41+PM.png”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 265px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbbvsNT7nI/AAAAAAAAER8/P1uDLtH3gQg/s400/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+7.57.41+PM.png” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514336406129077874″ //aWe had a busy day today that started with a pre-breakfast classic specific strength workout. After classes, we headed down to Bellows Falls for our first XC running race. We are fortunate that the Marble Valley league lets us jump in their races as guests. There are races every Tuesday and we can get to the venue, race and return to school without missing any school or meals (always an important consideration). Today there were 7 teams competing with a total of about 50 runners in each race.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbdySldgQI/AAAAAAAAESE/EGhMbloJn4M/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+7.58.23+PM.png”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 261px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbdySldgQI/AAAAAAAAESE/EGhMbloJn4M/s400/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+7.58.23+PM.png” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514338649813909762″ //aThe PG boys can’t enter the races. They did some skate intervals this morning and then biked down to the race to cheer on the team. They arrived just in time to see the boys lap through at 2.5 km.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbbLJuN4EI/AAAAAAAAER0/rH0IhNP4ZIk/s1600/IMG_8183.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbbLJuN4EI/AAAAAAAAER0/rH0IhNP4ZIk/s400/IMG_8183.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514335778396561474″ //aThe lead pack 1/2 way through the race. The Brattleboro boy outkicked Paddy for first place, but it was a good race for the Padster, 17:23.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbapA0EM1I/AAAAAAAAERs/n3HeFs2LVGY/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+7.59.16+PM.png”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 272px; height: 400px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbapA0EM1I/AAAAAAAAERs/n3HeFs2LVGY/s400/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+7.59.16+PM.png” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514335191889621842″ //aBridger glides in with a 3rd place finish in 17:31.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbaTJ_lr9I/AAAAAAAAERk/hGGlAsy4FaE/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.00.02+PM.png”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbaTJ_lr9I/AAAAAAAAERk/hGGlAsy4FaE/s400/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.00.02+PM.png” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514334816396750802″ //aMac charged the first lap and faded a little, but had a good effort.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbaE5OqYwI/AAAAAAAAERc/U1_Mm3JZY1Q/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.00.31+PM.png”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 274px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbaE5OqYwI/AAAAAAAAERc/U1_Mm3JZY1Q/s400/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.00.31+PM.png” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514334571378402050″ //aCharlie working “it”.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbZrfSimiI/AAAAAAAAERU/TNeTI3ARbgg/s1600/IMG_8192.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbZrfSimiI/AAAAAAAAERU/TNeTI3ARbgg/s400/IMG_8192.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514334134918617634″ //aTyler struggled a bit today, but we are confident that he will feel better once he gets a couple of races under his belt!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbY-5xWHUI/AAAAAAAAERM/I-Da86Jbi50/s1600/IMG_8193.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbY-5xWHUI/AAAAAAAAERM/I-Da86Jbi50/s400/IMG_8193.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514333368933031234″ //aThe girls take off with 6 other teams. I didn’t get a good picture of Hallie or Brooke (sorry), so you’ll have to click on this one to see them!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbYSpdz8rI/AAAAAAAAERE/CLlTEWJN49U/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.04.19+PM.png”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 261px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbYSpdz8rI/AAAAAAAAERE/CLlTEWJN49U/s400/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.04.19+PM.png” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514332608641888946″ //aHeather led the SMS crew to a dominating 1,2,3,4,6 finish with a solid time of 21:03. Our top 5 girls were all within 1:35 of each other so they should mix it up pretty well over the season.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbX-RYpsLI/AAAAAAAAEQ8/YFl9nW3WmtU/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.04.56+PM.png”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 258px; height: 400px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbX-RYpsLI/AAAAAAAAEQ8/YFl9nW3WmtU/s400/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.04.56+PM.png” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514332258580410546″ //aRachel couldn’t stay with Heather on the downhills, but she ran a nice race and finished 2nd.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbXw58FlfI/AAAAAAAAEQ0/iHlqiUneaIw/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.05.55+PM.png”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 262px; height: 400px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbXw58FlfI/AAAAAAAAEQ0/iHlqiUneaIw/s400/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.05.55+PM.png” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514332028948289010″ //aIssy P comes home in 3rd.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbXhepG_kI/AAAAAAAAEQs/vHNzyo5zeQI/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.06.15+PM.png”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 260px; height: 400px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbXhepG_kI/AAAAAAAAEQs/vHNzyo5zeQI/s400/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.06.15+PM.png” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514331763922894402″ //aCambria hammers home in 4th!br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbXPsGv-zI/AAAAAAAAEQk/VWLuoY4E0Zs/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.08.15+PM.png”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 261px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbXPsGv-zI/AAAAAAAAEQk/VWLuoY4E0Zs/s400/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.08.15+PM.png” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514331458299231026″ //aMiyu cruises through the woods.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbW9AK9tZI/AAAAAAAAEQc/WKUeyXO7x0E/s1600/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.06.45+PM.png”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 294px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIbW9AK9tZI/AAAAAAAAEQc/WKUeyXO7x0E/s400/Screen+shot+2010-09-07+at+8.06.45+PM.png” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5514331137268102546″ //aTess ran her first 5 km and paced herself very well. Great job!div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-5460032021473039601?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Vuelta a España: Bump Charts

    As promised from long ago, we have the General Classification bumps plots for the first nine stages of the Vuelta a España. Both versions, all together and split by team are below the fold.

