Second victory at MARA after 2014

MARA is a 42km classic race in Swiss Jura. The only classic race of Swissloppet series.

This race is always very special for me. Here are all my participations:
2009 - 5th
2011 - 4th
2012 - 2nd (lost klister after 5km, so double polling all the way)
2013 - 3rd (twisted ankle 3 days before, so double polling all the way)
2014 - 1st (long awaited victory)
2015 - 14th (the worst mara ever)
2016 - 7th
2017 - 7th (went with klister but should have double poled, the leaders did so)
2018 - 1st

The original Mara track is a race with many uphills (not flat at all). It was one of my main goals this year to perform well at this race. Already last May I knew I will do it double polling :) And so was my preparation... Even though I was not training even close to what I was training before, I managed to get a good shape on skis this season (well, to be honest the snow came in November and I was a lot on the skis this winter, should not complain much).

I did on Saturday 25km race (part of the Maxi-Mara). It did not go well, I had bad feeling and after coming back home went to bed for 2 hours with hot tea and honey. By the evening, I was already feeling good.

The weather forecast showed slight minus coming into plus. Normally, I do my double polling races on classic skis, but since my new skating Rossignol skis were performing very good in the last 4 races with warm conditions, I decide to run on them.

On Sunday the weather was simply amazing. I saw all people suffering with the kick wax and thought that at least I dont have this stress today. On the other hand, I thought: "Conditions for diagonal technic seem to be easy today and double polling might not have advantage given the hilly profile of the race". Turned out, I was wrong and many people did have a lot of troubles with kick wax as the snow conditions changed a lot during the race and snow was sticking to the skis in the second part of the race. In any case, I went to the start and saw many familiar faces. I knew, the race is gonna be fun... and so it was!

Since the start, we had quite fast speed and before the first long uphill (after about 5-8km after the start), we were five: Evgeny, Reto, Arnaud, Philippe and Guillaume (4 SASlers and a French). Was cool to see 4 people from my club in the lead. Arnaud was doing double polling as I, the other three had kick wax. Then, there was a long-long uphill. By the end of it, have lost a bit the contact with them but then on the flat I managed to get back.

The race continued. At some point, Reto was creating a gap with others and I jumped on his train. We managed to slowly run away and then were changing with each other to maintain the high speed, Reto mostly on the uphills and I am on the flatter parts of the track. About half way through the race I noticed that Reto is not following me and there is a small gap between us. I thought he would get back to me on the uphills but he did not. I continued to race alone in front.

My main fear was that on the 4 uphills in the last 8km (with the last long and steep climb), the chasers will catch me due to their more efficient diagonal stride, so I had to work hard all the time to create as much advantage as I could. When I looked behind on the top of the hardest uphill 2km before the finish line, I saw that they are not close to be. There I knew, I had my second victory at Mara.

I crossed the final red line with my hands up. It was a long time since I was that happy after the ski race. The weekend was definitely a big success for me and a highlight of this winter!!!

https://www.nordicmag.info/48e-mara-bogdanov-chopard-lallier-victorieux-0304/

3rd in MARA with double poling

I never planned to do MARA with only double poling because it is a hard race with many uphills and it is 42km (you can see the race profile here). But this year I actually did not have a choice! Why? Well, here is the story...

I recovered well after Gommerlauf last weekend, did several classic skiing sessions this week and was ready to rock the world!  On Thursday we went with friends to Disco on Ice. Normally, I am very comfortable on ice skates and even do simple jumps, but this time I was unlucky and badly twisted my ankle :( The doctor said, I should not do any sports for 10 days.

I couldn't skip la MARA because of the Swiss Loppet Cup classification. So the plan was to do it anyways.  On Saturday, I prepared two pairs of skis: one with klister and another pair with only glide wax (for double poling).  I was still hoping that by Sunday my leg will be fine and I will be able to do the normal classic race with klister.

On Sunday before the race, I managed to put my painful leg into the ski shoes and tried the skis. I realized that I was not able to go with normal classic technic and use my legs in the race. So I finally decided to go with double poling: only pushing with arms and not using my legs.  I knew it's gonna be hard, but well...

The race went actually super good. I was pushing hard in the beginning when the track was not yet too demanding. We managed to run away from the others and were four in the group. I was suffering on uphills because double poling is not too efficient on steep climbs: I was loosing contact and then was coming back. Later, Remo Fischer, who came back from the World Championship on Saturday, left the group and went forward alone.  With the last year winner Guillaume Lalevee we ran away from the fourth person.  The last 6-7 kms of La MARA have 5 hard uphills, where I was suffering a lot. However, I managed to finish third (on the podium!!!) and got +20 points over my main competitor for the SwissLoppet Cup - Bruno Joller.

In the end, I am extremely happy with this race, but I do not advice anyone to do la MARA with only double poling :)

Results
Race stats

Photos and videos are from http://www.nordicmagazine.info

2nd and 6th at Gommerlauf 2013

Well, I did not write for a long time on the blog! Seems as it is the first skiing report this year. I had too much writing with my PhD thesis. Already 135 pages, so it's coming to its end!!!

First race after the New Year was super. I was second in Campra Swissloppet and felt very strong during the race. Then I got sick for a week, and the results were not super good. However, I managed to recover and get back in shape. I was second in Kandersteg, third in Einsiedeln, again third in Franco-Suisse.

This weekend (23-24 February, I went to Goms for Gommerlauf). The plan was to do 21km classic race on Saturday and 30km skating race on Sunday (Swissloppet race).

The other pictures

21km classic

First of all, the weather was simply awesome! Cold (-10-12), sunny and classic ;) As last year (this year without any hesitation!), I went with no "kick" wax on skis (only double poling). I took skating skis for this matter, even though I heard several opinions after the race that it is still better to use classic skis ...

