NA Vasa- Traverse City

It used to be a big NATIONAL race with factory skiers and big names. Its
now officially a local race.
1st. Joey Graci Marquette
2nd Andrew Triebold Spring Arbor
3rd Cliff Onthank Traverse City

50km men's results.

Milan Baic - local favorite - opted for 25km to save himself for World
Masters starting soon.

Yeah but where you you JK ? ! Maybe we'll see you next weekend if the
circus comes to town (on some new snow which we need - how is it
looking at this time ?)

Hey, it was a low snow race, and the crew did a great job with what
they had to work with. There were ski racers in the preceding days
shoveling snow onto the course, and it was in amazing condition. Never
mind that they barely were able to hold the race at all, the snow
condition was fine. Once the snow scraped off the ice on lap 2, it
became more challenging to say the least, but we all must adapt, and my
skis are fine.

I wonder if we'd had the usual great vasa conditions if Factory Teamers
had shown up. Snow depth probably had nothing to do with it. A main
factor in the lack of factory team "elite" skiers recently has
evidently been the competing race on the same day, and the other race
is part of the ASM, from what I'm told. It is kind of a bummer. Last
year we had Dave Stewart, this year it fell off the map. It is a neat
course on a dedicated piece of land with no real road crossings (just a
driveway & a seasonal road which looked as good as the ski trail.

I enjoy the vasa a lot, & evidently so do lots of other people judging
from several racer's hometowns listed as far away as: WA, VT, NM, PA,
and the usual smattering of IL, IN & OH.

While it is cool to see the national tour elites, it never makes or
breaks a citizen masters race, and it doesn't have ANY bearing on
whether it is a good race, or not. If I were vying for the win, it
would be more meaningful to beat a big name, but I'm not & I find my
hands are full of challenge with the skiers we have there. I hope this
doesn't come across as defensive, but I think I heard this beef last
year too, about the TC Vasa. Why get down on a great thing ? Besides,
Joey Graci had something like a 6th at the Noquey, including the
Factory Teamers. He's had a great couple races, and Andrew T is on
fire, you know he won the White Pine last weekend, and our long
reigning local champ got 2nd eh ? It was still a ski race ! Be there !



32 degrees wrote:
It used to be a big NATIONAL race with factory skiers and big names.
Its
now officially a local race.
1st. Joey Graci Marquette
2nd Andrew Triebold Spring Arbor
3rd Cliff Onthank Traverse City

50km men's results.

Milan Baic - local favorite - opted for 25km to save himself for
World
Masters starting soon.

FrontRunner 5th. They all had the opportunity to race!
"32 degrees" wrote in message
...
It used to be a big NATIONAL race with factory skiers and big names. Its
now officially a local race.
1st. Joey Graci Marquette
2nd Andrew Triebold Spring Arbor
3rd Cliff Onthank Traverse City

50km men's results.

Milan Baic - local favorite - opted for 25km to save himself for World
Masters starting soon.

I really don't care if the factory team skiers are there or not. The
Vasa is still a "high profile" race whether the factory teams are there
or not. I drove about 1000 miles round-trip, with a bunch of other
skiers, to do this race. Not one of us did this race because we thought
the factory teams would be there....we made the trip because it's a
unique and quality event. This was my first time doing the Vasa and it
won't be my last. The course was great and it was amazing how good the
conditions were considering the recent weather...the volunteers and
crew at the Vasa really knew what they were doing.

I think the success of these races depends on the local participation,
not the number of factory team skiers that do the race.

Dan

Dell......I was at my son's basketball game !
But, had a great 2 hour skate at Forbush in the afternoon...

And yes, Frontrunner and others... I agree. Still a VERY high quality
event, great course, good ski culture in Traverse City.

My comment was not to be taken as a negative one !

JK

32 degrees wrote:
Dell......I was at my son's basketball game !


Good ! Must balance family with our own pursuits.

But, had a great 2 hour skate at Forbush in the afternoon...

Better !

And yes, Frontrunner and others... I agree. Still a VERY high
quality
event, great course, good ski culture in Traverse City.

My comment was not to be taken as a negative one !

Good ! Sometimes we can say things verbally, socially, and write the
same thing, and the written word loses something in translation.

I got to ski for quite some time With Dan Teed from PA who is always
fun to race with. We've done that several times over the past few
winters. It's great that he comes in for the Michigan Cup races, all
the way from PA.

By the way, I understand the FrontRunner was 2nd in the Sunday classic
race. Nice !

Yes Dell..... email can take on the wrong tone very easily. The vasa is a
great race - period. But, I will admit, I did love seeing those big guns
here. They used to have the "sprints" downtown TC and I remember walking
around watching them one year. Who do I bump into? Bill Koch ! Chatted
with him a while, got my picture taken, pretty cool.

I remember the early 90's Vasa races... top ten places were almost ALWAYS
non-local factory type guys. Ben Husaby, Erich Wilbrecht, Mark King, Dave
Spaidal, ... and on and on... Sure some local guys got in there - Milan
Baic, John Goble, Denny Polzin, but not many !

And, great job on the 5th place Frontrunner !
I'm assuming you are heading to the Vasaloppet again this year?
I"m going next year and will be looking for some accomodation/travel advice.

JK

No Vasaloppet this year. Going over the pond for the Engadin with Nordic
Norm (aka John O'Connell, Nat Masters Race director, Dr. of Wax, etc.) and
Birkebeiner (aka Pete D'arienzo, the assassin, Mr D., and chief Groomer of
Rosie's Run). I am staying on and doing the Norwegian Birkie the following
weekend.

As for the Vasaloppet accommodations. Start early by e-mailing all the
hotels listed on the web site and contacting the Mora tourist office as soon
as the race is done this year. Enter the race as soon as they open it up
usually around April or so they generally close in May or June, but I
believe they will let foreigners in after that date.

I did have a great Vasa weekend, but I agree the Vasa is a premier local
race now. Last year we had 3 or 4 non local guys come, but for the most
part just the local crew. The winner, Joey Graci was from the UP by way of
NMU and a strong skier despite the backwards ball cap on his head. He had
place 6th behind the factory team guys in the Noque Classic. Great job by
the organizers for both Saturday and Sunday races with limited snow.

The FrontRunner



"32 degrees" wrote in message
...
Yes Dell..... email can take on the wrong tone very easily. The vasa is a
great race - period. But, I will admit, I did love seeing those big guns
here. They used to have the "sprints" downtown TC and I remember walking
around watching them one year. Who do I bump into? Bill Koch ! Chatted
with him a while, got my picture taken, pretty cool.

I remember the early 90's Vasa races... top ten places were almost ALWAYS
non-local factory type guys. Ben Husaby, Erich Wilbrecht, Mark King, Dave
Spaidal, ... and on and on... Sure some local guys got in there - Milan
Baic, John Goble, Denny Polzin, but not many !

And, great job on the 5th place Frontrunner !
I'm assuming you are heading to the Vasaloppet again this year?
I"m going next year and will be looking for some accomodation/travel
advice.

JK