Putting together potato fields, a winter with over 200 inches of snow, sunshine, 20 degree nights and 60 degree days,  there is liable to be some good spring skiing.  I had heard about the famous Aroostook County crust cruising, but this spring was the first time that I was able to experience it.   Below are a few pictures from our latest adventure.

 The spring time has been good to us up here, the fifteen foot pile of snow in my front yard has shrunk down to a pile of dirt and twigs, the weather has been good and I have been riding my bike around, running too.  BethAnn and I were even able to take a trip to Chicago to see my old college roommate get married, bravo Christian and Jane!

The pictures below are from a couple of Saturdays ago.  We were a diehard group, including Brent Jepson, Bob Sprague, Carl Soderberg, Ben Paradis, Jeff and Sheri Dubis.  The skiing really was excellent, miles and miles of potato fields allowed us to do a two hour loop without retracing steps.  

Will and I were also able to get into the UMPI testing lab to get a baseline down for the training year to come.  The woman in the foreground of the picture below is Dr. Sue Beaudet, our physiology guru. 

After distance nationals in Fairbanks I spent some time in Oregon, a few days in Portland and a day at the coast.   A few pictures below.

After some disastrous races up in Fairbanks it is nice to be thinking about some R + R.  However with the snow situation being so good in northern Maine I may have one more race on my schedule - the final Aroostook Cup in Madawaska, ME this weekend.  The ski club up there just spent some good money on a new lodge and trails.

I must say that Fairbanks in March is a far cry from Fairbanks in October.  The days were long and very sunny.  The races were well organized and the courses were tough.  I forgot to take pictures, so instead here are a  couple from my trip to Oregon:

A self portrait.

The Oregon coast is nice.

Who doesn’t love a starfish?  These guys were bigger than they look.

The end of the line for Lewis and Clark.

I was hoping that the Sugarloaf marathon would slip under the radar because of my unfortunate final 10m, but since I have seen the picture of me flounder-ing around in the snow at the finish on two different websites this week, I figured I had to post something about it. The ending aside, I had a fun time that day. I have spent a lot of time in Carrabbasset Valley, racing and training over the years, it is one of my favorite places, only an hour drive from the town that I grew up in.

I have been hanging around home for a while now doing some training.  Tomorrow I am making the drive to Carrabassett Valley to do the Sugarloaf marathon.  Then it is

It took ten years from the time that I completed my first Birkebeiner until I could do the

Nothing like a little Birkie fever.  Tomorrow I jump a plane to Duluth, thursday night I will be in Cable awaiting the start of the American Birkebeiner this weekend.  I have done the Birkebeiner three times in my life, and only the first time was the race done on a full course.  I am going to go ahead and say that this year might be a rare full course year.  Can’t wait.  The last time I skied this event I can remember the main street in Hayward packed with people three deep from the lake to the finish line.  I have never seen so many Packer’s hats in all my life…

We really are enjoying a nice winter up here in northern Maine.  Even with a little rain and some warm temperatures the past few days, there is still a pile of snow in my front yard almost ten feet tall now.

Here’s to a full Birkie!!! 

I am taking a few weekends clear of any long races to put in some training for the Birke.  Can’t wait, I hope there is snow out there in Wisconsin.

 This weekend I did the 5k Karen Sprague Memorial Aroostook Cup in Stockholm.  This is a cool event, not least because Karen Sprague’s husband’s brother

Video from today’s prologue, a few of the podium finishers are in here:

Arrived in Canmore last night and skied around the venue this morning.  Things are shaping up here for a good week.   Check out these photos.

Nationals are over and I am in transit on my way home to northern Maine.