Super Tour Weekend Recap

Thanks to the efforts of NYSEF and ORDA New York ski racers were offered the opportunity to race the nations best skiers in a very familiar setting. To say that NY'ers had an unfair advantage may be true but with the level of talent in Lake Placid any advantage was welcome.

(Reed getting after it!)

Their were 4 athletes racing this weekend that will be representing the U.S.A at the World Championships. The opportunity for our juniors to see these athletes up close and personal is priceless.

(Waxing up our boards for the classic race! Toko Green Binder with some White over it worked all day for most of us some liked a little Mint mixed in)

All of the our athletes experienced the high's and low's of racing this weekend. There was not time to waste though as all of the juniors had a high school race back in Rochester Monday morning! The results this winter have proved one thing that many already know. If you want to become a better skier you better be doing something over the summer!

(Happy to be racing)

In the high school race on Monday the boys took 6 of the top 10 spots! The girls were not to be outdone and took 5 of the top 7 sports including going 1st-4th !! Congratulations to all of the R.N.R Juniors this weekend ! One thing about NY is that it is dominated by high school skiing, without the cooperation of the local high school coached the junior program would not exist! To become a better ski nation we need cooperation and I'm glad to know that the Rochester area can see past the lines that divide most and move forward in developing the best student athletes possible

(The old man of the group)

The senior team stuck around Saturday and went out Sunday morning to preview to Loppet course. The skiing was great and we were all sad to leave. I don't think you can beat the Porter Mnt Loop to East Mnt and High Notch anywhere in the country, lots of climbing and absolutely beautiful scenery.

(at the top of high notch)

We revealed our new suits this weekend, so the secret is out now who is racing for R.N.R ! After a great weekend of racing we are happy to welcome our newest member! We are not in to signing out of area skiers in hopes to win point races, as we are more interested in winning THE RACE! But we decided to make an exception for the G.O.A.T !!

(The G.O.A.T)

Great racing by everyone this weekend a big shout out to all of the skiers and clubs from NY who took advantage of the SUPER TOUR on our home turf! As I have always believed if you want to be the best you need to race the best because you will have a choice to make when you are done.

Are you in or are you out ?

U.S XC Nationals Recap

When it comes to skiing, there's a difference between what you think it's going to be like, what it's really like, and what you tell your friends it was like.

When Reed, Adam, and I headed off to Rumford I think we all had different expectations, thoughts, and ideas of what it was going to be like when we arrived. When we returned to Rochester the three of us knew what it WAS like to race against past and future Olympians, Junior National Champions, and if for only one week we were ski racers at the biggest show on snow and dirt !

Adam, and Reed raced in the classic sprint, 15k classic, and 10k skate races while I raced in the 15k classic, and 30k skate. As many of you already know the heat wave that hit New Years weekend greatly effected the courses in Rumford, but like any championship event it did not effect the competition. The negative of the lack of snow was that the volunteers, athletes, and coaches all had to do some shoveling, the positive about skiing 15k, or 30k on a 2.5k loop was that you had a lot of fast skiers to ski behind, ski past, and watch ski away! The opportunity to ski a lap or two or three behind a national champion gives you hope and knowledge that you can do it if only for a minute, you know if you work hard enough you can do it for 1 min, then 2min, 3min, 4min, and then hopefully for 30 minuets.

Here are some pictures and video from the past week. Enjoy and hope to see you all at the Super Tour this weekend in Lake Placid !!

To watch the video in a full size window click here: Nationals Skate Race

Ready to race !

After waiting around for another day the boys and I are ready to race. It looks as though postponing the classic race for a day will enable the organizers to patch together a 2.5k loop for tomorrows 15k. Hopefully I will be able to draw on my past experience running indoor track while at Virginia Tech so that I do not lose track of what lap i'm on. It will be a hamster wheel with skiers going round and round and with somewhere around 120 races it should prove interesting. It should also be a great opportunity to jump on the tails of some world class skiers and hitch a ride for a lap or two!

Yesterday we went to Great Glen trails in New Hampshire to seek out some snow. The trails were in great shape despite the recent thaw. Thanks to Eli Walker and the rest of the staff at Great Glen for getting the trails in shape for everyone. It was also great to see that they only charged each skier $5.oo to ski when they could of charged whatever they wanted ! You don't often see that kind of inhospitality or common sense when it comes to things of that nature and it was a huge relief for many! Thanks Again

Here a some pictures from yesterday and today. Enjoy !

(Waxing the boards up for tomorrow)

(Hanging out at the races)

(Adam racing in the qualification)

(Reed racing in his qualification)

(Our home for the week)

Nor-Am Biathlon

Last week Marty and I left Rochester and headed to our home away from home the Bradley's in Barrie Vermont. The Bradley's have been awesome letting us stay at their home for many different reasons the last few years. It makes everything a lot easier having a place to stay where you can get a good home cooked meal, enjoy great accommodations and most importantly great conversation.

