Vasaloppet 2008
There really is something about the Vasaloppet that is hard to describe. When you compete in it, you are really taking part in a historical event. It has been around since 1922, and even the ski-fanatics that live next door (the Norwegians) have to admit that the Vasaloppet is the Big Race. It is incomparable to any other ski race in length, in the number of participants, and in prestige. You can feel all of this when you are at the start line in Sälen. The newspapers are full of stories like the one fellow who completed his 55th race this year at 77 years old, or the guy who has raced the Vasaloppet 32 times - on the same pair of skis (quote: "I think they are still good for another few races"). Or how about the women who used to race disguised as men before they were formally allowed to participate in 1977.For a country that feels a bit self-conscious about how they have lagged behind their Norwegian neighbours in terms of cross country skiing dominance since the early 1990's, the Vasaloppet is a chance to say "Yeah, maybe you guys have had Bjorn Daehlie and Thomas Alsgaard, Vegard Ulvang and Petter Northug, but we still have the greatest ski race in the world."
The conditions this year were almost a carbon copy of last year: 0 degrees and fresh snow. A waxing nightmare. you either have no grip, or you have a foot of show stuck to the bottom of your skis. I had decent skis, which is all one could ask for. Swix silver klister with a top layer of Rode Multigrade violet. I had some problems with icing, but not as bad as the dozens of guys we passed on the side of the trail, scraping snow off the bottom of their skis with their skipoles. That had to suck.
Last year the elite men were incredibly slow because they essentially had to "break trail" through a layer of soft fresh snow that lay in the tracks. This year the organizers avoided this by having a skidoo precede the racers, towing 3 guys on skis who cleared the tracks for the racers. However, those of us just behind the elite men still had the same problem as last year: passing was virtually impossible. Sure, there were 4 or 5 tracks the entire length of the race, but everyone crowded into 1 or 2 tracks because the more people passed over a track, the faster it got. To pass, you would have to jump out of the fast track and double your energy output in order to barely pass by a couple skiers. Then, you had to hope someone would let you back into the fast track before you died. More than once, I tried passing only to end up losing a couple positions because nobody would let me back in the fast track. Very frustrating.
The thing which I think is so attractive about long distance racing is how - for those few hours - you have a single purpose of mind. Everyday thoughts and concerns completely disappear. Your only thoughts are "Is this a good pace? Am I going to hard or too slow? Do I need to eat?
Should I try passing this guy?" It is a very simple and uncluttered existance.
Jörgen Auckland won the race this year, after having placed in the top 10 for the six times he had previously raced it. He is a Norwegian, which kind of rubbed the Swedes the wrong way (My girlfriend's grandma was "pissed") but they are a good natured bunch in general and one must say that Jörgen deserved it. He broke away with 30 km to go and raced to the finish by himself for the last hour and a half. He ended up 3 and half minutes ahead of the second place finisher - his brother, Anders. This is quite extraordinary for a race that has seen the last seven races decided by sprints.
At the start as I was contemplating the awful snow conditions, I was reminded of a trick that Bill Koch - the only American to win an Olympic medal in xc skiing (in Innsbruck, 1976) - used. When the snow was 0 degrees, he would just rough up the kick zone with sandpaper and use no kickwax at all. The roughed up zone would provide the kick. He used this method with some success on the World Cup. Of course, I didn't have the resources to do this 1 hour before the start, but I was gratified to hear that this is exactly what Jörgen did to his skis. Interestingly, Jerry Ahrlin decided to race with skate skis, and no grip wax at all. Ballsy. I look forward to seeing the race video, because double poling up that first 2 km long hill must have been pretty difficult.
My strategy this year was to carry absolutely all of my food with me, and not stop at all. I succeeded, but I may try something else next year. Carrying a couple of kilos of fluid in your Camelbak and pockets definitely has an impact on your efficiency. I make a habit of imitating the pros in whatever field I am interested in, and the top skiers in the Vasaloppet carry absolutely nothing.
Speaking of pros, I want to congratulate Dan Roycroft for his 24th place finish. To my knowledge, that is the best Canadian finish in the Vasaloppet ever. I happened to run into his wife Tasha Betcherman before the start, which is a minor miracle considering there are about 20 000 people milling about. I would have loved to talk to them after the race, but that just didn't happen. I saw Tasha didn't finish the race, I am hoping that she didn't get injured or something.
This year I finished in 904th place, an improvement of 13% over last year. Next year I want to be in the 1st seed, which would mean I would have to be in the top 500. To do this I will have to knock off about 15 minutes from my finish time. This year I improved by 10 minutes, so I think that is a reasonable goal.
posted by Jeff @ 3:19 AM
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