Ride and Glide Birke Stories (2008)
Chris Lenhart
It was great conditions, but I didn’t see an ice patch on a downhill and went down hard and smacked my head on the snow. I broke my pole and had some neck whiplash –Then had to ski with one pole from about 16-20 km or so. Other than that it was great.
Mike Baker
From The Caboose:
Someone has to be the last in the club. And the funny thing is I thought I had a pretty good first real Birkie. At 6:03:35, I do have ample room for personal performance improvement. Where did I go wrong? Maybe I should not have taken so much time in the water stops, chatting, leaving clothing behind. Maybe it was when I got a 10 from the crowd for a spectacular downhill fall when I could not sneak by the woman in my lane on that sharp left. Maybe when I realized I was skiing only with Classic Birch Leggings Club members from 45K on. Maybe stopping for a beer at the party on Lake Hayward delayed me a bit. At any rate, last year I did the asterisk Birkie and was absolutely beat at 23K. This year I did the real Birke and still had gas in the tank coming into Hayward. So the Ride and Glide lessons really helped – and I need many more. Mike “The Caboose” Baker
Tim Nelson
I did not have a good race. It started by just making my wave, but with a full bladder and too many layers. Out of the gate I broke a pole and could not find the right length replacement until the second food stop. After an early pit stop and layer adjustment, I recovered after that but started to cramp at about 30km in my thighs and arms. I had to herringbone up the hills even though I had the energy to ski up them. But I kept reminding myself it was a beautiful day, a great course, and a great experience. I wanted to approach ski between 4 and 4:15 and was well behind that at 4:46. There is always next year.
Steve Thatcher
I did not expect much from the Birke this year, my 15th. Due to a lot of circumstances I had not trained that much and had developed a back problem which curtailed my training even more. My back usually started giving me problems at about 2 hours. The week before the Birke my two hour ski left my back in pretty bad shape. That would get me to OO and the waiting car. I had started on the back exercises, I learned the last time this happened (about 4 years ago) and they were helping, but the big improvement came when I picked up a "Back Hyperextension Chair" at Now Bikes. That worked like magic. My back was feeling pretty good by Birke morning. I has gone from thinking I would not ski to skiing for sure at least to OO and then deciding. The cold temps at the start (-6) worried me as I have trouble breathing when the air is that cold/dry. I wore a neoprene face mask that covered my nose and mouth. That worked wonders. I suffered no breathing related problems. I highly recommend using one when the air is cold/dry they really work. No coughing after the race at all. By OO I had slid the mask down around my neck as I didn't need it anymore. As planned, and executed, for a change, I went out very slow. Slower than I ever have. I wanted to survive until OO and hopefully continue especially under these near perfect conditions. At OO I could feel my back but it didn't seem to bad so I told Jyneen that I would continue. I rested about 5 minutes and did a complete upper body clothes change to lighter layers and headed out for the last half of the race. I started to feel real good and picked up the pace. I carried my own gel (Hammer Gel) and energy drink (Accelerade) Both worked better than what was handed up at the food stops. The Clif drink gave me stomach problems and the Hammergel just worked better. Just before Bitch Hill I was feeling low and I was out of Gel. Scott Everson came by and gave me one of his. Some strange brand, pretty strong but it worked. I got an immediate buzz. After Bitch Hill I really started feeling good and caught Scott and John Bradford who had passed me earlier. They looked to be hurting, I was going to try and pull them in but lost track of them. On the flats just before the lake I jumped in behind a 9th wave guy and we flew the rest of the way. I've never skied that hard at the end of the Birke before. I V2'd the entire lake and like a mad man up Main Street passing at least 5 people and just about collapsed at the finish line. I had a smile on my face, I've never felt better at the end of a race and my season had been saved. Not a great time but mentally a very fulfilling race. "Negative Splits" feel great, now I just have to figure out how to get a decent time while doing them. If you have back problems consider the Hyperextension exercises. All the web site swear by them and now so do I.
Andy Mork
I settled in with some new friends at the condo, waxed my skis to Fastwax's recommendation, ate some pasta, and got to bed early. The weather station said that the weather would be 28 high for race day. In the morning, it was -4F, and I was torn about what to wear. Figuring I'd warm up, I wore my UA base layer & R&G jersey/ thin tights and Craft windstopper underoo's and was very comfortable once the race started.