Soon after the start we were only three people. I and two Italian guys.  We were going like this for some time leading in turn from time to time.  My atomic skis were gliding not slower than theirs.  Then when I was going third I missed an attack of Simone Paredi. I passed the second Italian, but could not reach Paredi. We had several seconds between us, maybe 30-50 meters and I couldn't reach him.  For several kilometers we were going like this, but then on the long uphill I started to loose more and more. In the end, once I realized that it becomes hard to get back to him, I went in the normal tempo. The second Italian was quite far behind by that time. I guess Paredi also did not work super hard afterwards, since we both had a race next day.

Finally, I finished the race on the second place and was quite happy about it :) Good preparation for Mara and the classic Swiss Championship!  Since my upper body muscles were quite tired I went to get free after-the-race-massage. It was awesome!

Classic results
Race stats

30km skating

The next day was the longer 30km skating race. The field was filled (in addition to Swiss guys) with strong French, Italian and German skiers.  Several centimeters of new snow, still quite cold conditions, skis are gliding not bad!

The start of the race was quite slow, nobody was pushing too hard in the beginning and we were going in a very big group. Bam, a ski is on my pole and I loose the tip. We are not going very fast, so I do not loose anything and a nice lady gives me an exel pole. The length of the pole is ok, but the handle is too small, so I can't fix it very well. I continue the race like this.

An attack after several kilometers! The French skier Christophe Perrillat runs away alone, then the other 5 skiers, and then my group of 3 people (two Fischer skier and I). There is quite a distance between our and second group, but we slowly got back to them, since they did not go very fast. So we go very slow all 8 people. The chasing group behind was too far, so we were going really slow. I got too tired during the attack, so I didn't even go in front.  Bam, again a ski is on the pole and I completely loose it, because it's not fixed well on the wrist, no time to come back. We go slow, so until the next people I go with only one pole. Happily, they give me another pole which is heavy and bigger than the one I have, but it's better than no pole at all ;)

We continue to go very slow untill 1km before the finish, where we start to sprint. In the end, I was fifth in our 8-people group and 6th overall. Not bad, taking into account the strong field.

Skating results

As a combi of two days (classic + skating) I was second and got a prize, yahoooo! :) That was it. Mara is next!

Finish!!!

Skate the Ring in Austria (Rollerski)

Finally found time to write about the rollerski race in Austria! Skate the Ring and Climb the Goas - that's the name of the competition!

The races were on 18th and 19th of August in Salzburg. I've been staying with my friends from Germany (Tina, Sarah, Christian, Eric and Martin) in an Austrian guest house. It was super hot (more than 30 degrees), I had super time and liked a lot the competition, even though the races were not very fortunate for me.

My housemates!

Climb the Goas

On the first day we had 9 km classic uphill race. The race was going well, I was doing very good the first 6.5km (in the leading group, in the first 10), but then I suddenly had a pain in my left side, and actually had to stop for a few times and go very slow afterwards. Thus I finished only 29th with 7.5 minutes after the winner.
results

The start of the Climb the Goas

Skate the Ring

Thus, the next day (50km skating pursuit race, 12 laps on the car racing track) I had to start from
the wave (3 minutes after the first day winner). I felt very good, passed many people and almost
brought our second group to the leading group. But I stupidly fell down 1km before the finish and
thus was the last in our group. Well, at least I made a new record: the faster lap time ever :)
My first lap of 4225 meters was done in 6 min 57 sec (the average speed was 36.5km/h).
So now with my record I am in the Hall of Fame :)
results

I am running away (number 29 on the right)

I am definitely going next year again!!!

Marathøl in Davos - last season race

After a heavy rain everywhere in Switzerland, it was great to find snow in Davos. Though the conditions on Saturday were not the best: it was snowing but wet snow, Sunday was a real winter. You open your eyes in the morning and watch how white snow is coming from the sky and slowly landing on the ground, on the cars, on the roofs of the houses. It is a slight minus outside. For the moment, you forget that it is 8th of April, you are filled with a joy of the first snow that has just arrived and the winter has just started. Nirvana... but you wake up from the dreams to realize that you it is the last race of the skiing season. Marathøl is waiting for you and this day is going to rock!

All serious races are finished by now, this one is all about fun, fun and fun. Mauro Gruber took over the organization of this 18th Marathøl edition and we all should tell him "BIG THANKS!!!". We were four SASlers at the start (Mauro, Evgeny, Pascal and Fabian) and with other joining us skiers we counted around 40 people.

Traditionally, Marathøl - Marathon + øl (a bier in Skandinavia) - is a bier race, where at the start and after each lap of around 400 meters on skis you have to drink a bottle of bier. Four laps, 5 bottles, but that's not all: everybody is wearing a costume which turns the race into a cartoon. You can find all kind of personages here: Super Mario, his brother Luigi, a Plane, a Duracel Rabbit, African Kozak, Mummies, and many others.

The Swiss Air Force pilot-plane (Mauro) was training very hard during the whole year to win the Marathøl. He was so desperate to be first, so that he came up with a very secret plan to introduce a sprint into Marathøl program. 100 meters all together: a shot of a strong drink at the start, 20 meters running to skis, another shot, putting the skis on, 30 meters on skis, last 3rd shot, 180 degrees turn and go back as fast as you can. Since Mauro is a very good sprinter, the plan was ideal and the victory was garanteed... But of course a bunch of russian hackers broke into the highly secure Marathøl system, stole the program and sold it for a huge sum of money to Super Mario (Ueli), who got his magic super-speed and won the main prize. We will see what strategies the others can offer to beat Super Mario next year.

