Tour Final

I finished the Tour in 6th place overall!



Congrats to my teammates Jennie Bender who was 1st and Caitlin Gregg finishing 2nd

Today was a fun race. With a bit of a disapointing 5km classic yesterday, I started todays race 1 minute and 17 sec behind the leader in 14th spot. I just went as hard as I could and managed to pass 8 people crossing the line in 6th spot, with the 5th fastest time of the day. It was an exciting couple days with lots of spectators, and action going on during the races.

Here is a video clip from the start of the Mens 10km mass start on Saturday:

Tour de Twin Cities

Hello form the Midwest United States!

I am nearing the end of the Tour de Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul) , a total of five races over 10 days that are all combined in the end to give you an overall winner.

3 down, 2 to go! The first 3 races were held at Wirth Park right in the City of Minneapolis; a 6km classic, 9km skate, and a skate sprint. It was not quite the usual mountain climbing, race course that I am used to skiing like back home in the Rockies. But rather more rolling hills and small gradual climbs, basically skiing in a park... Needless to say it took a me a couple a races to figure out the pacing. You have to go out hard and ski hard the entire time. The low altitude and small climbs allow your body to easily recover and never really fade or "hit the wall", which often happens in places like Canmore.





I am currently sitting in 7th spot overall. The 2 remaining races will be held at Green Acres just outside of Minneapolis. Tomorrow is a 5km mass start with an intermediate sprint halfway through the race... I'll explain this. First off, 5km is a very short, fast, race. A mass start will be very chaotic. Secondly, there is a intermediate sprint, which means that at 2.5km there is a marking on the course where the first person to reach this spot gets $250, plus bonus points contributing to their overall placing in the Tour. So basically tomorrow is going to be a very fast, intense race. Should be interesting...

Sunday finishes off the tour with a 15km pursuit start skate race. You can check race results here

So far I've been having a great time, laughing a lot and happy to be spending time with my entire team. :)

And the rest

Glad to say that the next two races went quite well.

The sprints were held on Saturday in a snowy blizzard. I qualified 6th! I think it may have been my best qualifier ever! The heats were tough with the fresh snow everywhere. If you did not manage to get out front right away on the packed track, you had to work REALLY hard get around people moving through the fresh snow. Unfortunately thats what I ended up doing for most of my heats, and had a bit of a tumble in the B-final putting me in 12th spot.





The next day was sunny and beautiful conditions for the 10km classic. I skied a nice and controlled race and ended up in 8th spot. Top 5 is just within my reach and I know a podium is just around the corner.


I head down to Minneapolis tomorrow to join up with CXC and compete in some Super Tours for the next couple weekends. I am feeling strong and excited to compete. My racing feels better and better as the year goes on, and I have a feeling that things will only improve from here.

CXC girls looking tough and ready to race!


Thanks for reading!

Whats Going On?

Eek! Sorry for the prolonged silence. During this time of year the weeks just seem to fly by.

Okay quick recap on the races following Silver Star. I travelled to Rossland BC to compete in 2 more races before the Holidays. Skate Sprint and Skate 10km. I was pleased with both races. I was strong in the sprint race and almost made it to the A-final, but just missed out putting me in the B-Final, at which point I had very little steam left after giving it all on the my semi-final heat. So I ended up 12th for the day. The 10km race the next day was a slow start for me, but as the race went on I felt stronger and stronger as I started to move forward in position. I finished in 7th, but another couple hills or laps and I think I could have moved into the top 5.

Next up, Christmas Holidays! I had a wonderful couple of weeks, spending time with friends and family. I even managed to make it out to Nelson over New Years to do a little bit of ski touring. It was AMAZING!

I am now out west again in Whistler BC, competing back on the NorAm circuit. Yesterday was the first of 3 races this week, a 15km pursuit race. I have to say it was NOT one of my better races this year. My body just didn't have much in it for some reason. I finished the race quite far back, but decided to put it behind me and do everything I could to recover and focus on the the next 2 races.

And thats were I stand at the moment. Tomorrow is a skate sprint followed by a 10km individual start on Sunday. The weather has been beautiful and there is lots of snow. I intend to give the next couple days everything I have and hope to see some improvements in my results.

Competing on the the trails of the 2010 Olympics. Yes, that is me with my pony tail flying straight up in the air.