The city sprints in downtown Madison were all that I had hoped they would be. Some people had their doubts that the races would happen, because the temperature was in the mid-50's prior to the races, and when we showed up on Friday afternoon there wasn't any snow in sight. But, due to the hard work of Yuriy Gusev and all the volunteers, the "impossible" became POSSIBLE.
Maria Stuber cruising around one of the 180 degree turns below the Madison's capitol building. The races were a total success and exposed many non-skiers and aspiring young skiers to elite-level racing.
Lars Flora sliding in the slush. We raced on snow that was stock piled and trucked into the city. We raced a 100m World Record attempt and two team sprints where athletes alternated racing 1k...3-4 times.
First leg leaders in the women's classic race. The course was fast and relatively flat, so it turned into a double-pole derby on skate skis and boots. Thanks to Renee Callaway for captivating the scene with her wonderful photos of the races!
3rd and final tag off in the ladies classic race.
Women's podium for classic team sprint. Strandberg/Deyoung (Saab/Salomon/Fischer), Dehlin/Williams (USST), Ronsse/Stursova (APUNSC/Rossignol). My APUNSC teammates are either home in AK or at World Championships, so I paired up with Stursova of Rossignol-- we made a great duo!
"Experienced" Strandberg vs. "rookie" Ronsse battling it out to the line-- experience was final victor.
Ladies podium for the skate team sprint. Stursova/Ronsse, Deyoung/Strandberg, Zimmerman/Owens.
Brian Gregg bringing home the win for CXC.
Dennis Kruse usually gave us something to laugh about when he was announcing at the Supertour races. The American skiing community is fortunate to have a guy like Kruse, who goes out of his way to support athletes in reaching their goals. Kruse built an additional cabin for his visiting friends to stay in. I get the impression that getting to stay there is right of passage for aspiring athletes since "all" the big time American skiers and cyclists have stayed in Kruse's cabin. Heather and I got to stay there during our week in Cable, WI...does this means we're going to be legit skiers now?
Exploring the capitol building after the race-- definitely the most scenic post-race warm-down I've ever done!
Maria Stuber cruising around one of the 180 degree turns below the Madison's capitol building. The races were a total success and exposed many non-skiers and aspiring young skiers to elite-level racing.
Lars Flora sliding in the slush. We raced on snow that was stock piled and trucked into the city. We raced a 100m World Record attempt and two team sprints where athletes alternated racing 1k...3-4 times. 
First leg leaders in the women's classic race. The course was fast and relatively flat, so it turned into a double-pole derby on skate skis and boots. Thanks to Renee Callaway for captivating the scene with her wonderful photos of the races!
3rd and final tag off in the ladies classic race.
Women's podium for classic team sprint. Strandberg/Deyoung (Saab/Salomon/Fischer), Dehlin/Williams (USST), Ronsse/Stursova (APUNSC/Rossignol). My APUNSC teammates are either home in AK or at World Championships, so I paired up with Stursova of Rossignol-- we made a great duo!
"Experienced" Strandberg vs. "rookie" Ronsse battling it out to the line-- experience was final victor.
Ladies podium for the skate team sprint. Stursova/Ronsse, Deyoung/Strandberg, Zimmerman/Owens.
Brian Gregg bringing home the win for CXC.
Dennis Kruse usually gave us something to laugh about when he was announcing at the Supertour races. The American skiing community is fortunate to have a guy like Kruse, who goes out of his way to support athletes in reaching their goals. Kruse built an additional cabin for his visiting friends to stay in. I get the impression that getting to stay there is right of passage for aspiring athletes since "all" the big time American skiers and cyclists have stayed in Kruse's cabin. Heather and I got to stay there during our week in Cable, WI...does this means we're going to be legit skiers now?
Exploring the capitol building after the race-- definitely the most scenic post-race warm-down I've ever done!
2 comments:
We think you are already a 'legit' skier. After all you have world cup points now.
The Valaas'
Thanks Peter!
It was quite an honor to compete at the World Cup this year, but I'm still working on scoring my first WC point. It's possible that the work outs I had on your WiFit game could become my new secret to success :)
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