Czech Republic/Germany ski trip (EPFL team)

Dates (30jan10 - 7feb10)
Some photoes are here
Results
Czech republic day 1, 10km skating
Czech republic day 2, 6x3x6 mixed relay
Czech republic day 3, 20km classic
Koenig Ludwig Lauf 21km skating
Koenig Ludwig Lauf 42km classic

Lausanne/Hinterzarten/Kirschzarten/Notchrei/Breitnau

30.01.10
Evgeny, comes to pick me up in his 1.25l Mazda on saturday morning for our ski trek across europe. Our first destination : the world junior and U23 world cup in Hinterzarten (well not really). Our road trip took us 3.30 hours and I had promised myself not to fall asleep in the car so that Evgeny could have some conversation. I lasted 30 minutes. I had to wake myself up from a good dream about 15 times during the trip. We cross the border into Germany. Gas is more expensive and cars are much faster. Sometimes I have the impression we are parked when those Mercedes/BMW/Audi pass us. Evgeny tries to push the Mazda past 140 but the vibrations threaten to unscrew some important bolts on the car. 12 naps later we are in Hinterzarten. We arrive just on time for the U23 Women race (or so we think). We asked a Norwegian ski coach, a man plowing his entrance, and a German ski jumping official, none of them could accurately tell us where the X-C/langlauf races were held. Finally an old lady told us what we did not want to hear. We were at the wrong place and the X-C stadium was in Notschrei, 30 km and one mountain pass away. "I hate them all", says Evgeny. The mountain pass starts in Kirschzarten and very quickly the road is blocked. The recent snow fall and the heavy traffic has iced up the pass and many cars without winter tires are forced to stop and put on chains. The steep hill prevents heavy busses from starting to move again and a traffic jam is formed. Evgeny, being a very foreseeing chap has a set of winter tires and we are capable to pass quite easily the line of stopped cars, even with a 1.25 l Mazda. We make it to the Notschrei ski zentrum where we rapidly eat lunch : Saussages mit brot, a classic. We grab the russian flag and a ski pole, run up the hill to the stadium just in time for the start. I wish Fred Touchette (Canada) good luck and he gives me the "what are YOU doing here?" look. A very impressive race overall. The Canadians did very well (all 4 guys in the top 15), the Russians less. Evgeny meets a very nice Russian athlete (Polina Medvedeva). They say things I don't understand, most likely they talked about the most recent russian skier who was caught for doping (number 9 this year). After the race we put on our skis and try out the race course. 6 painful laps of 3.75 km. This is definitely a world cup circuit. There is one especially steep and long climb that saps all your force as you go up. No wonder the guys had drool dangling from their chins and strange faces when they reached the top. After the ski we race back to Kirschzarten for some last minute grocery shopping. Thank goodness food is cheaper in Germany because we were starving. We shop to the music of marching band practicing in the streets. Then we go to Breitnau and spend the night. We stayed in a very cozy apartment that cost us 13 euros each. Plus as an added bonus the very friendly old lady who owned the place let us use her kitchen. For two hungry men this was a champions meal: 500g of pasta with sauce (500g of ground beef, 500g of tomatoes), salad (1 cucumber, 10 cherry tomatoes, 5 carrots, olive oil), Beer (1L), Juice (2L), Cake. Life is good

Notchrei/Würzburg

31.01.10
The next day we pack up and head back to the ski stadium for the junior relays. The women do 4x3.3 km and the men 4x5. The first two athlete do the race in classic and the last two in free style. The girls go first and very quickly the pack is divided. Canada does poorly and Norway wins. The canadian men on the other hand where much better. Patrick Stewart-Jones (the only boy from Quebec) did his part of the race quite strongly. The Russians were absolutely terrific. Led by Peter Sedov (an Evgeny favorite) they finished in second place when the Norwegian boy passed Sedov in the last 200 meters. After the race, we charge to Würzburg where we are supposed to stay with Evgeny's friend Valentin. The trip was uneventful, for some reason Evgeny's car radio is not capable to catch more than two stations at a time and even then they only last a few minutes before dying out into a static buzz (Great I love this song, oh wait... this is the remix by DJ static, its not that good). We make it to Würzburg as the sun goes down. Valentin is not there yet so we decide to go for a run in the city to keep ourselves warm. We tour the city for about 45 minutes. The Germans really know how to glorify a simple industrial city. Great stone bridges with larger than life statues of famous people of old guarding the sidewalk, statues of mighty lions looking down at you, great towers of red stone, a lighted castle fortress overlooking the city atop a steep hill. Wow. Valentin greets us with open arms and quickly the conversation returns to doped Russian athletes. I learn that a good trick to spot a doper is to monitor his performances throughout the season. Someone who is dominant each race is usually clean, but an athlete who returns from a 1 month training session in far northeaster Russia and is suddenly a champ is bound to be caught eventually. Valentin has initiated Evgeny to "the cyclist's training bible", a book he can hardly put down and when he is not looking I take a peek and suddenly I'm hooked too. So far there is nothing in the book I did not already know but it does shed light on many obscure concepts about training that have always haunted me.

