No slush this year! It felt kind of odd, actually. If you raced this event for the past 2 years you know that the wet and sloppy conditions have been the name of the game (particularly in 2017 when the course conditions could be described as chocolate milkshake-consistency mixed with rocks and sticks). Of course, the true testament is that this race always happens and is always a good time.
This year we traded slush for cold, as those of us in Northern VT woke up to temps of -12 in Bolton and -14 in Westford. Crossing the mountain line into Waterbury though, things warmed to a balmy 9F and for the race it was more like low teens. Some easy kickwaxing, some beautiful snow-covered trees on a narrow old-school course, and a bright sunny blue sky made for a very Vermont-y race if there ever was one.
Another thing that I particularly love about this race is that it brings together everyone: BKL, Junior, and Masters racers all in the same event! Shows how great the club scenes are to have all ages from all across New England making the journey. Oh, and the older skiers also had the same start lineup, so it meant there was a lot of skiing with your teammates out there:
Meredith and Timmy. Biathlete Timmy beat a lot of strong Eastern Cup classic skiers, showing how fit and strong he is as he gets ready to take on the 2nd half of the race season
Not counting Max who is quite busy with USBA, every Cobb raced this year! Here’s Charlie who had a top-10 finish
One thing that was particularly nice was having a relaxed atmosphere after a lot of stress surrounding the first Eastern Cups and US Nationals. I think the Junior team really needed the change of pace, and it seems like they made it into quite a weekend with a sleepover hosted by the Grossman family in Woodstock and then the Olivers in Montpelier. Truly a dysfunctional traveling circus of motley teenagers but in the best way possible.
Rose, sporting what I only now recognize as the vintage VOLVO bibs from NENSA days of yore
Coaches raced too, as Adam, Liam, and Rosemary fought valiantly to bring home some Club Cup points for MNC
The Masters contingent raced hard and also helped rake in those Club and Zak Cup points! Mike Millar avenged his dislocated shoulder from the slush situation of 2 years ago, Katie had one of her first races with the club, race regulars Karen and Ellie fought among the fray of powder, and another great Bogburn went down in the books.
Next week will be a new adventure for the Junior team aka Pugs aka Dysfunctional Traveling Circus, as a group of us will head over to Gore Mtn for a Mid-Atlantic race. Have heard only good things about this venue, and it’ll be a nice chance to mix it up with the best of NY as we’ll spend Friday night over there in prep for a short classic race on Saturday morning.
This past weekend was also the first EISA Carnival…congrats to many of our alums who raced, some in their first collegiate meets ever.
Eliza Thomas (SLU), Will Solow (Colby), Ben Carnahan (SLU), Isaac Freitas-Eagan (Williams), Greg Burt (UVM), Charlie Maitland (Clarkson), and more. Keep up the hard work!
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