My brother, dad, and I the night before the race.I have wanted to register for this race for some years now; not just for the challenge but for the tradition of skiing, my love for skiing, and snow sports in general. So my good buddy Ryan Sportel and signed up and committed to a training regiment which was an experiment of its own. I did not really know what to expect but my first goal was to finish the race somewhere around the time of 3 hours. My second goal was to have a good time with family, friends, and the race. My last goal was to learn some lessons while I was out on the race coarse.
I am excited to say I met all my goals while home for this race.. First, I finished the race in 3 hours and 30 some odd minutes...I was excited about this considering we started in Wave 10 (known as the fun wave also the very last wave of the race). The snow was a bit challenging at times in this wave knowing how much firmer the previous waves had it...anyways, that is besides the point...It was a great wave and we both had fun starting there..
Secondly, I definitely met my goal of having fun with family, friends, and the race in general. I got to hang out with my brother Ryan and his wife Sherie, which as usual, was great to see them..I get lots of motivation from my bro so this was good to hang with him pre and post race!! I also got to hang out with my #1 fans, mom and dad...it was nice to have them there cheering us on throughout the race, it gave me some extra push during the hard climbs! I also got to go to Red Wing and hang out with my mother and father-in-law..A pleasant experience as usual! Along with that side of the family I got to hang out with two of Molly's sisters prior to the race and after to enjoy a few beers at The Sawmill in Seely, WI...a true Wisco bar experience!! Another nice treat was that I got to hang out with childhood buddy Troy and his fiancee Angela...These two are awesome and wish we could hang out more...JD was there too!! Have not seen him since Troy and I drove to Laguna Beach about 10 years ago....And last but not least my race buddy Sportel...I stayed with Ryan and Amy in St. Paul and they were with the whole time..Ryan raced with me!! Wow...now that I extrapolated on that goal I will move into my third and keep it simple....
My third goal was to learn some lessons and I did this about the middle of the race as I was skiing with a Birchlegger (someone who has skied 20 or more Birkie's) who was probably in his 70s-80s.... While chatting with him up a hill I realized that the point of the race was not to beat a time or necessarily to even finish..It is to enjoy your time right now, keep doing what you love, and always challenge yourself!! I can picture this man's face right now...you could tell the race hurt, but he had the Birkie Fever and I think he passed it on to me!! I have stowed this anonymous guy in my archive of very admiral people and hope to one day be a Birchlegger myself!! Cheers and I hope you enjoy the photos....Thanks to the Muppet for being the adamant photographer that she is!!!
Sportel getting into the High Fluoro in my brothers garage!!
Ryan Sportel, me, Ryan (my brother), and my dad...in the garage getting the skis waxed..
Coarse shot, coming into a check point..
Me coming into one of the stops..I felt like how the guy to the right of me looks!!
Sportel(Ryan) getting back started after one of the stops..
Amy Sportel and my dad at one of the stops cheering us on..
This is main street of Hayward, WI..The finish line..A very kind sight!
Ryan and I post race...hungry, tired, and looking for beer and water!! I am already looking forward to next years Birkie and the good times that it brings!!
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