As I lined up in wave 4 (full 51km, skate), I promised myself that I would stick to my strategy for the day: Take the first third easy, start to push 18-34km, and go for bust after that. I would also get ahead of my calorie consumption by taking a gel at least every 40 minutes.
My legs felt pretty flat as we started up the first of the bumps along the power lines and was beginning to wonder if not skiing since last weekend was such a good idea, but they warmed up soon enough.
Cough, cough. Hack, hack.
About 7 km in, I fell on a very small downhill. My foot caught a rut, I crossed ski's and superman'ed to the ground, ski's helicoptered above me. I got up quickly & kept going. Very embarrassing--my balance has improved exponentially this year, and I'm glad only a few witnessed it.
When the big hills arrived, I was ready, having done plenty of single poling during training. Sometimes it felt even faster than my V1. The view approaching Firetower hill was incredible--a line of skiers from heaven to hell! Going up it wasn't too bad--there were worse ones later on.
Shortly after passing 00(midpoint), I reached for another gel. I was out! I'd only had 4 to that point, but I'd brought more than that. I must have dropped some on the course while reaching into my jersey pocket. I still had some concentrated Gatorade in my hip holster, and that was able to hold me over until I hit the next aid station that had gels. I had a Clifshot Plain at the next stop. I hate the flavored kind with intense fervor, but this was the worst thing I've ever tasted. To make things worse, it was cold and extra viscous. I needed three "energy drinks" to wash it down.
My second (and last, thankfully) fall was at the second Biler hangout. A steep downhill curving to the right, I avoided the two traffic-jammed inside berms in favor of the smooth outside next to the classic track. Unfortunately, someone else with the same idea fell in front of me, and to avoid her, I stepped over between the classical tracks, lost my balance, and just before regaining it, caught my tips in the powder 6" from the jeering audience. Instead of plowing into them, I kneeled down, rolled onto my back, skis over the top of me, and back onto them in one fluid motion--a talent carried over from my steep & deep downhill experiences.
The next section of the Birkie was much more forgiving: lots of rolling hills, flat stuff, easy uphills, fluid corners, etc. I started to push a little harder, V2ing & carrying as much momentum as possible. This was my favorite part of the course, and I still felt fairly fresh. I started to drop packs of (mostly wave 3) skiers.
Cough, hack, cough.
Things started to get difficult a little before the last aid station--I could feel the wear on my body in my core. I finished my Gatorade, grabbed some drink and immediately took off on to one of the most difficult hills of the day. Sad, because it wasn't very steep at all. Once I made it to the top, the terrain again opened up, and I resumed V2. I sprint V1'ed what I guessed was the last hill with the knowledge that I had less than 5km, and soon enough I was on the lake. I was trying to hold a V2, but the sun had already cooked the snow soft....and my god the line of skiers was long. I decided to shift down to an open field skate at the hardest pace I could hold, planning for a sprint through Hayward. This was probably the most painful section of the race for me. I passed more & more skiers, threaded the needle through a few in some ankle deep corn connecting the lake to the streets of Hayward, and started my last V2 sprint.
As I took a full speed right turn onto main street, someone yelled my name. I took a hypoxic look back and nearly fell, balancing with my left ski at hip height for a good 15 meters before I caught myself. I passed ~5 people on main street and finished.
My chip-taking friends from the condo laughed at the huge icicle hanging from my temple down to my jawline as a photographer took my portrait.
In the end, the race was easier than I'd been led to believe--I could probably thank ideal snow conditions for that. It was tough, but I was expecting worse. The trail was WONDERFUL--beautiful scenery and well developed "flow." I was dropping lung fragments on the trail about every 30 seconds, but it was probably the most fun I've ever had at a ski race. I now know why everyone does it! I'm hooked, I'm going back next year, and I'm determined to do better.
Time: 3:26
Garmin:
Avg pace: 6:45/mile
Max Speed: 26.8mph
Avg HR: 158
Max HR: 172
Calories Burnt: 4491