Würzburg/Prague/Nové Mesto Na Morave

01.02.10
Next stop, the Czech Republic to race in the Czech university games. The competitions are a 10 km skating race on tuesday, a mixed relay on wednesday and a 20 km classic race on thursday. We hop in the car and Evgeny who is now sick of driving proposes I take the wheel. Its about a 6.00 drive to Nové Mesto and 4.30 hours to Prague. When we cross the border into the Czech Republic, two things seemed to have changed: there is now a speed limit (130) and the highway is littered with advertisement, especially when we reach Prague. Evgeny's radio now catches 3 stations and for the first time since the beginning of the trip he is unable to decipher the language that is spoken. There seems to be some similarities between Czech and Russian but not enough for him to understand. When we approach Nové Mesto, the roads start to look like Russians one i.e. not cleared. I feel like we are in a winter rally race. Finally we arrive at our hotel where we meet the other athletes of SAS Jonas and Fabian. Again the hotel is lovely, Elise my girl friend would have loved it. The room is warm and clean, the floor is a warm carpet, the bathroom floor is also heated, there is a heated towel rack (awesome), the furnace is not too hot as to burn the clothing we put on it to dry and best of all the water from the shower is instantly hot when you turn it on. The Cost of living in the Czech Republic is very small, our room and board for three days plus the inscription for the three races was 120 Euros (3000 crowns). We were well fed in the restaurant each meal with soup, a main dish and desert. That evening we quickly went to the race stadium to see the race course for the next morning. It turns out Nové Mesto hosted world cups in the past and we are going to race on nearly the same course the pros do. World cup races are not your average races, they are designed to be as steep and technical as possible so the peloton is separated quickly. If the race is too easy the athletes will stay together the whole time and nothing happens. So on the race menu tuesday, steep climbs, long gradual climbs, twisty climbs with less twisty climbing at the top. But overall its quite fun.

Nové Mesto day 2

02.02.10
First racing day, I go out for a 10 minute jog before breakfast. Fabian and Jonas think it useless but Evgeny agrees with the theory of running before a race. Case closed. We head out to the stadium early to prepare our skis. Our team (SAS-Ski Academic Suisse and me) shares a heated waxing booth (again awesome) with the Austrian delegation: Roman, Rosi and Sara. It seems SAS is richly sponsored and waxing the waxing equipment is advanced. All our skis were fast, very fast, so fast I almost felt sorry (but not for long) for the guys I wizzed by on the downhills. The racers start every 30 seconds and I am the first of our group. I had a fabulous race (16/53) and so did all the SAS skiers. Evgeny posted the 3rd best time (impressive) beating a Czech skier we saw at the world U23 championship that weekend. My time is 20 seconds slower than Fabian and Jonas who are two seconds apart. After the race Evgeny and I go downtown Nové Mesto so I can buy a pair of classic skis. Unfortunately I broke my previous pair the weekend before in a race at Mont-de-Riaz in Switzerland. I get a shining new pair of Fischer RCS with bindings and a new water bottle, all for the whooping sum of 12 000 crowns (Wow, I never had such a big number on a receipt before). I am very exited and I can't wait to try them. That afternoon, we go back to the ski center for a little training. The sun comes out and the wind picks up blowing the powdery snow off the huge pine trees of the dark forest. It seems it has been a good winter for the Czechs this year. Apparently in the past this race was held on a 2 km loop of artificial snow in the stadium so we are lucky to get such good conditions. The Landscape outside the woods is a sea of rolling white hills of untouched snow with patches of black forest everywhere. Back at the hotel we make the teams for tuesday's relay. Evgeny decides he prefers to rest for the 20 km classic race so I team up with Roman and Sara the Austrians.

