Ken Jones Classic
I was pretty optimistic about this race, mostly because I'd be rocking the new ski setup which is waaay lighter than my first set of touring skis. TLT 5's, Mustaghs and Plum Guides make for a much lighter and easier to use system, so I was hoping to do quite a bit better than I did in Nelson.
We rode the lifts up to the mid-mountain lodge and I went for a quick warm-up walk. When I did this in Nelson, I could already feel the legs complaining about the heavy boards they had to move. This time, I felt fresh and efficient. Good stuff. The race got off and I started slowly as usual, soon finding the group I was with too slow. I passed the 3 nat. team ladies nearby and pushed myself on the groomers up to the top of Whitehorn. I had to hammer through the steeper bits but it felt pretty good up to that point. I managed to keep pace with one of the nat. team guys up ahead, keeping a good distance back but at least not losing time.
I transitioned pretty well and dropped into F-Gully. The legs were still OK, but skiing those TLT5's without the tongues was a challenge. The boot flexes back quite a bit so trying to lift the ski tips took extra effort and planning. Here I got passed by a dude on Fritshis and Titans. Confidence shattered.
I came up to the transition with the overzealous cowbell guy, and headed up the second climb. Here I was still ahead of the 3 nat. team ladies but the dude on Titans was slowly pulling away. Looking back I probably could have hammered hard here but I didn't want to flash and crash. Up to the top of Brown Shirt, then down the sunny gully to the third climb. This is where I got passed by all 3 nat. team girls. They transitioned faster than me and I let them by not wanting to jump in the middle of a catfight. I kept pace behind the slowest and here is where the faster two opened up a gap. I passed the slower one at the start of the bootpack where she was crushing some drink and climbed up to the top. I was pretty average on the bootpack. Back down Brown Shirt, I skied like a man possessed and almost crashed with some of the public on my way to the Temple Lodge.
I transitioned slowly, then got moving through the trees. This part of the course pissed me off, really flat and bushy which meant that I didn't really want to get moving fast. The slowest nat. team girl caught me here and I let her by, but I held on. Eventually the track started to go up and so I put down the pedal. Starting to bonk but so near the finish, I didn't want to stop and rehydrate or fuel up. The chick left the transition as I got there, but I caught her on the way down and got by in the moguls. Here I flashed the mogul technique and pulled away a bit, then tucked and skated out to the finish at the base area.
I finished 11th out of 13 men, so hugely disappointed. The people I was battling with should not have been my competition. I need to up the fitness overall, so some midweek activity is planned for the future. So far I've been a couch potato all week and only gotten out on the weekends, that has to change.
K-Country
Sunday Pete and I headed down the Spray Lakes Road to Hero Knob and did the loop. Great weather with perfectly clear skies. The sun did beat down on us in the bowl on the S side of the col, which acted like a dish and baked us. We took the ridge to the col which I think is far safer, and after a bit of pit digging, dropped into the N side for a nice run down and out. Lots of cool terrain out there and if we had more time, I would have liked to do some explor8ion.
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| Pete near the Hero Knob col. |
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