The female NHL player (Tanja) came up with an icy winning strategy. During the night she secretly put water on the ski bindings of her hockey teammates - Gasparin sisters Elisa and Aita. When during the sprint they came to put their skis on, it took them so long to get rid of ice that she could finish first without any effort.

The winner of the traditional Marathøl naturally comes from the french part of Switzerland. Being a good skier and the descendant of professional russian warriors and drinkers who visited France in 1812, Sylvan left no chance to others. Tanja felt extremely guilty about her mis-behavior in the sprint, so she went all the race together with her teammates and they made a peaceful group finish.

Certainly, the party did not stop here and went on with pizzas, disco in the bars of Davos, and, of course, with the 18 candles cake for the Marathøl anniversary.

Skiing, having fun, meeting new people, making the existing relationships stronger - that is what it is all about! Next year - again. Thanks for coming!

Four SASlers in Action

Sprint Start

The Ski Fight

Pilot-plane in action

Super Mauro towards his victory

Tanja the Sprint Winner

Elisa and Aita are removing the evil ice

Who said rabbits can't climb? Just give them DURACEL!

With 2nd place at MARA, I won the SwissLoppet Cup

Well, the races in the SwissLoppet Cup are not finished yet: still Engadin to go next weekend, but I have enough points now to say that I won that thing. The main goal of the season (top 3 in the overall SwissLoppet Cup) is achieved with the highest first place! It's super cool to realize that all the work I did has finally materialized into very good performance that I can be proud of!

So short overview of the last two weekends.

The previous weekend was a weekend of Gommerlauf. I did both races on saturday and sunday.
Saturday, Classic 21 km.
A group of 5 people including me separated from the others. We all were double poling on skating skis, except italien Paredi who went on classic skis without the grip wax. I managed to finish third by passing two very strong suisse sprinters.
Results

Sunday, Skating 30 km (SwissLoppet).
Remo Fischer (swiss national team) started to break the group from the beginning. I was kinda suffering, but then recovered and race continued all right. I was 9th, but then slowly managed to pass other guys and managed to reach italian Simone Paredi and swiss Marko Mullematter. We went three of us together till the finish line. On the finish line to fight for third place we came in this order: Simone, Mark and I, and actually it was hard to fight there because of new fresh and slow snow so we finished in the same order. I got my fifth place an some raclette cheese >)
Results

Our peloton, 8th here

Was hard here

I m fifth

Last weekend.
Saturday, 10km skating, U-Games&FIS race.
Well, the wet snow. +14 or even warmer. Running in T-Shirt. I did not expect big results from this race, since my main goal was MARA next day, but it turned out to be a very good race for me where I first broke 100points in FIS races. I finished 6th with 76.39 FIS points.
Results

Sunday, 42km classic MARA (SwissLoppet). The second place that gave me the final points to win the SwissLoppet Cup. An interesting race, got some new experience. I ran on brand new Atomic classic skis. Very good skis indeed!! But I had big issues with kick wax. I put base klister the day before and put yellow and red clister (toko) before the race. The snow was harsh and icy, thus after double poling the first 6 km on the first climb I realized that the klister is gone and I have no kick whatsoever, what a pity!! The shape was perfect, skis were gliding perfectly but no kick. Guillaume LALEVEE, a very strong french classic skier (5th classic Transju this year and 12th last year), ran away from me on that climb (he had very good grip). I managed to get back to him on the following after relatively flat part and then we went together with him until the last 6 km with 3 climbs. He got some gap on the first not very long hill, later I managed to come closer (10-20 meters) before the last two long steep uphills and there I had no chance. I knew it even before. I wanted to fight but I realized that I have no chance without the kick wax. Mara is too challenging to go double poling :). But anyways, it was interesting and I enjoyed the race.
Results

Now Engadin next week, and I will try to get a good shape for 50km Swiss Championship on the 31st of March.

Crazy WE: Transju (50km classic) + Einsiedeln (42km skating)

It was a hard weekend.

La Transjurasienne (50km classic) was planned to be hard but it was even worse because of weather conditions: -12 and strong wind to the face at the start. Track is covered with snow brought by the wind. I put wind protection everywhere, so it was kind of OK. It was slow, my time was 2h45min54. Lost 3 minutes to the winner. After the first long uphill I had a crumb in my stomach muscles so I had to stop completely for a minute or so. But then I managed to get back to the big leading group and then we went all together until the second and final long uphill.

I put Toko LF -10 and below on my skis and it did not glide very well. I think I should've used powder or maybe I put too much kick wax :). The attack on the last uphill broke the group of 16 people. I was 12th on the uphill. Then we had around 13-15 km to go. I had crumbs in my biceps, but it started to get better and I even passed two guys 5km before the end and crossed the finish line with 10th result. Not bad after all.

Results
My race stats

Einsiedeln Swissloppet (42km skating).
Just right after Transju I went to Einsiedeln and next day did a race there. First, I put only Toko LF-10 on my cold skis and it was -14 the snow temperature. I tried the cold skis and it did not glide well (they needed powder). So I decided to run on warm skis that had toko hf+powder (-4-0). Wasn't the best choice but that's all I had. On downhills I was loosing to the other guys :(. During the race I felt that I did Transju before, I felt tired: even though my heart rate did not go high, I could not accelerate, my biceps were not that powerful ... By the end of 21km (first lap), we were 5 people in the pack and went like this till the end. On the downhill close to the finish the four guys went away and I thought the race was finished for me. But then I manage to get back to them and the strong acceleration on the last 1.5km gave me the third place in the race. Could not be happier :)


Results
My race stats
Photoes (my number is 80)

Funny picture: several minutes after the start, but the finishing time is exactly in the same order for the top 5 

3,1,2

3rd at Planoiras Swissloppet. Super shape this year!

