Altitude is tough. I learned flying to Colorado last week that coming from sea level and putting in a couple big efforts at altitude really changes the game. With the snow situation in Wisco looking bleak I headed out to ski with Kent Savitt – long time member of the Hollander Benelux Racing Team and resident of Golden Colorado.  I’ve known Kent for almost 25 years. Back in the early days Kent raced for the Junior 7-Eleven Team and was and still is a hammer. So, I was excited to bring my fitness and skinny skis to Colorado and get an old school beat down on his turf.

The destination was Winter Park; Snow Mountain Ranch was the trail system. On Saturday we were met with beautiful sunshine and clear vistas of the surrounding mountains. Snow Mountain Ranch is situated very nicely in a valley with a ton of trails in every direction. No matter which one you took you almost always had to go even higher. Skiing at 9,000 feet defiantly puts a little strain on the body.

Also joining us on the ski trip was former Olympian  & 2 Time US Crit. Champion Jonas Carney – who was so fit I asked him if he was training for MMA fighting. The ski was going to be very interesting. As Jonas is an amazing trainer his advice to me was, “don’t make any big efforts, they are harder to recover from at altitude”, words that really didn’t have any meaning at the time. I guess one of those things you have to learn.

The pace was gracious, my friends really wanted me to have a good time and we enjoyed a great afternoon. At about 2hours Jonas wanted to tackle a section of trail that I’d say was a black diamond run. Terrain I haven’t experienced in Wisconsin. I think the name of the trail was Old Lynch Trail. As we climbed and descendent the trail it became very obvious that every climb was a huge effort. At one point I remember poling up a hill and then on the edges of my sight, I saw darkness. So…. this is what Jonas meant, I thought to myself. The next thing I know I was stopped in my tracks and gasping for air.

At that point we headed back to the ski lodge to refuel and have a coffee. We’ve been skiing for about 2.5 hours. After a quick rest we headed back out for a loop through the valley to V2. All in we skied four hours.

That night I was fried. We headed down the road to Deno’s in Winter Park. It was a great place, awesome appetizers, service and food and they had brandy what could be better. Winter Park is just bursting with people out living a great winter lifestyle. Almost everyone at the restaurant was slightly sunburned from a great day of skiing.

Politics, Politics, Politics, no matter what side you’re on this one really hits home. Join Trek, Wheel & Sprocket and the Hollander Benelux Racing team to get the word to your elected officials about saving funding for Bicycle infrastructure.

What is at STAKE: On Thursday, February 2nd the House Transportation Committee is voting on the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, a bill that eliminates crucial funding for biking and walking. We stand to lose $1.2 billion and over 3,000 potential bike and pedestrian projects, including Safe Routes to School programs.

Here is the info and a letter template you can use to contact your government representative.

My name is [YOUR NAME], and I’m contacting you today to ask you to protect the dedicated pedestrian and bicycle funding in the new American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act.

This bill is expected to eliminate the two largest programs that fund bicycling and walking infrastructure: Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School. Without these programs, communities in your district and all over the country will lose access to resources to build the facilities that keep people safe.

Bicycling and walking are critical to keeping our communities moving with healthy, safe, and accessible transportation options.

Biking and walking make up 12 percent of all trips, but only 1.5 percent of federal funding.

And bicycling is good for health and the environment.

Thank you for your support.
[YOUR NAME]
[YOUR CITY AND STATE]

On Sunday the New York Times online featured Milwaukee in it’s travel section. The story covered the “Arty Third Ward”. One of the places featured was the new Cafe Benelux & Market (our title sponsor). Here’s what the New York Times had to say, “Since June, beer aficionados have been bellying up at this bar and cafe dedicated to the Lowlands. In addition to 180 beers from Belgium, menu items include savory pannenkoeken ($10) and mussels ($12.95 a pound). A shaved beef sandwich from the market is $9.”

Beer and Mussels for everyone!

Rounding turn 3 of the opening flat oval of the Lapham Loppet it would have been difficult for the gathered crowd back at the start/finish to fully understand that I was gassed, a mere 163 yards (or .37 “kilometers” in xc ski speak) into the race. I needed to go fast(er); lungs weren’t taking on enough air; it was cold; the field inexorably pulled away down the trail.

With arms flailing like I was in a pool of piranhas and legs mimicking Frankenstein at midnight, some may have assumed that it was Urkel break dancing off the back of the 2nd wave pack. Panicked with the fear of being a full 10 lengths off the back as we rounded back through the start/finish area, I gasped back into the tailing jetsam of the wave of 20 skiers just as we passed the start…and THEN the race began!

Poor technique is the water-boarding of cross country skiing. The harder the effort, the more the technique suffers, the more technique suffers the harder you want to go, the more your technique suffers, the harder the effort. You get the idea.

In this case, I fully appreciated the need to get up the 250 ft. Gut Buster with the “mountain goats” versus the regular ol’ goats. The effort in the first 2 miles was extreme. I worked hard to pass a group of 5 who (thankfully!) were starting to suffer too. On the slopes, I was able to rejoin the main Wave 2 group and actually started to regain some composure as we went up.

The Laham Loppet (Black Loop) course then features a mix of lightning fast downhills (read: short recovery) matched with endless “false flats” and REAL gut busters (ref: Asthma Hill). My spirits piqued when I saw two Café Hollander team mates just down the trail. I felt good enough to squeak past Butter (John Young) on Rock Ridge and even worked my way up to Jabo, who skis with the fluidity of a Bolshoi lead. Nervously I flailed past him just before Asthma Hill and then waited for the tap…”Nice Try!” he’d surely say as he danced past!

