Pikes Peak didn’t go at all the way I’d hoped. I’m planning on writing a reflection on the race, but don’t feel like you have to read it. It’s more a therapeutic exercise for myself than anything else!

The past week, we hosted my parents, so we were busy hiking, biking, eating and hanging out.

I put in about 23 hours of training and ended with the inaugural Cougar Ridge Classic on Saturday. I was the first athlete to the high point of the course, which went from Lionshead Village in Vail all the way over the mountain to Minturn. My 80-90-second lead only vanished in the final mile when Josh Smith snuck up on me for the late win. I figured I’d be passed far sooner on the downhill, so I actually walked away quite pleased with the effort.

The week in skiing

• Interesting how the summary of the FIS Autumn Technical meetings failed to include a pretty substantial piece of news, namely that the Russians will not be competing in the World Cup this year, again. According to Inside the Games, Swedish national team general manager Lars Oberg said the possibility of athletes from the two banned countries returning wasn’t even considered. “There was no discussion. We were simply informed that the suspension of Russia and Belarus has been extended and that their teams won’t compete in FIS events this season,” Öberg was quoted. Expressen reported that Oberg supports the decision of the FIS. The ban also includes the World Championships in Trondheim, where the mayor, Kent Ranum has previously stated that Russian athletes are not welcome to attend.
• Some interesting comments on the news from Jelena Valbe, who has a father in Ukraine. She said the best skiers in the world are Natalya Nepryaeva and Aleksandr Bolshunov.
• Dmitry Vasiliev said general interest in skiing is dying without the Russians.
• Did you guys seeing the excerpt on Nordic Insights on former SederSkier Podcast guest Johnny Steel Hagenbuch’s insane Strava week? Check that it out…now I feel like I’ve been undeniably lazy for my entire life! I’m actually a fan of these types of crazy efforts — to find out my logic, you’ll have to tune into our next podcast….
• Another person who is training like a maniac — Therese Johaug. She hit 100 hours in a month for the first time since Dec. 2021. Apparently, treadmill tests reveal her form is not far from where it was in 2021 and 2022…
• Frida Karlsson has said that Johaug has always been the ‘benchmark.’ Side note: it sounds like Karlsson is still planning to retire after 2027.
• Some changes are coming next year in Ski Classics. There is a new points system which elevates the status of the Grand Classics (Marcialonga, Jizerská50, Vasaloppet, and Birkebeinerrennet) and there are updates to the overall team structure, including increases to the number of athletes from each gender and from countries outside the Quota Country Index (QCI) for each team. Also, could this be the last weekly wax ever? It might be if Langrenn.com decides to hire me as a freelance writer….
• Finland and Norway are in trouble and Sweden is just fine, at least when it comes to finances. The Norwegian Ski Association will lose two of its three main sponsors next year in Sparebank1 and Equinor. Meanwhile, Finland Skiing Association is going bankrupt as athletes are being forced to finance their own altitude training camps and cover every World Cup weekend. TV2’s expert Petter Skinstad believes on reason the Swedes are fine is that the women are “significantly better advertising pillars than the Norwegians,” as reported by Expressen.
• Speaking of the Swedish women, Emma Ribom just completed her first rollerski session with poles since the beginning of July. The star has been dealing with a lingering muscle injury around her ribs, according to Expressen. Three things: 1) she’s run a lot more this summer as a result, 2) the hardest part has been dealing with the mental aspect of not being able to follow her charted out plan of targeting specific areas for ski improvement and 3) she thinks the silver lining is that she will be in better form later in the season.
• In other Swedish news, it sounds like Alvar Myhlback is prioritizing the World Championships in Trondheim this year, but if he can tell that the traditional skiing season isn’t shaping up to be amazing, he might switch over to Ski Classics late.

Yes! We totally agree!

Letter: World-class trail over passenger rail

For your reading enjoyment

A classic Colorado cycling event is being revived in Eagle County

It’s kind of amazing how much better biking is in the fall! It’s not as hot, the leaves are out, etc. I took part in the soft-launch of this event and it was fantastic. Very unique on a few fronts: 1) 20-mile gravel section along a river — all of which is totally rideable on a road bike, 2) you get away from the I-70 corridor and see how massive and varied this area of the state is!

Eagle County’s Sullivan Middaugh wins XTERRA short-track world title

Sullivan was a Battle Mountain runner AND Nordic skier! He placed second at the Colorado High School state meet, in fact. Obviously, I think he’s found his way just fine in the triathlon world, but part of me can’t help but wonder what kind of a skier this guy could have been with the right guidance and inspiration! If/when he ever retires from tri, he can join the SederSkier Ski Classics team and we can try and find out how well all that swimming, running and biking can translate to double-poling.

88-year-old on journey to finish all of Colorado’s half-marathons makes Vail trail race his ‘birthday run’

From the archives: lower the expectations

From The Vail Trail – February 11, 1972

The Estes Park Trail actually did a little bit more in-depth reporting in advance of the race. Some course descriptions are included.

So, what happened at the Keystone Caper? Thankfully, the Vail Trail wrote up a splendid report. Well worth your time!

The best part of the article, however, was the photography:

It appears the event reached a 10th running in 1982 – another good read – and also a 12th running in 1990 (which makes no sense from a math perspective….) as part of the Salomon Gold Rush Series. It was still going in 1993….In 1994, the “19th annual event” occurred (what is with the Summit Daily and math …or like, what am I missing here?) and featured a clinic from Olympian Kerry Lynch.

I can’t find anything else on the race….but in searching for it, I found a story in the Vail Trail from February 1978 on the Governor’s Cup race, which featured 600 competitors!! Ok, I’ll save my historical findings on that race for next week….

In the meantime, training camp is quickly approaching….

From the Fort Lewis Independent – FLC December 6, 1968