3rd at Planoiras Swissloppet. I could not even expect a better result taking into account the very high level of participants including the current suisse national team Toni Livers and former suisse national team Gion Andrea Bundi plus all the best racers in Suisseloppet. But it seems as this year I should have bigger expectations than last year, since my level became a lot higher (I hope it's not just a temporal shape).
Fortunately, I did not loose anything this time :)

I am number 35

When we came to Lenzerheide, the air temperature was -16. Like back in Russia :) I picked up Atomic hard track skis, because the track was hard and cold. When we came to the start, the sun went out and the sky was blue without any cloud. It was a super pleasant and beautiful race in the full of sun valley surrounded by snowy mountains! I even got some suntan on my face :)

Sunny!!

The start of the 25km race was quite fast and the speed was high from the beginning. The group started to break from the first kilometer due to the high tempo of Toni Livers. So after few kilometers we left four people in a leading group. But in few kms, the tempo was too high for us as well and Toni went forward and we went in a group of three: Gion Andrea, Matthias Inniger and me. We went together untill 10km before the finish. Then I went forward before the downhill. By the way, the Atomic skis were quite good. Not faster then those of other people, but at least not slower. So once again, I am very happy with Atomic skis this year!!! After the downhill we had not very steep uphills followed by downhills. I felt strong there and Matthias and Gion Andrea could not keep up. I think I had 10-15 seconds of advantage in front of Gion Andrea before the last uphill (the second hump at the elevation graph here), Matthias stayed even further. However, on this last uphill which was quite long I ran out of gas and Gion Andrea reached me by the end of it and attacked. I could not keep up and lost the contact. On the final part he increased the advantage to 22 seconds. So I finally reached the finish line third and was actually very happy and proud!

My race info, including a warmup and a cooldown.

Full results list

Some photos from news
Other news 

My first ever Swissloppet win: Attraverso Campra

First of all, this is probably my best personal skiing achievement.

Swissloppet Cup consists of 10 races. Campra opens the season: it is the first race in the series. I am actually very happy and super satisfied with my result. Especially, with 2 minutes of advantage to the best guys in the Swissloppet Cup 2011.

Well, before the race my perspectives were not that good. So let's start from the beginning.

I won 3 regional races in Switzerland in a row. Then did a very good race in La Clusaz. Then we had a skiing camp with friends in Praz de Lys (France) from 24-dec to 7-jan. We trained a lot, it was cool, and the plan was to go to Campra on 7th. My friend Reto was supposed to pick me up at the train station. We skied in the morning in Praz de Lys and went to Lausanne to get the train to Luzern. I had around 1h-1h30min, but because of the traffic jams in France the drive back home took longer and I had 25 minutes to prepare some food and get to the train station. With the help of Pernilla I managed to get on time to the train station and ate my lunch (pasta) already on the train.

Then the adventures started. In Luzern I had to change the train to the platform 11B. I found the platform 11 and went to the train. It turned out there are two trains on that platform: one in front of the other and I had to take the one in front. I did not have a clue that there is another train in front, so the one I took was wrong. I realized that I m in the wrong train after few stops. I quickly went out and jumped into train going back to Luzern. Then called Reto to arrange new meeting location. He suggested to go to another place by bus. That was I did. In the bus I realized that I don't have my bug (with skiing shoes, racing suit, gloves, glasses, everything ...). Once I arrived at the meeting point, I gave skis to Reto and went back to Luzern (1h on bus) to try to find my bag. Nobody saw it in Luzern. I waited for few trains coming from the direction where I lost my bag. None of them had my bag. I went to the destination of my train (1h from Luzern) to check if somebody found the bag there. Everything was closed there already. So I went back to Luzern and went to Olivone (which is in 15min drive from the race start). I departed from Luzern at 22:15 and arrived to hotel in Olivone at 1:10. I called at 22:00 to the hotel to reserve a room, since it was too late for my friends to pick me up in Olivone. Reto (thanks a lot for you help) sent me thousands of sms to help with hotel, found his friend who could pick me up in Olivone on Sunday morning before the race.

So I finally went to sleep around 1:20 and got up next morning at 7:20, had a breakfast and went with Reto's friend to the race start. All I had was my skis and poles, that I managed not to loose. Reto gave me his spare pair of boots and Fabian gave me his old racing suit. A hat I got as a present to all registered for the race people.  This way I was able to race.

The race I started from the second line. Felt very sleepy just before the start and managed to fall down on the first uphill. But then I went back to the leading group and 9 of us separated from the others. The race consisted of 3 laps, each - 7km. I noticed a very good ski glide on the first lap. Then the first lap we went together. The speed was very slow for me and I decided to attack in the beginning of the second lap (the lap had several uphills in the beginning and then relatively flat). Some other guys decided to attack as well :) So on the top of the hill we were 4-5 people and lost others. On the downhill, I was third in the beginning but then I passed everybody (my Atomic skis were super fast). On the flat area I continued to have a rather high tempo, and, to my surprise nobody was able to keep up. One pursuer reached me and when I suggested to change he let me know that it was hard for him. So I continued to go in front and soon he stayed behind. The gap was increasing and soon I was not able to see them anymore. The second half of the second lap and the whole third lap I was going alone and finished first in isolation. The second skier lost 1min55seconds to me.

Again, I did not expect such a result and I am very happy. Last year, in the same race I was 6th and I lost 2 minutes to two of the guys that participated this year again. The last year's winners of Swissloppet Cup were left behind with a large margin. I should really thank the Atomic guys. I run for Atomic team and I am really happy with Atomic skis this year. In 4 races out of 7, I was very satisfied with skis performance. In this race, even though I felt very strong, the skis were a big part of my winning. The other competitors were asking after the race what skis did I run on and how did I prepare them. Well, it was the new Atomic skis (soft track). I used hard track in another race before and was also very satisfied.

