Rangeley Loppet

     Last weekend I raced the first 50km of my career, the Rangeley Loppet. Mike Lessard and I tagged along with the Arooskis crew as they traveled down for the event. The weather forecast called for a half inch of snow then a quarter inch of rain during the race, but we were lucky enough to get all the snow before the race and ice pellets rather than rain during the event. There was a strong contingent of racers from colleges and clubs all over New England. Skis played a large roll in the race -- if you have to work to keep up for the first 30km, when the pace picks up its that much harder to stay with the pack.

Things I learned:
-Feed early, feed often. I fed about enough for a 30km race. The last 15km were not pretty.
-Eat a BIG breakfast. I got rushed and only had a small bowl of oatmeal for breakfast.
-Prep your skis for what you see, not what the weather man is predicting. I put a deep rill in my skis to break the suction between my skis and the rainy snow we were supposed to get. I didn't end up needing the rill and since the snow was dry for the race the rill made my skis slower.
-A good travel group is essential after a race like that. Thank you Arooskis!

Enjoy the spring weather!