.: Super Tours

There is a good gap between Trials in Thunder Bay and the NorAms in Duntroon, but not quite long enough to make a trip back home to the Yukon worth while. Those are some of the disadvantages of being from the Yukon, it takes of lot of travel time to get there and back, and it's not cheap. So we decided to stay out east between Thunder Bay and Duntroon. Since we were already on the road we decided that it would be fun to get some racing in, and the Super Tours (american equivalent to NorAms) in Minneapolis seemed like a nice fit for our schedule. We rented a car in Thunder Bay after the races and drove down.

I had a little set back last week when I got sick. I wasn’t able to train much prior to the races so I didn't know quite what to expect. I wasn't actually 100% sure if it was a good idea to start the races this weekend because my lungs were still pretty congested. I decided to race but didn't feel very good in Saturday’s 15km skate race, it was obvious to me that I hadn't raced or done any intensity in a while. I felt like I was missing that top end racing gear. I ended up finishing 11th. Saturday it got above zero and the snow was starting to melt, then that night the temperature drop about 15 degrees, so the course the next day for the mass start 20km classic was very icy and fast. We raced 6 times a 3.3km loop, which didn't have any huge climbs in it to break to up the field, so it was a very tight race. It felt more like a criterium than a ski race. You needed to be really aggressive to stay near the front. I consider myself lucky not to have fallen or been taken out because racers were falling right, left and centre throughout the entire race! It was very chaotic. The pace wasn't too crazy most of the race, and I was skiing in the middle of the lead pack until Torin Koos (the eventual winner) made an attack on a climb with about 1.5km to go. I was in about 12th place at the time and everyone was trying to chase him down. I slowly started picking guys off up and over the hill, until I was in 5th. Over the last km I was able to move up a couple more spots and ended up 3rd! Making onto the podium was a nice way to finish of the races!

Now we’re back on the road headed back up to Thunder Bay to catch a flight over to Toronto to prepare for our next races in Duntroon!

I would like to say a big "thank you" to the Lund family for being so kind to host us during our time in Duluth, and to the Wessling family for hosting us in Minneapolis! We wouldn't be able to do what we do without the support of these great people!

Podium from the 20km Classic. 1st-Torin Koos, 2nd-Brian Gregg, 3rd-David Greer. Contrary to my facial expression, I am happy to finish on the podium! Photo ©Reese Hanneman