Here are full results

My lost bag was found by SBB. Now I am completely happy!

First victory in Realp (13.5km classic)

Good news. Got my first trophée this winter!

Fabian invited me to participate in a classic race in Realp (not far from Andermatt). 13.5km, individual start. So we stayed in Goms for a weekend. To profit from the snow closeness, we went to train on saturday. Two trainings of overall 3 hours with some short accelerations. Well, I should say I felt super good that day. I felt that I can be strong next day and I was.

My Atomic skis were perfect and very fast. I felt good and was able to push hard.
As a result - the win. And the super prize: decorated cow bell.


Well, I have to return the cowbell in one year, but if I manage to win the race 3 times I can keep it :)
We'll see how it goes.

Results are here

Here are some stats from the race

I (number 183) pass by 178

Fabian on the track

Milk me pleaaase!

On the podium, I - first, Fabian - second

Ski season opening in Bessans, France

Lack of snow everywhere was a bit depressing. Well, we were able to ski on the glacier several times, but it is still a glacier. We even went to the north of Finland in november to ski. But in generally rich on snow Levi the snow was missing. The whole week we had to drive for 1 hour to Muonio to ski on 2.5km artificial snow track with hundreds of other hungry-for-snow people. And running as a second training. Well, at least there was finnish sauna every day :)

Back in Lausanne, the snow was problematic. Last year I started to skin on 15th of november, two years before on 7th of november. Today is 7th of december and I still haven't skied. Well happy news, snow finally arrived and I will go skiing today :)

The FIS race in Goms was cancelled last weekend because of the snow absense. So I quickly decided to go to Bessans in France for season opening.

The classic race on saturday (10km, individual start, 4x2.5km) went very well for me. I was overall 26th with 2min20 from the best french skier Maurice Manificat (the winner). There were no snow in Bessans and we skied on the track with artificial snow. I was in general satisfied with the race though I had some problems with the kick on the uphills, but since the track was quite flat it did not matter that much.
Results

Second day (15km, individual start, 6x2.5km) was frankly a disaster. I tried both warm pairs and decided to go on the new one. To my disappointment the guys from behind (who are approximately the same level as me) passed me by before even the first uphill on the first lap. My skis did not glide at all comparing to them, I could not stay with them even for few seconds. As a result more than 6 minutes behind from the winner and only 48th.
Results

Well, at the end I am quite happy. Was my first race in Bessans and I liked it. The season is started. Snow came now. Motivation is back again. Let's rock this world!!!

10 km, classic race

Announcement: www.pistes-nordiques.org

www.pistes-nordiques.org prépare sa saison!

Malgré le temps magnifique ces jours-ci, on commence déjà a penser aux premiers flocons.
Pistes-nordiques.org est une carte en ligne qui présente les tracés de plus de 17'000km de pistes de ski de fond dans le monde entier. Il s'agit des pistes de ski présentes dans le projet OpenStreetMap.
Les possibilités offertes par pistes-nordiques.org
En plus des données des pistes (couleur de balisage, difficulté, type de damage), vous pouvez sur le site tracer le profil d'élévation d'un parcours librement défini.
Les propriétaires de sites disposant d'informations sur l'état des pistes peuvent également y faire figurer un lien localisé sur les tracés concernés, et disponible via le menu 'INFO-NEIGE'.
Comment ça marche
Une video sur YouTube vous présente les principales fonctionnalités.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO4wsj4LR_c

Le but
17'000 km, c'est déjà pas mal, mais toutes les pistes que vous connaissez ne sont probablement pas toutes sur la carte. Le but de ce site est aussi de donner envie aux skieurs à collaborer à OpenStreetMap afin de la compléter. N'hésitez-pas à cliquer sur le menu 'MODIFIER LA CARTE' pour en savoir plus.
Amicalement,Yves CAINAUD

http://www.pistes-nordiques.org

Rollerski: French championship and World cup

Will talk about two races I did recently.

First, French Championship (weekend - 27-28 of august).
French championship in rollerski took place in Besse (Super-Besse) in France of course :) Where one of the Tour de France stages was finished this year!

Two days, first day prolog - 3 km on rather difficult track, with the flat part against very strong wind. It was very hard for me. I don't know what happened, but I felt very bad after the race and during the race the last uphill was very hard and I felt I lost a lot of time there. In any case I lost around 42 seconds to the first and finished 25th with time 6:41.

Next day we had an uphill pursuit race. Since I lost 42 seconds to the first, I had to go in 42 seconds after the start of the first person. The start went fast. I went with number 24 (I had 25), we did not manage to get to the guys in front of us (though should do it). Thus we went together. The uphill in the beginning was quite easy: it was still an uphill but not too steep. Then a guy from behind joined us and we went together for some time. In the middle of the race we had 1-2 km of rather flat area. Two other two people reached us and we went 5 together on the flat. The group in front was in around one minute distance from us. They all got together (around 20 people).

Then we had a 1.5km of 11% uphill. The groups started to break. I went forward in our group and pulled a bit. I and number 24 (with me in front) managed to separate from the other 3 guys. Bug a young one (number 40) reached us and at the end of the uphill we were 3. Group in front was also stretched. We saw its end not far from us. After the finish of the uphill we had some flat area and then two other small uphills and finish. Number 40 went away from us. Number 24 sped up at the top of the second to the last uphill and managed to get some distance from me. We finished the same way, he was half a second in front of me. In general the second races went quite ok for me.

Results

World Cup took place in Germany (2-4 september) - Markkleeberg.
Strange name for Germany :)

Prolog (7.5km on Friday), Sprint on Satuday and Pursuit on Sunday.

