I need to publish a blog about the whole European trip on the Team Birkie Website, so head there for more detail on everything, especially my account of Birkebeinerennet, which I will try to keep shorter here.
Seems fitting to go out with the OG. Birkebeinerennet is a must do skier pilgrimage. A 55km classic race that goes over two mountains, a textbook high Norwegian plateau, and down an epic 10k descent towards Lillehammer.
Some classic grey Norway vibes in Oslo
I was super fortunate to have my friend Sindre from Oslo take me in this week. We were supposed to join the Oslo student ski club (OSI) for the trip to Lillehammer, but ended up going up early and staying with Sindre's extremely kind and welcoming mother for the week. The hype leading up to the race was much more subdued in Lillehammer than at Vasaloppet and Engadin, but in the days before, we skied at Sjusjøen, where there was certainly more activity. In one of these early days I got to cheer on my Team Birkie teammate, Julie, who (was smart and) did the skate version of the race.
Skiing in Oppland is hard to beat. Always perfect tracks that never end.
My cozy little room
in Lillehammer
Julie making me retroactively very jealous of skating.
My wax plans with Madshus kind of fell through for this race, and all of my crazy Norwegian friends from OSI were double poling. Peer pressure, complex snow conditions, and some stupid confidence gained from Vasaloppet convinced me to double pole. Tough choice, I realized quickly. The first 10km of the race is UPhill. Then, instead of resting on the flat to mostly downhill plateau, an insane headwind kept the work up until the next mountain climb, which about ended me. After the second mountain, the terrain relaxes a lot. My skis weren't fast, and I wasn't in a competitive position, so I just skied it solidly to the finish. Passing through the absolute party in Sjusjøen before descending to the finish was certainly the highlight. The energy there was unlike any other race, and Julie and Zak were there to yell positive things at me from the crowd!
Finishing the race felt rewarding. I had survived a month of constant travel, weekly full on marathon experiences, 250 km of racing. It was all incredible, but it was very much so time to relax.
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