Day one was a 10 k skate with 2 laps of the lower 5 loop. I began the race conservatively and was caught on the first lap by Len Valjas who started 15 seconds behind me. After lapping through the stadium I was able to drop him on the first hill and began cruising along the top. Unfortunately I think the course wasn't designed with me in mind cause the after the top of the first hill the rest of the loop is just flat high speed two skate which I have trouble maintaining a cruising speed on. Near the end of the last lap Robin and Stefan caught me and I was able to stick with them finishing pretty strong just ahead of Robin who was the winner of the day. I ended up finishing 1st junior, just ahead of dave by 4 seconds and an acceptable 12th overall.
Yesterday was the 15 k classic. Overnight Ontario gave us a nice rain storm, which made the waxing a nightmare for most of the field. The race was pretty good for me and I was able to get grip for the first lap and a half. Coming through the stadium I was able to latch onto Stefan (who stomped the field by 50 seconds) and held onto him for almost a full lap till my grip began to fade really fast. Soon after I lost stefan, Robin caught me and I fought to stick onto him, both of us double poling most of the lap with our now slick skis. I was able to finish just behind him, putting me in 1st jr. by 10 seconds on David and 8th overall!
Next we have the classic sprint tomorow, which hopefully I will be able to do half descent to do well in the aggregate at the end of the week.
