What an exciting day I had today, marking my best result in a NorAm race to date, a respectable 7th. No, this wasn’t in a 30km, or 15km or even a 10km race; this race was just over one kilometer. The NorAm’s are in Rossland BC this weekend and today’s was a free sprint. My goal for today: try to actually qualify and have a decent quarterfinal. Well I did myself one more, finishing seventh in an event no one would have thought possible for myself to accomplish.
I qualified today in 17th, some 12 or so seconds behind the winner, not bad I thought, squeaking by my arch-sprinting-rival Christopher Butler by just under 0.2 of a second; the stars were in my favor today. Come quarterfinal racing I saw most of the race in 5th place, until after I took the final corner into the stadium pretty tight, zooming myself into 2nd at the line (I was usually pretty good at drawing the shortest line from A to B). A little fist pump at the line and I was into the semi’s.
The semi final was pretty uneventful. I raced the course in 5th and finished 5th, there was no chance for A-final, but baby steps I told myself. Now this was my first “final” in over a year, so I was happy to just be able to start it. After the gun, I was surprisingly and was able to ski comfortably in 3rd. On the final turn, I pulled a “Kevin in the Quarterfinal” and sprinted to the line grabbing the first spot. Now its not usual that someone would do another hand pump, especially considering it’s a B-Final, but this was one personal victory I couldn't be happier about. This may be the first time since my midget days that sprint racing left me wanting more. So I finished the day in 7th, one spot from being near the podium and bringing home some serious cash, but tomorrow could go better, or else write sprinter on my forehead
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| Gord trying to get his Cowboy on after his 4th in the sprint |
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| A definite Cowboy (or girl) theme going on with AWCA |
[Update]
Well I spoke too soon. Sunday marked another great day for me, claiming the 6th spot and grabbing a place in the money. Even after a rough sleep, and a little bout of morning sickness, our car getting a flat on the way up and hence colliding into a tree* and a sluggish warm up, I felt strong in the 15km classic race. Seems like most distance races I like to start things off easy (had the 9th or 7th fastest first lap) and then kick it into high gear on the final stretch (4th fastest final lap). The course profile was one a favorite of mine, nice long uphill’s with a moderate grade; this stuff I can push. The day went from good to really good when just before the awards they announced the World Champs team; Mr. Butler made the team. Can’t help but feel happy for a guy that missed out on U23’s but has now qualified for the event of the season. And then of course the day went from really good to class 3 good when we all stopped for some McDonalds just before leaving Rossland to enrich our lives with some wholesome junk food. Berardi had taken the day off. The fog that had surrounded us the previous few days had now left, leaving frosty trees with a sky brighter than blue itself. The birds that had been sheltered away strung out of the woods and began their masquerade of musical empathy. Something was different about this day.
“I don’t suppose we’ll ever see Rossland again” I asked mother hen while I stared into the distance with a tear in my eye. She glanced down at me, still wearing her raggedy apron, “We may yet, Mr. Sandau. We may”. [cue music]
*you shouldn’t believe everything you read. Havn't you seen the House-Hippo commercial?
![Dreaming of a White [May]](http://www.sandau.ca/media/k2/items/cache/19f9cefdfb07230a68581d617885a3af_S.jpg)
