I arrived in Stockholm on Tuesday evening and drove to a town called Gavle, the “feather-tree-town”. I went for a jog late that night to get the stiffness out of my legs from a long day/night of travel. It was a cute town from what I could see in the dark, and all the trees were decorated with pink and yellow feathers, hence the name. Half way through the run I found myself with a big smile across my face. Being in another country that was new and unfamiliar was like a breath of fresh air.
The next day was a 9 hour drive up the north cost to a town called Pitea. Peter managed to get us some pretty cheap accommodation from a local friend who runs a ski site (not the one we raced at). It was a small “cabin” right on the trails, which turned out to be quite a bit smaller then we had originally thought. It may not have been a four star resort, but once we got settled in, it started to feel a little more like home. It also had a small kitchen where we were able to cook all our own meals, which was nice.
Giant Bridge we drove over on our way to Pitea
Dylan, Brooke and the kiwi (Andy) infront of our ski chalet
Okay, now to the racing.
April 4th, and 5th were the final races of the “InterSport Cup” series in Sweden (kinda like the NorAm series in Canada). It was a two-day pursuit. A 3km skate race on Saturday, followed by a 10km classic race on Sunday, where you start with the same time back from the leader as you finished in Saturdays race.
The course was a lot of fun. It was really similar to Canmore with a lot of steep hills including a 44m climb and fast turning downhills. There was a ton snow with a small dump of fresh snow the day before the race. Temperatures were about –5˚C at night with highs of around 2˚C during the day, which kept the snow hard and dry.
The Climb (pictures always seem deceiving)
I placed 22nd after the first day and finished 20th on the second day… but in truth that was 4th last and 3rd last respectively. I could give you a number of excuses like the fact that we had just gotten off the plane 3 days earlier, which may or may not have something to do with it. But truth is those girls were fast!
I don’t think I could have raced any faster then I did on those days. The classic race was probably one of my best classic races of the season. Skiing in Europe is a real eye opener and I think this is exactly what I needed. Racing here makes me realize just how fast I need to be racing in order to compete with the best in the world. A few of the girls I raced against here are constantly top 30 on the World Cup circuit including one, Charlotte Kalla that can win a medal on any given day.
All I can really look at are the positive sides of this. These girls get to race against each other all season and are constantly pushing one another to their limits. Its no wonder that they can produce so many athletes that are competitive on the world cup. And I know that the more I race against them the faster I will be as well.
Gord Jewitt and Brooke Gosling ready to race Saturday morning
Gord Jewitt powering out of the start line, and finishing an impressive 15th that day!
Once we are settled in and finally over jet leg, I think my racing will improve over the next couple weeks. Today Brooke and I are taking it easy and exploring around the town of Pitea. Tomorrow we are going to visit some kids a local ski school, and then having dinner with a local ski family in the evening.
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