"Race" Report: Canadian Birkie

When the weather gets cold and the snow flies, I like to change sports and pull out the cross-country skis. I'm definitely a recreational skier, but like most bike racers, I can't quite get the competitive fire out of the system. So, I headed up to Edmonton this past weekend for my third crack at the Canadian Birkie loppet. I wasn't racing against anyone but me, with the goal of beating 6 hours, 11 minutes (my 2011 time, done on a bad hip)

What was shaping up to be great conditions turned horrid in the morning, with light snow falling and temps right around freezing. That's a waxing nightmare, and the red Powergrip wax I had on my skis didn't work great, but was no worse than anything anyone else was using. There were racers stopping to scrape wax off their skis less than 500 metres into the 55 km long event. After lots of crashing and frustration, I finally came across the finish line in 6 hours, 35 minutes. That's 3 hours, 15 minutes after the winner of the 55 km Lite category (Brian McKeever)

Oh well. I guess I'll try to break 6 hours next year. Many skiers commented that was some of the toughest conditions they had ever seen.

(Photo provided by my lovely cheerleader, Joelle)