Prolog I did very well. It was a time-trial and I was 7th overall, 16 seconds away from the best - russian Alexander Denisov. I was better than the current world cup winner and other strong rollerskiers. Honestly, I was very happy! It's probably my best rollerski race in the world cup up untill now. Third among russians, even brought points to russian national team.

Sprint as usually not my strength. I finished 17th, just after qualification and two russians just after me. Actually, we were happy. We didn't have to wait for 1.5 hours under the very strong sun and went to hotel to recover before the next Sunday's race :) Though I got a very nice comment that visually I went very good but did not work enough with my legs (it was un uphill sprint).

Next day we had the Pursuit based on results of the Prolog of Friday. I started 16 seconds after the russian winner. We had 5 laps to go with a rather "good" uphill, downhill and some flat area. On the first lap after the uphill I and a person just behind me (very strong sprinter in rollerski from France) joined the group in front. We were 8 people and we went quite fast the guys behind us were left far behind. Then we started to play "cats and mice", nobody wanted to go forward, we slowed down and guys from behind (4-5 people) started to come closer. On the last lap they went very close. Unfortunately for me, my pole was broken in the middle of the uphill, and untill the end of the uphill I had to go with one pole.
My group made an acceleration and everybody from the pursuers could not keep up, since they were very tired trying to reach us. So everybody from my group went forward, but our pursuers still passed me by well enough, so that I couldn't get back to them once I got my pole. So I was 12ths, but could be for sure in the first 8 (I felt very good before my pole was broken) and even fight for higher positions. Well, shit happens. At least now I have a lot of confidence in myself and I still have my 7th place in prolog.

Next race is next weekend: Transroller (uphill race and 25km masstart).

Results:
Prolog
Sprint
Pursuit

Engadin RadMarathon 2011 (Cycling)

Well, simply said - it was a challenge!

My first ever road bike race. A lot of cross-country skiing, running, swimming, even one mountain bike race ... but never road cycling.

Total distance - 211km
Total elevation - 3827m

Total time - 7h 01min 30,8seconds

Total rang - 50th

Average speed - 30km/h

My friend Valentin persuaded me to do it this year and I fell for it. It was worth doing! After the skiing season was finished I built my training plan specifically for this race.

Did my first intervals on road bike! I was afraid of climbing, so started to work on it. Went to Col de Mosses from Lausanne (1028m climb, around 5.5%), went around Geneva lake on average 35km/h (flat but 180km, took 5h05). Many times Col de Marchairuz (700m climb), almost every week Col de Mollendruz. During 5 days of job travel to Crete, cycled 4 days like in the training camp.

Actually was kind of prepared, but it was still long race. Could not even estimate how much time it'll take, so put around 8h when was registering. The best guys are around 6h20-30 minutes normally.

Hehe, even washed my bike completely :) And went to get some fun. We met with Valentin in Zernez, ate some pasta and went to the hotel. I guess Valya was sick of all my questions: how this, how that ... Well, it's his third time, I should get some experience beforehand :)

The full race profile is here.

Got up in the morning at 4:45, had a big breakfast and to the race start. 7:00. Start was quite sluggish. If we take Engadin ski marathon, everybody starts like crazy, but on a bike - people went slowly: it was real fun. First climb (just in the beginning is around 400m). I pushed quite hard - the plan was to get to the strong people and stay with them on the following flat area around Livigno. The plan was generally quite successful. Passed by a lot of people on the uphil. On the downhill I went with quite strong guys, then the other guys from behind caught us and we developed a huge peloton. I felt like in Tour de France. We went on flat on average 45-50km/h.

I actually thought before that it is very uncomfortable to go very close in the peloton, but it was nice experience. It is much harder in rollerski races ...

On the next after Livigno Forcola pass I was not satisfied with the speed of the guys in our peloton. Few guys left peloton even before. I can feel very well my speed during climbing (mainly due to Marcharuz climbs), so I just went forward and went with my own pace which turned out to be quite fast. On the second 2328m Bernina pass, I overtook a lot! of people. Actually I was impressed how good I felt on climbs (that was the thing I was afraid of). On the downhill we went with another racer and we got to one more in few seconds.

Then on flat we went three of us changing from time-to-time. There was a peloton behind again, we decided to slow down and way for them. In peloton we went again 45-50km/h, so it was a good decision to wait. Actually, now, after some analysis, I understand that I should have started at least in line 1 instead of two and work very hard on the first uphill to stay with much stronger guys, stay in peloton with them in Livigno and do the best to stay close to them at Forcola/Bernina passes and then get back to  Zernez with them. It could've been much faster. Anyway, we reached Zernez and went to the second, much harder part.

I again felt very well on Fluelapass and peloton stayed behind. I took over some guys. Was a nice feeling climbing. On the top of Fluelapass I gave two bottles (water for bottle with powder) and cola (for empty by now bottle) - I had only one bottle filled with a drink at start. Downhill from Fuelapass was a bit unfortunate for me. Was tired, decided to have a nap :) It was fast and on one very sharp turn I felt that my rear wheel started to glide, I managed to handle this situation. However, in few turns it happened again and I fell from my bike. Seems as the first hit went on the head and then I landed with my shoulder and my pelvis. Today I feel very well these parts and my neck hurts. ALWAYS WEAR HELMET. It might have saved my life. The helmet is broken and I already bought a new one (race was yesterday!).

Anyway, the race continued. On the straight downhill my speed was 78km/h, my personal record! By Davos I was alone, nobody in front/nobody behind. I was a bit confused, thought that I might go wrong way somewhere. Then a small peloton reached me and I went with them. The weather in the beginning of the race was very good, then it started to rain, we went in rails and I was a bit afraid on the slippery downhill, but it was ok.

