Thursday, December 13, 2018

First Race!

SLUSKI is back for the 2018-19 season! This past weekend, a van full of us went down to Gore
for a race on Saturday. It was a rude awakening in terms of the early morning wake-ups and freezing weather; however, it was a great time and a sign of more good things to come.

In the lead up to racing last week we got on snow at Star Lake. The only problem was that there was too much snow...? I'm not sure that there can ever be too much snow, but our pre race speeds in the sinky powder were definitely one of those times where you just have to enjoy the outdoors and laugh it off. I know that I definitely looked like a flailing giraffe. Having a couple feet of powder in December, though, is really special.

After that, those of us going to race headed to Blue Mountain Lake for a wonderful dinner at Kyle's parents. We had fun hanging out in front of the fire and playing with the dogs, Bebe and Harry. By this time of year, all of us are pretty dog deprived.

Kyle's parents had us over for breakfast as well (where the oatmeal was much better than the instant stuff we would have had otherwise!), and then we headed out. It was really cold, but that made for great kick and hard tracks. Everyone did well. The boys went out first to sweep the first 4 spots. Shout out to Brian for taking the win on his home course! The girls went out a bit later to also sweep the first 4 spots. There was a bit of confusion when Jackie and I both had technical difficulties and missed our starts... Hey, there's a first time for everything! However, the starters were incredibly generous and let us jump in when we were ready.

In the end, we had a fun day and some classy podiums! Just a note, the timing got a bit messed up, so the podiums are not quite right. Nathaniel was actually 3rd in the men's race, and there may have been some confusion with the women's results after Jackie and I threw off the start order. Also, those who stayed back also deserve a special shout out for enduring the POW at Star Lake for a Saturday time trial.

Thank you to the organizers at Gore for putting on a great race, Kyle's parents for being so welcoming, and all of you for sticking with us. We'll be racing at Nakkertok this weekend, Craftsbury after that, and then a brief break for Christmas before Senior Nationals and the carnival season! It's a wild ride, so stay tuned.

RESULTS

L-R: Tim, Brian, GH (Graham photo)

L-R: Steph, Lucy, Erin (Graham photo)

YAY TEAM!!!

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