(Our waxing facility at the Bradleys ! World Class)

The reason for our trip last week was to race in the Nor-Am Cup Biathlon races in Jericho Vermont. Well the report from home was that the temps were rising and the snow melting we were greeted with -6 deg on the first morning of competition. The sun came out and all three days of competition were as good as it gets with nice firm tracks and lots of snow. These races also acted as the world junior trials so their were a lot of teams, parents, and coaches making the atmosphere at the range pretty electric.

(Standing Shotting at Jericho)

It was great to see all of the New York juniors at the races. NY has a long tradition of producing some of the top biathletes in the country and it looks like we have a few more on the way!!!! The races went well for both Marty and I as we were able to go 1-2 in all 3 races. Since just about everyone who is front of us on the national rankings list is in Europe racing the podium was left wide open for the taking, and neither of us were complaining. The juniors also had a great week with Carly Wynn leading the way and qualifying for World Juniors !! Also qualifying for World Juniors was Silky Hynes a transplanted NY'er. Also competing and doing very well were NY'ers Alex Goff, Patrick Detraglia, Brian Halligan, Will Fieroh, Elizabeth Izzo, Hilary Saucy, and Maddie Phanuef

.

(My helpers for the week, Toko Cold Powder mixed with HF Blue says the kitten)

I would also like to thank Art Stegen, and Sean Halligan for all of their help on the range. Sean also had a great race on Thursday, showing his son that he still has it!

Results are posted here. http://www.eabiathlon.org/

All in all it was a great week. I'm now in Rumford Maine for U.S Nationals with Reed and Adam ! Update to be posted SOON

!!

(Also my entertainment)

It's all about the PIE !!

For most NY skiers the Osceola Christmas race is the unofficial kickoff to the ski season. It's not called the "World Famous Osceola Christmas Race" for nothing ! With over 240 races it is one of the largest races in NY.

Not only are early season bragging rights on the line but so are delicious pies for the winners of each age group! In addition to earning respect and pies race organizer Julie makes custom pottery awards for the top3 in each age group. Check out all of her beautiful and unique products at http://www.earthandironstudio.com/ So needless to say their is a lot on the line for this early season race to make it even more interesting the race was classic technique this year. Thankfully Hugh came through laying down some sweet tracks with his new grooming set up and the snow gods came through and blessed the tug will with plenty of the early season white stuff.

With all that was on the line R.N.R decided to come out with the guns blazing and blazing they were. With both overall winners and 4 of the top 6 overall having ties to the summer program things could not of been much better. Congratulations to Chad Day and Amanda Moreland on the overall win and to Jason Hettenbaugh, and Hanna Barnes on their top 3 overall performances. In addition to being in the top 3 overall we also had some great junior performances from Eric and Reed going 2 and 3 in the J1 boys and Adam winning the OJ boys race. Steve also had a good race finishing 2nd in the M4 race. All in all it was a great day to be a part of R.N.R !!

Currently R.N.R is training hard for some big time races coming up. Marty and Jason are in Vermont racing the Nor-Am Biathlon races in Jericho. So far they are off to a great start with Marty taking the victory in the Sr mens category and Jason placing second!! Next week Jason, Reed, and Adam are headed to Rumford Maine for U.S Nationals, and then most of the team will be back together for the Queensbury JOQ followed by the Super Tour in Lake Placid. We are also going to have a surprise for all of you soon so keep your eye open!!

Our day in Pictures

Recently our weekend practices have been at our local alpine hill. No matter what you call it moose-hoofing, ski-walking, it's a great workout!

Since we have been doing this workout for a couple of months the number of repeats is getting pretty high and starting to create a serious "SITUATION" for my legs!

So to give them a little more this week we decided to keep the number of repeats the same but to add a little spin session at the end.

The data was good and the attitudes even better!

After all the hard work it was time for a treat.

The kids seemed fine but the workout almost killed one of us!

Even after and Epic workout you still have to get up the next day and get after it, no matter how you feel, how the weather is, or what your friends are doing ! It's all on YOU !!

Get out there and get after it!

Keep On Rollin'

(Amy headed to St.Lawrence to ski next year, headed to the bottom to ski to the top today)

We are going full speed ahead here in Rochester. Most of the athletes are now done traveling for the summer and are focused on getting the job done ! We are still missing a few that are finishing up there last week at various summer camps and family vacations, but we had a good solid group last night to get after it, and that they did!

(The ladies headed out)

When we fist started coming to this hill the everyone was doing between 4-6 repeats. Last night everyone did between 8-10 repeats. Not only has the number gone up but the avg time has gone down !! It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that the kids are getting fit!

(The one thing that about roller skiing is that when you fall it is going to leave a mark, the questions is how fast do you get back up?)

Last night I took some video so that they could review there technique. I waited to take the video on the last two sets so that we could see what was going on when they started to get a little fatigued. We still have a lot of work to get done but things are looking good!

(If you ski up a big hill you gotta go back down! Coach Weston running the lift service)