    Don’t worry, more skiing content is in the works for the rest of this week…

    And here’s the version split by team. I’ve ordered the teams by their overall rank in the team classification (click through for full version):

    I think I’ve gotten the jersey colors correct: red for the overall GC leader, green for the points (sprint) leader and blue/white for the mountain points (climbing) leader. The breakdown for the stages into Flat, Mixed, etc. I took from here and I apologize for the business of the color scheme for the stages. I keep thinking I’ll come up with some better system for that, but I’ve just been too busy to tinker with it.

    Related posts:

    1. <Tour de France Bump Charts (Updated)
    2. <Tour de France Bump Plot: Stage 12
    3. <Tour de France Charts: Stage 17


  • Birkie/Cheq Trail Work

    Back in town for less than a day and rejoined the CXC crew for trail clearing on the Birkie trail and Chequamegon course.  The trail is in some of the best shape I’ve ever seen in my life.  Looks like a golf course.  Felt good to take in the refreshing scent of a pine forest and get some sap on my hands after 3 weeks of eucalyptus and gum trees.  Lots of folks out pre-riding the Fat Tire trail for the race next weekend.  Rad to see so many riders.  If you  haven’t been up north lately, get up to Hayward and do some riding.  The trails have never been better!

    Hucking trees wasn't enough work for Gus who hammered out 150 push-ups on the manicured trail.

  • Birkie/Cheq Trail Work

    Back in town for less than a day and rejoined the CXC crew for trail clearing on the Birkie trail and Chequamegon course.  The trail is in some of the best shape I’ve ever seen in my life.  Looks like a golf course.  Felt good to take in the refreshing scent of a pine forest and get some sap on my hands after 3 weeks of eucalyptus and gum trees.  Lots of folks out pre-riding the Fat Tire trail for the race next weekend.  Rad to see so many riders.  If you  haven’t been up north lately, get up to Hayward and do some riding.  The trails have never been better!

    Hucking trees wasn't enough work for Gus who hammered out 150 push-ups on the manicured trail.

  • Birkie/Cheq Trail Work

    Back in town for less than a day and rejoined the CXC crew for trail clearing on the Birkie trail and Chequamegon course.  The trail is in some of the best shape I’ve ever seen in my life.  Looks like a golf course.  Felt good to take in the refreshing scent of a pine forest and get some sap on my hands after 3 weeks of eucalyptus and gum trees.  Lots of folks out pre-riding the Fat Tire trail for the race next weekend.  Rad to see so many riders.  If you  haven’t been up north lately, get up to Hayward and do some riding.  The trails have never been better!

    Hucking trees wasn't enough work for Gus who hammered out 150 push-ups on the manicured trail.

  • Race Tags

  • Beat the heat — Strength in the Woods

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  • Skate Intervals and Mtn Hike Combo

    a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIPG-duartI/AAAAAAAAEQU/Asy4QcItgNk/s1600/IMG_8171.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 283px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIPG-duartI/AAAAAAAAEQU/Asy4QcItgNk/s400/IMG_8171.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513469145265123026″ //aPaddy and Tyler lead the boys during their warm-up. br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIPGIUO5YwI/AAAAAAAAEQM/AoTjGDlCzfU/s1600/IMG_8173.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 234px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIPGIUO5YwI/AAAAAAAAEQM/AoTjGDlCzfU/s400/IMG_8173.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513468215004062466″ //aIssy P has made a nice improvement with her skate technique. Here she is leading the group in their warm-up. After a 10 km warm-up, everyone did 4X 4 minute uphill V2 intervals. We forced them to stay using V2 the whole time so that they would learn how to adapt with a quicker tempo on the steeper hills.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIPFtom-LQI/AAAAAAAAEQE/Jf7kNygac8E/s1600/IMG_8176.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 336px; height: 400px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIPFtom-LQI/AAAAAAAAEQE/Jf7kNygac8E/s400/IMG_8176.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513467756617280770″ //aCharlie looks tough as he hammers the hill into the town of Stratton.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIPFZX8MCII/AAAAAAAAEP8/N3-oMrgkbaA/s1600/IMG_8181.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 370px; height: 400px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIPFZX8MCII/AAAAAAAAEP8/N3-oMrgkbaA/s400/IMG_8181.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513467408545482882″ //aCam pulls Heather over the crest of the hill on their last interval.br /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIPEXNCmayI/AAAAAAAAEP0/j8Vz3Mp_GXg/s1600/IMG_8182.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_H2SCM3lmKm8/TIPEXNCmayI/AAAAAAAAEP0/j8Vz3Mp_GXg/s400/IMG_8182.JPG” border=”0″ alt=””id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5513466271748221730″ //aAfter the intervals everyone did an easy 4 km, then switched to running gear and ran over the mtn and took the gondola down. We made it just in time for lunch and then had birthday cake to celebrate Matt Boobars big day. It was a great workout and we are all happy to have 60 degree temps after the recent heat wave.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-4185772603566458845?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div

  • Home again

    Back in the USA.  Still traveling and will get out a more detailed update shortly, but for now, enjoy the kangaroos I saw on my last day in Mt Beauty.

  • Swedish sprinting star Peter Larsson (six time World Cup winner)…

  • Swedish sprinting star Peter Larsson (six time World Cup winner)…

  • Swedish sprinting star Peter Larsson (six time World Cup winner)…