The 2006 Fischer Loppet took place on Saturday under sunny skies at the Hardwood Hills ski center near Orillia ON. The day consisted of a 40 km or 20 km skate race early in the day and shorter races for younger skiers later in the afternoon. The 20 km race course covered the entire circuitous network of the trails at Hardwood; with only the odd small loop omitted (the 40 km race did the 20 km loop twice). The terrain is very rolling and the trails have a ton of quick turns and short steep climbs. There is little time for rest on these trails that really are well suited to the skate technique. (Read On...)

Conditions were finally perfect for ski racing. The trails were very well groomed, firm and fairly fast. The sun was out and despite a stiff wind the temperature was very reasonable. I competed in the 40 km race. The start was a good fast pace although I felt comfortable skiing with the two lead skiers. The pace proved to be too tough though as the opening 5-6 km is quite hilly. An inadequate warm-up forced me to back off the lead pace and try and settle into a slightly slower, steadier rhythm. Unfortunately my steadier pace allowed two skiers, who I’d made a comfortable gap on over the first couple km, to catch up and eventually overtake me between the 8 and 10 km point. Frustrated, I found it difficult to find any comfortable pace at that point and really struggled over the next 10 k. Fortunately, I was able to settle into a good rhythm and eventually accelerate over the last 10 km. Overall I felt solid the entire race and should be pleased with the effort. Tactically, however,  it was a disaster! Without really warming up I started at much too fast a pace. This tired me out and allowed the other skiers to catch back up. Being caught is always mentally tough and I allowed them to build too much of a lead between the 10 and 20 km mark (I was already focusing on who was behind me, content to hold onto that position). When I eventually felt comfortable again (after about 30 km), it was too late to mount much of a charge. I was gaining time over the final 5 km when my pace had quickened to that of a much shorter race. However, unless the competition had been severely suffering it was much too late at that point! I ended up securely in 5^th spot and 1^st in the men’s 20-29 category with a time of 2 hours 10 minutes and 19 seconds (Lap 1, 1:03:53, Lap 2, 1:06:25). Dave Wieskopf raced the 20 km race which started 30 minutes after the 40 km. He skied a great race to secure 3^rd overall (of 66 starters) and 1^st in the 16-19 category with a time of 1:05:35. Racing later in the day were the Farintosh brothers. Stuart handily won the boys 10 and under 5 km with a time o 19:19, while Ian placed 8^th (in 24:33) of a strong 17 skier field. Brent Farintosh crushed the 5 km field in the 13-15 category, winning in time of 15:39. Good work to everyone who raced, this was a fun event and one that I’m sure will be popular again next season.

Start of the 40k skate

They're off

Andrew out on course

Andrew, still out on course

Dave on the podium - handily beating the competition

Andrew on the podium

Dave and Andrew celebrating their medals!

Andrew out for a ski on Sunday at Highlands Nordic in Duntroon - another great day on perfect trails