Nové Mesto day 3

03.02.10
Today is the team relay, a 3 leg race and I go first. I had planned to tail Fabian the whole race before passing him at the end to pass the relay. I respected my strategy except I had not planned that Fabian would fall on the second lap of the 6 km, so I pushed my advantage and was able to maintain my lead to the end. We were 7th. Sara has a 3 km lap to do and loses a few positions but raced quite well coming in just behind her rival teammate Rosi. By this time the stronger women really streched out the pack and Roman has no one to tail for his 6 km race. Our team is the 12th to pass the finish line. Evgeny was on the sidelines for this race cheering louder than everyone else: DAVAY, DAVAY, DAVAY! The Czech cheer is quite funny: POD! POD! POD! (In Hinterzartern the Norwegians would cheer with: Hayah! Hayah! Hayah!) Funny fact, my ski suit is the same as the old Czech national ski team suit, I seem to get some extra encouragement because of that. We head back to the hotel for some much deserved rest. Interestingly it has snowed every day since the beginning of the trip. Today the snow was wet and very heavy. The trees are so loaded they seem as soft as I was at the end of my race. That afternoon we set out to test our classic skis for thursday's race. This time, as we ski through the forest, the heavy snow falls like an avalanche off the trees. The snow scores a direct hit on my head and I fall. During the training, we do a few sprints and Evgeny seems in great shape, running away each time. I love my new skis. After supper there is a party for the students in a small bar 2 minutes away from the hotel. It is a lovely place that reminds me
of the «cabanes à sucre» from Quebec, my home land. The students are all siting and chatting at long wooden tables and the barman seems to be constantly filling glasses with beer, I meen non stop. That evening there is a beer race organised for all the racers. The object of the game is to be the first team of 4 people to finish all there glasses. Each team member sits behind the one in front and on GO the first player drinks his glass ,half a litre, until empty. Then he puts the empty glass upside down on his head and the next one goes. I am proud to say that I am not the slowest drinker on the field and our team was average. I saw the winning team and those Czechs could literally finish a glass in threee gulps. WOW. after that I talked hockey (it was awesome) with a Czech national team enthousiast for an hour. It seems that the Czechs almost like hockey as much as they like football, wich is saying much for european standards. I spent the end of my evening sampling different «traditional» Czech drinks until I had to call it a day. I was skeptical but they were in fact Czech drinks.

Nové Mesto na Morave/Würzburg
04.02.10

I wake up the next morning to Evgeny's alarm, I deliberatelly chose to ignore mine for some unknown reason related to alcohol. The morning hangover ritual is strangely similar to the preparation before a race: a heavy breakfast, a morning run, a shower, lots of water and coffee. The others seem to be in the same shape as I am exept of course for
Evgeny who was very reasonable the night before and seems in top shape for the race (go Evgeny, I think to myself quietly). Today it is not snowing for the first time since the start of our trip. It is a crisp sunny morning and the snow is perfect for classic. We simply put on blue wax and «voilà» almost perfect kick. That is what we think before
we get tired and our technique gets sloppy. I need to warm up for at least one and a half before my headache goes away, it seems the more I push the better I feel, GREAT! The race course is the same as the 10 km race we did on tuesday exept we do two more laps. AARRRGGGGGGG! I have a great start but on lap number 4 I die and skiers seem to pass me as fast as the BMW are passing me on the german autobahn. No matter I post a good time and I get to see Evgeny climb on the podium again. Good job! Unfortunetally for him, the prizes are the same as on tuesday. We clean our skis and say goodbye to our new Austrian friends. Hopefully we will see them again soon. We then leave for Würzburg for the second time. Again the trip was uneventful exept for some minor difficulties navigating the confusing lane system of german cities. After 3 races in 3 days Evgeny really needs a sauna and I am forced to tag along. I rarely go to saunas but I am sure they are not as bad as I remember them. Turns out the germans our not as shy about nudity as I am. This theory is confirmed during the next weekend but I will talk about that later. Roasting at 100 degrees celsius is not my idea of relaxation. That evening I finally get talk with my girlfriend again and Evgeny gets to use internet again. Its like a drug for him. Although I did not enjoy the sauna I must admit I went to bed feeling quite soft.