Afterwards, there was a long climb to Albulapass with small flat area after 1/3. The sun started to shine again. I felt good. Objectively the speed was slower than previous climbs but I felt good. Some food to add to my pockets and cola into the bottle. I ran out of power-gels by then. On the downhill I felt a bit scary and there was a small gap between me and 3 people in front. Then just before the final flat road to Zernez I was blocked a bit by a truck and the gap turned into 100m. I was pushing 50km/h but the gap was only increasing, I had to slow down. Too bad ... Then I noticed a guy not far behind. I waited for him and we went together constantly changing. Speed was much faster then when I was alone.

We came together to the finish line. I think I could've beaten him in sprint, but I did not care. I felt as a small team in the last half-an-hour. I did not put any effort into sprint trying to finish in line with him, but lost 0.1 second :)

Overall
loved the race, road cycling is cool, very happy with my result!

Full results are here

Season wrap-up!

After I came back to Lausanne from Czech republic (after three very sucessful weeks for me!),
I got sick and had to stay in bed for a week. The form was lost and I could not recover and get back in shape again ... Unfortunately, had to skip two of Swiss Loppet races :(

First race I did after week of lying in bed was U-Games. After first two hills of 15km race I understood
that racing part was finished for me and I had only to slowly go till the end. Worst race of the season!

The next race (MARA) was kind of ok if we skip the part about my skis gliding. They just did not glide at all and in addition I had no kick in the uphills. Now after analysis of all my races I can say for sure that my klister classic skis ARE bad. All races of the season when the snow was wet, they just did not glide at all (starting from last Czech Republic race, U-Games, Mara, Glieres, SM) - I should definitely get rid of them). So I finished 4th in MARA but was unsatisfied by my performance, especially after very good classic race at Transjurasiennes (42km as in MARA).

Engadin was good. Despite the fact that I was late to the start (as usuall :)), I liked the race and I managed to push hard in the end to the 76 rank (last year it was 80, slowly improving!!).

Next two races are in France: Marathon des Glieres (classic 22km and skating 30km). Classic part was just awful. I have no clue why (skis were bad but not only them): still lost 8minutes on 22km!!!
Skating was better but not too much. 6 minutes to the first. Though in the beginning somebody fell in front of me and I did broke the pole while flying over him.

Swiss championship! Sprint, 50km classic and relay 3x10km (skating).
Sprint - fell in prolog on downhill, no chance to go further.

50km classic - well, it is a special talk! It is a tough race, tough wet conditions, hot weather, bad glide but at least good kick! Despite all preparations and food from our support team, I had first cramps after 35km. My triceps were hurting. Next was my latissimus muscles.  I was still able to go normally, just changed the technique a little bit to move the load from painful muscles. 5km before the finish I started to have cramps in my abdominal muscles and that was it! I could not push, I had to keep my body straight and push somehow with arms. Last uphill I got cramps in my legs as well. What a day! After finish I was standing for several minutes trying to stretch my painful body. My poles were lying on the snow and I could not get them, because I could not bend forward (had to ask for help :)). 2h42min (lost 26 minutes!!! to Dario)

I thought I am completely out of shape! However, next day was relay (3x10km) and I actually showed very good time. Had 4th time among second stage guys, lost 2min to the best guys on 10km, which not bad for me.

That's it! Ski season is officially closed for me! Two weeks of relaxation and start training again with all lessons learned!

Engadin

Transju, Swissloppet and Czech University Championship

Last week was full of cross country ski races. Actually, there were 4 in six days :)

Transjurasienne 2011

It all started with Transjurasienne classic race. Normally it was supposed
to be 50km race, but because of the lack of snow it was shortened to 42 km.
Well, the snow conditions were indeed very bad. I saw the guys bringing snow from different places
to make the race take place. Thanks to organizers, they did an enormous work to make us skiers happy.
At the start and at the finish there was only a white line
on greenish background. Looked like a crazy ski race during summer.

Lately, it is very warm during the day and quite cold during the night.
So snow (if we can call this thing snow) is kind of mix of ice and snow.
I put swix ice klister (0, 15) and warm swix klister (2, -7).
Well, the kick was quite good during the whole race, but at the end
of the race it started to be quite bad.
I found out after the race that klister area was shortened in front by 10-15 cm.

The new track was quite tough. It was 1000 meters of vertical elevation.
The race started with 350 meters vertical climb. I should say it was quite difficult,
but it was not too bad. Afterwards, there was some flat area and downhill. I managed to
pass 3-4 guys there. We were going two with another person. On one of the next uphills,
he ran away from me and I was passed by a second person going behind.

After a stupid fall on the small downhill, I was passed by two more people.
So all 3 guys I passed were now in front. I reached them and we went together for quite a while.
12 km before the finish line, I went forward and increased the tempo a little bit. I separated
from the group. Then there was some flat area where I was able to increase the gap. The people
around were shouting that I was 10th. I felt very good. Then few kilometers before the finish
line there was quite a long uphill, that was very hard for me: I was tired and quite
a lot of klister disappeared from my skis. I was passed again by number 3 from following behind group,
the other two guys did not reach me and at the end of this uphill I passed by and ran away from
the guy who ran away from me before. Then flat area: strong double poling. Nobody behind anymore.
Long downhill. Boom!! I fell down again (third time during this race, what a shame!).
This time it was quite a fall: I lost my ski glasses and my left contact lens was torn into two pieces
and one part was gone from the eye. Still guys behind did not catch me till the end.
I was 10th again.

Well, not really! It turned out one person from the bigger pack (not elite line) was faster then me.
Thus, I finally got 11th place with 6.5 minutes from the winner: Stanislav Rezac (it is his third win here in a row).

It was good race for me (except falling down of course). I am very satisfied.
Results can be found here.

