And I thought that this edition of the McNatt/Keeney/Carlson
Birkie was going to be mellow! How wrong I was! Our trip began quite calmly, a
flight out on Valentine’s day morning.
We left a little late, but arrived in Minneapolis with plenty of time to
catch a 10k sunset ski on the frozen tundra of Cedar Lake, Brownie Lake and the
Bog as it is affectionately known by the locals. We can ski right out Marcia’s front door on
30k of beautifully groomed corduroy, all complimentary of the fine city of
Minneapolis. After an awesome meal of
homemade pasta, a good night’s rest and a total pump up watching the women’s
4X5k Olympic Relay race, we headed out for another up-tempo ski with the entire
family. This was my ? 5th
time on skate skis post op(menisectomy Jan 8th) and certainly the
highest my heart rate has climbed in nearly one full year(since Birkie
2013). At the end of January I conceded
that a switch to the 23K Korte was a wise decision. I felt ok ,but still
conservative especially on the hills, but hammered it in with Terry across
Cedar Lake because a “snow shower” was dumping 4-5 inches of snow and the
headwind fierce. A foreshadow of Birkie
conditions?
We took our time packing and eating lunch before making the
drive to Madtown. The snow had stopped,
it was a Sat afternoon and we figured that the traffic would be light!?!Wrong
again! Did they plow the roads at all? A
missed exit and we ended up in a traffic jam near the Mall Of America. It seems that all of Minneapolis was going
shopping, eating or watching a movie that afternoon. Terry kept the rental car on the road while
many others failed.( 12 or so in the ditch or fender bendered!)
5 hours later and a bit late for dinner, we pulled into
Terry’s parent’s condo. It snowed most
of the way. We did a lot of cheese eating, bowling and card playing. The snow
conditions were awesome in Madison so we skied nearly every day. One day in a near blizzard, the next on super
soft conditions (another foreshadow of what was to come) and Carson and I snuck
in one last ski on ice before the drive to Birkieland!
Remarkably, the drive to Hayward was clear, sunny and
fast. Things were beginning to calm
down. My parents, Dennis and Betty, had
already arrived at our spacious 6 bedroom, 4 bath “cabin” and prepared snacks
and drinks in anticipation of our arrival.
We unpacked and then my Dad announced, “there is going to be a BLIZZARD
on Thursday”. I looked at him with disbelief as even that morning the Hayward
forecast called for 2-4 inches. He also informed me that Leif, Marcia, Lars
and the dog, Freya were arriving that night in order to “beat the storm!” Rumors of a cancelled Barnebirkie were
circulated and disruption of our annual eating and drinking fest at the Angry
Minnow were suggested. Well, we awoke to
nary a flake and even a bit of sun.
Terry, Leif, Marcia, Carson and I did another up-tempo ski(now my 9th
time skate skiing) from 00. Loaded up
Kyler and the crew for the Barnie and watched the sky for signs of the Blizzard
of a Century! A few flakes came down during the Barnie and then abruptly
stopped. Kyler skied 3k and finished
around 10th kid. This after being involved in a pile up with a
teenager(who should have been skiing the Korte) and also losing then finding
his sunglasses!
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| Kyler |
A few cookies and we exited the tent quickly in order to
hoof it to the Angry Minnow for awesome fried cheese curds and beer! Still no
snow, was it all a bluff? Headed into the very crowded Expo where Carson and
Lucy needed passports to obtain their Prince Haakon 12k bibs to confirm their
identity. We didn’t even need these going through airport security!! Leaving the expo near the Beef Jerky van
party blaring dance music, we saw the first heavy flakes begin to drop. Quickly it became slow driving. My nieces,
Anika and Maureen were driving up that night and we were all getting
anxious.
We headed home to start checking on their progress, making
dinner etc. They called to report their
speed, about 35 MPH on the highway. A 5 hour drive was now 9 hours and Mo
wouldn’t let them stop to even pee!!
After Hayward, cell phones were super spotty. Leif checked the drive
into our place and soon suspected they were stuck. About a mile out, their car
sans snow tires, skidded out on an uphill and had to be pushed into a driveway
by friendly Wisconsin passerbys! Leif retrieved the girls with Terry’s help and
we settled in for an interesting night while the wind howled and the snow fell,
lights flickered on and off, we lost the satellite for the Olympic coverage and
bam…Carson fell off a top bunk bed in a dark windowless room. Carson and I
spent the night on and off icing his wrist and medicating until I could assess
the damage in the morning. Several calls
and multiple assessments and we made an appt for urgent care at 1:40 PM, 2
hours ahead with PLENTY of time to get the cars out. Wrong…no plowing of our road until 5:00 PM
and a botched exit attempt left the Subaru stuck in the 12-15 inches of new
snow. We hoofed the mile to my niece’s
car, pushed and shoveled her out and drove as fast as we could to arrive only 8
minutes late! Closer than most of the
Birkie skiers would arrive to their wave start the next morning. A fractured distal radius(forearm), a splint
and a no go for the Prince Haakon was the diagnoses and treatment plan.