Out of fear of suffering this humiliation, I went as hard as I could, down the gentle grade following Asthma Hill and on to the brutally difficult Tower Hill climb. With tonsils choking back my lungs, I cranked it over the top…still no tap…and screamed down (the Garmin reported 33 mph) the ½ mile hill on Twizzlerized legs, passing a couple more guys.

(Medical side note: on a repaired left knee, right turns are difficult. Tower Hill or the Big Slide culminates with, wait for it, a hard right!)

I dared not glance back at the skier nipping at the tails of the skinny skis and only redoubled my resolve to make it up “Two Tier” still “in the lead” over my two teammates.

Hope turned to joy at the top of this the final hill…a quick glance over my shoulders showed NO Hollander kit in my (cross-eyed) field of vision. Downhill and back onto the flats, I was able to resume the break-dancing routine and finish in just over 40 minutes…:30 ahead of Butter and Jabo…and good enough for 24th place.

This weekend the Hollander Benelux Nordic ski team was out in force. Leading the way was Mark Parman taking first in his age group at the Seeley Hill Classic in Seeley Wisconsin. With fresh snow this week throughout Wisconsin, team members took advantage of the conditions.

Toko Wax clinic with Ben Lund at 6:00pm.

With the fresh thought of snow in our minds as we get into December the Hollander Benelux Racing Team gets new digs for the snow! This is the first year the team will formalize their Nordic ski season, racing in local race series @ Lapham Peak and Greenbush in preperation for the Noquemanon Ski Marathon and the American Birkebeiner

Snow is a powerful narcotic.

Most of us spend all summer complaining about precipitation and unseasonably low temperatures, and then winter begins to tease.

It’s as though the wrapping on a gift sitting under the Christmas tree has torn just a bit to reveal that the present juuuussstttt miiiight just be….

Like children following reports on Santa, an anxious segment of the population starts scrutinizing long-range forecasts for rain of the frozen variety. Some of us see blue on the national weather maps and start begging Mother Nature to settle in, below-freezing with a comforting blanket of snow.

Last year, the allure of snow drew me out in early September, on roller skis, in preparation for the American Birkebeiner in late February.

Then, my cross-country season on the verge ended with a cracked patella (knee cap) and I spent the build-up phase on the couch. After a year of recovery, undeterred by the implements of suffering, I dragged out the roller skis once again, this time in mid-August, and began dreaming of the shoveling season.

The first couple strides on the roller skis had me wobbling along as cautious as a toddler taking his first steps. Now, four months into the season, and 500 miles later, I’m ready to audition for Dancing with the Stars Ski Edition. Strength is coming back, allowing longer glides, and less anxiety. When it’s going well, the joys inherent in the rhythmic skating technique transfer well to the asphalt and agitate the dreams of snow.

The addiction plays with the mind.

Skiing up the Oak Leaf Trail on a recent night with two Café Hollander teammates, the darkness transformed the path into what would pass for a nicely groomed ski trail at Lapham Peak. As we skated in a relatively synchronized conga line, sounds of the woods came alive in inky surroundings. Critters rustled in the leaves; even the rapids of the Milwaukee River delivered a faint, if not steady, wave of applause as we made our way down the trail.

Talk ranged from the icy nip in the air to “necessary” upgrades to equipment. New team ski kits had to be procured, along with glide wax. Spending money makes the snow-addled heart grow fonder.

I’m not the only one going bonkers. The Birkiebeiner is now full: a record number registered at a record pace. During a visit to the Bicycle Doctor ski and bike shop, dozens of recently tuned skis hung from the rafters. It was clear that many similar addicts are spending a little green to pass the time until a little white falls from the sky.

Now, with the season half over, the heart quickens with every bit of encouraging news. Snow in the UP!

The Friends of Lapham Peak added a fourth snow gun to cover the man-made loop! In only three short months, it will likely be over but now is the time to dream big white fluffy dreams!

By Steve Smith

from JSOnline Off the Couch Blog

Chatsworth, CA (X November 2011): While Bonk Breaker can’t claim that eating their
new apple pie energy bars will help keep the doctor away, the addition of super food chia
seed to the all-natural ingredients certainly bolsters their case. In development for the
past six months, the eighth Bonk Breaker flavor arrives in the peak of autumn, providing
athletes and anyone in search of a nutritious snack a cool and refreshing, warm and
comforting energy bar free from gluten, dairy and soy.

“The feedback that we received from Facebook and our Team Bonk Breaker athletes
urged us to create a bar with apples. The numerous health benefits of the added chia
seed, which is the world’s richest source of Omega-3 fatty acids as well as an excellent
source of calcium, potassium, iron, magnesium, niacin, fiber and antioxidants, makes for
a super food Bonk Breaker. Welcome to the new era of cutting-edge nutrition,” declared
Bonk Breaker founder Jason Winn.

Bonk Breaker’s co-owner Chris Frank said, “The incredible support and feedback we
receive from our community of Team Bonk Breaker athletes has been invaluable, and
we’re thrilled to grow our squad as a complement to the tremendous growth we’ve
experienced as a company.

Bonk Breaker Energy Bars are available @ North Shore Wheel & Sprocket! Get some today.

In a show of strength in the Downer Classic – the Hollander Mens Masters 1-2-3 squad – took control of the race from lap three. Dave Jablonowski set the tempo early that launched Mike McKenna and Chris Frank into a 7 man break. The men in orange again set the tempo allowing the break to gain almost 45 seconds with 5 laps to go. Ben Lund, Kent Savitt, Joe Sulse, Tommy Matush, Johnny Atkinson, Dean Gore, and Rich Protasiewicz fought hard to keep the peleton from closing the gap in the final laps. With one lap to go Mike McKenna in heroic fashion launched a solo break and was caught in the final 200 meters, propelling Chris Frank to a 3rd place finish!! Mike ended up 6th. It was a great team effort and a another podium for Chris!