Würzburg/Oberammergau
05.02.10

Finally a day of rest. after 3 races in a row I think we deserved it. We use this day to travel to Oberammergau where we will be racing in the konig Ludwig world loppet. The road trip is short and we are in no hurry to get there so I try and perfect my drafting/gas saving techniques. Oberammergau is a beautiful city... or so I was told because the fog was so thick the whole weekend that we could barely see the foot of the incredible mountains surrounding us. I will definitely try to make this city a destination in the future because it seems like a great place to hike/visit for its churches and castles. The city is also the location of a famous passion play. As we arrive at our room, I am again surprised at the incredible sens of hospitality the germans have. The old lady greeting us seems to be the kind of mother that did everything for her children. When I went to the kitchen to cook our supper, she boldly took all my food and prepared it herself German style (lots of salt, lots of butter). It was good but it felt heavy in our stomachs. We prepare our skis for the next day and Evgeny take what seems like ages carefully scraping his skis with his magick sweedish metal scraper.

Oberammergau day 2
06.02.10

Today we race in the 23 km free style race starting at the same time as the 50 km race. The free style race is the less popular race of the two konig Ludwig but there is still nearly 700 skiers at the start. A very impressive sight if you ask me. We get there a very long time in advance and we are probably the second skiers to get there. In order to be sure to have a good spot on the starting line, we place our skis where we want them so no one takes our spot. As the swarm of skiers show up at the start I beggin to feel a little intimidated. Evgeny doesn't care because his race strategy involves kiking everyone else's ass. My hesitation is what cost me a good start. I let everyone who was more aggressive than me pass. This ment I had to spend the rest of my race cursing at myself because I was stuck behind slow people. The snow was very humid and it was nearly impossible to pass. If you went off the beaten track, your speed dropped 50% and you were forced back into your spot in the endless train of skiers. Eventually the pack broke up and I had free space to pass. When I finally got going at a good speed, I got confused and thought I was skiing with the 50km loop. I stoped asked someone on the side who answerd that I had to just keep going (I'm such an idiot). Evgeny on the other hand was way in front with the leaders and was not working hard at all, in fact he barely realised that the finnish line was up ahead and was caught by surprise. He finished a solid 2nd place and received a wonderful prize. A handmade wooden statue (oberammergau is famous for it's wood carvers) of and eagle, which he would then trade for bigger statue of an old man with the winner (personnaly I think he made a good trade). The landlady was extremely impressed with it. After the ceremony, we do our usual after race ritual: feeding, stretching and sleeping. That evening we also take advantage of the low german price of food to do some shopping for our trip back.

Oberammergau/Lausanne
07.02.10

Last day of our trip. We are all set to do the 42km classic technique ski marathon today. Unfortunatelly the snow conditions are not nearly as good as the last time we took out our classic skis. The snow is heavy, it is wet and dirty. This means the all dreaded klister. On the other hand, the course is very flat which means we could only use our arms for this race. Evgeny wants to do this but is hesitant but in the end decides to put a little bit of klister on for safety. Me, in those conditions I usually try the hairy ski before putting on anything (the hairy ski is when you only apply sand paper to the base of your ski) and it works fine. This time I am ready for the frantic race start and I am NOT polite at all. I do not concede one position even if I need to fight harder than I want. In the end it was all worth it because I was in a very good position to enter cruising speed. I was again in the top 30 skiers when something happened. I broke a pole and was very far 2 or 3 km away from a feeding station. I would have had to turn back, grab a pole from someone and keep going but I decided it was not worth it and headed back to the stadium to watch the end of the race. Quitting a race is always a tough decision, specially when you are doing good. I think it was because I was doing so good that I quit. After the race we watch the award ceremony, there was a small orchestra dressed in traditionnal german outfits. We then set off back home. Evgeny had bought a Thule rack for his car on e-bay and needed to pick it up in a town near Zurich. Only a minor detour. When we get there, the owners are not home but the box was left outside. Not having the proper tools to do the adjustments to fit the box on the car, Evgeny decides to ask the neighbors if they can help him. Luckily on guy had what we needed and we are able to space the supports adequatelly for the car. When we place the box on the car we realise that the supports are not the right size for the bars on the car. Therefore we are not able to attach the box tho the car. Evgeny, being thick of skull will not abandon his new car box in Zurich and we brainstorm for what seems like ages before we come up with a not so safe solution. Using straps from a ski bag, my back pack, Evgeny's sport bag and a shoe lace, we are able to tie each of the supports of the box to the bars. This of course did not safely attach the box to the car but we were able to make the trip home without going faster than 80 km/h on the highway. Few what a trip!