FasterSkier

piWarning to all a href="http://www.the-nish.com"www.the-nish.com/a‘ers. The commentary below is from me - Devon Kershaw. Read with care…/i/p pAlways a learning experience, and sometimes humbling, the World Cup rumbled to an exciting start this past weekend in the resort area of Beitostolen, Norway. After a long training season, hours spent on google translator internet-stocking the skiing gossip pages, we (the Canadians) finally got things underway this past weekend, on the biggest stage our sport has to offer./p pAfter both tune-up races last weekend (where we got those first race jitters sorted out), we decided to stay in Bruksvallarna a few extra days before heading to racing crazed zone of Norway. After a busy weekend, Bruksvallarna started to look like downtown Calgary on Thursday night – dead quiet  - which is what we were looking for, and the skiing remained fantastic in Sweden./p pRegaining some energy, and skiing a lot took up most our time, but we fully enjoyed a great little café down in Funasdalen (the closest town to Bruksvallarna – probably 15km away) that is half café/half gym and is owned by Team Sweden’s Doctor. We pounded back cappos on the plush couches shoeless (it was the first café I’ve ever been to where you must take off your shoes before entering – the floors are heated, and making for a clean, comforting vibe) and bantering with each other both verbally and via twitter, etc… Hey – nobody ever accused us of NOT being dorks./p pWe blasted to Norway on Wednesday, and cruised convoy style along greasy, icy and downright sketchy Scando roads for 6hrs as we snaked our way slowly on Norway’s fabled twisty roadways./p pI’ve been in this game for a bit now, but arriving in Beitostolen you are quickly reminded just how big a deal xc sking is in that country. It was hopping. The ski trails were busy with a couple dozen nations testing skis, giving interviews, doing intensity, etc… It’s quite the scene – and I just love it./p pBeitostolen’s 5km track is quite unique – a twisty, rolling course full of challenging descents, gradual climbs (notorious in Scandinavia) and (a new addition a few years back), a big leg shattering uphill at about 3.5km. While not a killer course, it is tough and the rolling terrain, corners and fast descents make high concentration a must out there if one hopes to do well./p pWe were expecting people to be in great shape. We were expecting huge fields (notorious in Pre-Christmas World Cups – this one had 103 men on the start list), yet one thing we weren’t expecting was clear, sunny weather. The sunny weather was beautiful but came with a major caveat – along with some surprise face tanning; we were also blasted with high winds. Heavy headwinds aside, the windy conditions also meant that the snow’s little moisture was sucked right out, leaving it very icy (yet slow on the uphills/flats because of the lack of humidity…) and the  +4 temperatures left the descents a rutty, icy, mess./p pI had been feeling good. Last weekend I posted on of my best ever 15km skate races. Warming up, my energy was great but I was over stimulated (espresso + 1supst/sup World Cup on dicey conditions = over stimulated). I crashed hard twice in my warm up, getting hit hard by an old, old, old Russian ski tester barreling into me, and once more on my own as I lost concentration on a tight corner. I was rattled. I was nervous. I wanted it so badly – maybe too much so./p pThe race itself was brutal. I couldn’t get any purchase with my edges on the flats/climbs and was floundering and slipping all around the track. I was Bambi on ice. Also, I was getting quite frustrated out there because of it. The legs felt good, the body too – but I just couldn’t get my body to ski the conditions well. I was also descending like a 5 year old – taking poor lines through the corners and coupled with not being able to push into the descents because my skis would slip out every second stride, it made for a really frustrating day./p pI ended up a very dismal 37supth/sup. 1:17 off 1supst/sup (Hofsaas – a young Norwegian biathlete shocking us all with the victory). While our team struggled with the conditions, others didn’t and superstars like Northug, Vittoz, and Hekkinen (and many others) excelled. I was very disappointed – upset too. After such a great start last weekend, 37supth/sup wasn’t what I was expecting. Also, at the line I felt totally helpless. Not tired/dead etc… I tried my best, but it wasn’t good enough./p pA serious positive was that we had Petter Larsson (recently retired sprinting super star) with us helping out, and he turned out to be great in all aspects. He’s a solid dude all around, and his wealth of experience was perfect after a hard day. Joking around with us he made us quickly realize how long the season is and that to be great – you have to learn from – THEN put the disappointments behind you, and fast. Over a great dinner (the food in Beitostolen was UNREAL good. Best on the World Cup by far!) we talked it out and regrouped./p pThe following day – yesterday – was the 4X10km relay - the premiere event in our sport. All morning on TV was 50 years of Norwegian relay dominance. Clips from back in the wooden ski days to now - and you could almost feel the country, all 5 million of them - on the edge of their couch cushions eagerly awaiting the first relay of the year./p pNorway won, as expected. Northug spanked Russia in the last 400m for the hometown victory. The Canadians – us -  raced much better than the previous day./p pI was the lead-off guy. In true weather madness, things changed from the sun/wind of Saturday to a snowstorm. It snowed 15cms over night, and another 10 cms (at least) on race day. For the duration of the 1supst/sup leg it as snowing the entire time - heavy at times - before stopping for the rest of the race, but conditions were very soft. I was happy because I skied the conditions exactly how I wanted to. I went to the front, controlled the race and led for about 6-7km. I ended up tagging off to Ivan in 3suprd/sup place with the leaders. It was a good, solid race for me. I skied strong and relaxed and was the perfect way to wash away the bad taste of Saturday. Ivan was great in leg 2, and Alex (leg 3) and Nish (4) skied smooth, and much, much better than the Saturday. We ended up 10supth/sup (out of 26 teams), and Nish had a really gutsy last few kilometers after being passed by skate champs (Hellner, Cologna, and Hekkinen) and blowing up a bit – he clawed his way from the back of a chase group, and passed all but one in the finish. We ended up 10supth/sup – a solid outing – no denying it was a much-improved Canadian squad on Sunday./p pThings happen fast - the races, the packing and the moving. We are now in Kuusamo after an early morning travel that took us from Oslo up north of the Arctic Circle. We are fired up to see Sara, George, and Dave Wood in a few days and although it was only yesterday that we competed, we all cannot wait to tear up the tracks this coming weekend./p pBig ups to  the-nish.com. Loving it./p pDevon./p

img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ktkva6KHGm1qzvvqho1_500.jpg"/br/br/pPeter Larsson just loving the sun. Being from Scando, this was his first Sun sighting since Mammoth with us back in October. An amazing racer, an amazing dude. He was a big help this past weekend, and the whole Canadian team in Beitostolen is giving him some big ups. Check the toque!/p