Birkie morning, super cold, super
windy, super dark and super early!
I am not sure how we did it, but for once, we beat the
rush! A 5:58 AM departure from our North
of Hayward Cabin(on Spider Lake), a drive down snow covered 00, got us to the
Como lot with the top 5 %(and 1st wave) of vehicles and on one of the very first busses. Weird! Where was everybody? A collapsed tent at the
start line meant no porta lines there, but also nowhere to get warm. Then, I
heard some whispering and peeked under the banned tent flap to see about 10
skiers hunkering down next to a heat blower.
They put up their fingers to quiet me and I told them I would find my
husband and be back. They made me
promise not to tell anyone else like it was some kind of sting operation. And
this from old dudes in ear flap hats!! Hysterical…
Usual start position on the right about 3 rows back, but I
had no idea how I was going to feel. 10
training skis ,the longest around 12k
but I was getting stronger every day. I
had a goal to place in my age group in the Korte and ski around 1:25 or
faster. The first K was agonizingly
slow. The next 4K were even slower. The snow was already like mashed potatoes
for Wave 2. I kept thinking about my sister in Wave 4 and how tough that would
be. At this point, I was VERY happy that
I was in the Korte. The 2 courses split at 9k and I had a feeling that the
conditions could only get better. I
didn’t take a peek at my watch until 6k. I double taked when I saw the 31
minutes that showed on the face. For several minutes I pondered the thought
that I had started my watch 5 minutes early, but it was true! Over 5 minutes
per K.
I did spy some familiar flowery tights on a woman I had
skied with last year,so I thought I was with the correct group of skiers. Without any Weston races this year, I was
rusty skiing in a group and had to apologize for crowding a male skier while
ascending a hill, breathing super hard.
Other than that, pretty routine lines on the Power line hills. Everybody
was slogging up slowly in the deep snow.
We turned off at 9k and I almost yelled with joy!
Immediately, my skis started
flying. I was passed by a Wave 2
woman and one man. I managed to latch onto the 2nd one and we
cruised through a number of wave 1 Korte men and women. On the downhills, the classic skiers seem to
glide away from us. The final 5k and I knew I could finish this one, so I
powered ahead of my skiing partner. I didn’t want to have anything left at the
end of this race. My first skate race since the Costume race of one year ago
and my 2nd race of any kind for the entire year(the Vasaloppet
classic was my first).
I sped down the final hill, made the turn and hammered into
a head wind for the final little uphill. This was tough but NOTHING compared
with the lake finish stories from the
Birkie skiers. I was met by
Kyler, Carson with his splint and my parents, battling the elements of the day
to cheer me in. I changed up and heard their near miss story for Lucy to start
her wave. She made it by 2 minutes!
We watched Lucy fly in. She was disappointed in her slow
time but was only 5 minutes off of last year. Pretty good! We jammed in the
car, managed to find Maricia’s Subaru among the large snow drifts in the Como
lot and hoofed it down to the finish in Hayward. More traffic! Will it ever
end.? Despite what seemed like several hours on the road, we jogged over to the
finish and saw Leif hobbling in, kick double pole with one leg(his
adductor/groin on one side had given out completely). He had the world’s strangest icicle hanging
off his chin! See photo. There is a
Birkie icicle contest and I hope he enters it!
Terry found us and we heard his race story. I will let him tell it in
his own words. Not exactly his conditions but he was happy to be done and drinking
a Surley.
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| Leif Goatee |
We waited a bit more, took the handwarmer handouts from a
Christian group and Marcia triumphantly skied down the straightaway. She looked pretty spent, but was smiling by
the time she greeted us. We saw many
super, duper tired folks this year. A quick peak at my race results and I had
managed to win my age group for the Korte.
Back to the full length Birkie for me next year. And my knee felt
terrific! There are so many more chances for memorable
and hysterical moments in a 50K. I am starting my training now!!
Back to the cabin on Spider Lake and we consumed lots and
lots of calories and exchanged race
stories. In Boston by Sunday PM and a
new cast for Carson on Monday!
Always an adventure!!
Sue McNatt
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| The McNatt Clan |
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