Einsiedeln Swissloppet

Back from Transju and I take train to Baar (a place near Zurich where my friend Fabian lives).
This swissloppet race was shortened from 42km to 30km because of the same problem: not enough snow.
2 laps of 15km on quite a flat area. We were going in a big pack almost all the time.
Everything was quite good except that I missed the finish again. I knew that it was coming but I did
not know exactly how much it was left till the end. I was leading the pack and approximately 1 km to
the finish line I let the other guys go and turned out to be around 6-7 in the pack. Then I missed the
final acceleration and was fighting for the 9th place at the sprint, which I lost :)
Well, 11th! The same as at Transjurasienne but with rather disappointment than satisfaction.

Final results are here. 1h07min - very fast for 30km race!

Czech University Championship

Next day we (Fabian and I) left Baar at 4 in the morning targeting Nove Mesto na Morave (in Czech republic).
They have Czech University Championship there and skiers from SAS (swiss university skiers club)
traditionally go there (I was there last year as well). So we picked up Tobias (also from SAS) at Zurich and drove for 9 hours
there to Nove Mesto. Antti drove from Bern later, since he had an exam on Monday morning.

Next day (tuesday) we had a skating race (10km, individual start).
The same story, no snow at all. They had a lap of 3.3km of artificial snow
(probably left from junior championship in biathlon).
I won the race with 25 seconds ahead of a second person. I felt very good
during the race, was pushing hard and was happy to see myself on first line.
Now I am an INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY CHAMPION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC IN NORDIC SKIING FOR 2011.

On wednesday there was a relay. Antti and Tobias participated together with a czech girl.
Fabian and I did not get a czech girl :(, so we skipped the relay and were cheering them and also
our austrian friends, who came to competitions.

On wednesday evening there was a party. I should say that last year I was very serious about classic
race next day, so I did not party much. But this year I did participate and it was one of the best parties
in the last few years. Sea of czech beer and the final culmination: the crazy discotheque!!!
That was GOOD! Everybody was infected by a virus of friendliness and happiness.
We left around three in the morning and had a classic 20km race next day at 10:45.

Well, that was my first (and hopefully last) race with hangover. I was in zombie state 30 minutes
before the start, then I finally managed to put klister (thanks to Fabian and Antti that were
trying to find a good mix) and went out. The start was ok. I still felt some pain in my head during the
first lap (we had 5x3.75km) but then it disappeared. (Funny, I was laughing at Sean last year
when he was in the same situation ...)

Well, despite my condition I was racing quite well.
The main problem was in skis. They were much slower on downhills than the skis of my concurrents.
I had to always catch with them. I do not know what it was exactly: either too much of klister
or the skis itself (Antti also said that his skis were quite bad), but at some point after downhill the gap was quite big and
I could not catch back to them anymore, even on the flat area where I am normally quite strong.
I was going fourth all the time seeing second and third in around 30-40 seconds in front.
The finish line did not change much.

Well, it was crazy, I know. That's the price I had to pay for the fun I had :) C'est la vie ..
PLEASE DO NOT REPEAT THIS CRAZY THING

But overall it was a super good trip. Fabian, thanks a lot for organizing it!
I'd be happy to go again next year, but now I am too old ...

Video from Swiss Championship at les Mosses

Here you can see as well the people mentioned in the previous post :)

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=495832411735&oid=154588631778&comments&ref=mf

Superb Swiss Championship at Col des Mosses

The weekend of 5/6 February we went to Col des Mosses for Swiss Championship in cross country skiing.

First of all, all swiss national team (four guys that won World Cup relay in La Clusaz this year: Dario Cologna, Curdin Perl, Remo Fischer and Toni Livers ) was present on Saturday, that was extremely cool, since we had a possibility to check our forces against them. Moreover, Dario Cologna is the olympic champion of last year and the best cross country skier in the world at the moment, so it was even cooler :)

And it was cool!

 

Saturday, 5 February, 15 km, time-trial
The hard 2x7.5km. As expected, Dario won the race with big advantage (almost 1 minute faster than second). I lost around 4.5 minutes to Dario. It is still 4.5 minutes, but I am quite satisfied. It's probably my best result at 15km on FIS track. "FIS track" means that there are heavy uphills and it is not at all flat :)

Winner Dario Cologna

In addition, I should say few words about competition itself. First, it was greatly organized. There is no snow anywhere, but at Les Mosses they managed to provide a super good track! I am amazed by their job. Secondly, the weather was superb, cold in the morning but later during the race a lot of sun. That was successfully repeated on Sunday! And last but not the least, I've never been supported by such a big amount of people during the race. It was indeed like a worldcup! It was almost like in La Clusaz World Cup, where we went as spectators and supporters: all the longest uphill had a live shouting fence from people. I heard my name several times on each lap. That was indeed amazing and helpful!

A big big thanks to all organizers and to all people that came to support us!

Saturday's results
My heart rate and elevation during this race

Sunday, 6 February, 10km (classic) + 10km (skating)

Classic part went quite good. I had good kick and my skis were very fast: I often had to pass guys on downhill. Skating skis were not that fast, but it was ok. I even managed to pass one person on skating part. Strangely ... uphill, I am normally not that good on uphill (quite heavy for it :))

Of course, Dario won again (who else?)! I lost 5 minutes to him. Actually, I am very satisfied. Because, first, it was a hard track (not a marathon's one) and second, he is the best skier :))

Winners of Sunday's race

I should say that both days I felt very good. On the uphills I went to fifth zone up to 185.
I was managed to recover properly on downhills, and I did not hit the wall.

Sunday's results
My heart rate and elevation for duathlon

It was a great race, great place and great weekend. I am looking forward to second part of Swiss Championship at Les Mosses (25-27 March).

Vive le ski de fond!