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| OO - The halfway point |
Many people would not consider 54 kilometers a pleasant weekend ski. Most folks I know would not want to dedicate 3-9 hours of a Saturday to playing outside on a day where the base temps aren't going past 14F and the winds are hefty. Few towns cover their main streets in a foot of snow on purpose, and fewer still muster everyone in the surrounding counties to stand in the freezing cold to cheer for a bunch of spandex-clad loonies. While the Birkie is not the only ski-marathon out there, it is Wisconsin's gold standard for a reason.
Every year, over 10,000 skiers gather (often pre-dawn to catch a shuttle) for the American Birkebeiner. They're promised an outstanding (and rather hilly) course - 50k for the skate skiers and 54k for the classic skiers, a gazillion spectators, all the Heed/water/bananas/oranges/Nilla Wafers/Gu they can stomach, numerous course-side adult-beverage opportunities, and, generally, one heck of a race. The best skiers will usually finish in 2-2.5 hours. And while there are shorter/flatter race options to choose from in the upper-Midwest, everybody focuses on the 30+ miles between Cable and Hayward, WI.
A couple years back (and my second year of skiing), Ali and I launched ourselves into the Birkie. We were in great shape; the snow was perfect; and it was FREEZING. We made it past the halfway point (which is where the course supposedly levels out) but had to pull the plug at Mosquito Brook Road since (a) Ali was freezing and (b) my legs were about to collapse. That being said, the course was fast - our first split had us going 7min/k vs the 8min/k we did this year.
This year, we were far more prepared. My skiing skills were far, far more honed; my new skis were far superior to my old skis; we'd been tackling longer training skis; the weather allowed us to do more skiing near Madison; and we had brought far more appropriate apparel.
Getting up to Cable was a harrowing experience in itself, this year. The Thursday before the Birkie, mid- to northern-Wisconsin experienced a bit of a snowpacolypse. There was over a foot of fresh snow, and the plows just could not keep up. When we were driving up on Friday, the roads were covered in about 4-6" of ice. Traffic plodded along on the interstate and state highways, with the more daring/foolish drivers going 45-50mph. We managed to swing by registration and still make our cabin just before sunset. We ate well, slept cold, and roused ourselves around 6 so that we would make the start in time (our wave started at 9:30).
The weather was beastly for the event organizers. The groomers had a marathon of their own trying to get the snow packed and set for the Saturday race, and while their efforts were noble, many skiers were less than happy with the results. To make matters worse, the hospitality (aka heated) tents at the start and finish both got blown down Friday night.
Thankfully, the tents were back up by the time Ali and I needed them, and they were shockingly warmer than the old resort that used to host skiers at the start. That didn't keep me from needing a pair of warmers for my giant, downhill ski mitts at the oh-so-windy start. We timed the walk to the start line just about perfectly, though, and were into the sheltered woods climbing giant hills in no time.
The first 10-15k are really packed for recreational skiers like us. We get to fight for trail space with everyone doing the (shorter) Kortelopet, and there tend to be silly pile-ups on hills. Since the Birkie is on constantly-rolling terrain for the first half, this translates to a lot of traffic and a lot of time spent slogging along behind slower folks. (Considering that Ali and I are pretty slow, it's just bizarre when we get stuck between 30+ other people.) During this first bit, there are some really lovely twists and turns in the woods and some really fun powerline hills. Just before the first rest stop (and just after those power-line hills), we stopped and took off the heaviest of our layers. By the second rest stop, I was down to a small number of base layers.
Once the Korte skiers turned back, our trip became much nicer. The skate trail was still separated, and we started segregating into small packs of similarly-paced skiers. Unfortunately, this was also the point that the cold really got to my airway, and my breakfast-energy ran out. Eventually, I called Ali back to distract me and went into zombie mode. I couldn't manage much more than putting one foot in front of the other. I tried to get sufficient Gu and Heed into me at the rest stop, but I really didn't start feeling human until after I had some real food (hooray for bringing brownies) at the halfway point. I realize I'm not the average Birkie skier (i.e. I'm willing to stop and munch on something), but the aid stations could use more food.
Unfortunately, as soon as I perked up, Ali started getting worse for the wear. I had abandoned her at the halfway point since I was getting chilled, and after her push to catch back up, she was just out of energy. We got some more Gu eventually and made it past "Bitch Hill" to the last cut-off with time to spare. The first third of the race is scenic and hilly; the second third is reasonably wooded and rolling; and the final stretch is flat and exposed but incredibly reassuring.
We wisely layered up at the last rest stop. The last few kilometers take you over a lake and straight into downtown Hayward. The lake is bitterly exposed, and the sun was heading toward the horizon just as we finished. It's pretty traditional for some locals to head out on the lake and hand out shots to skiers as they're coming in. Though we abstained earlier in the course, the cheap booze was just what we needed to get across the lake to the finish. From 40km on, I knew that we were going to finish, and I think we were both elated to make the lake.
Even though we were finishing pretty late in the day and pretty low in the standings, there were still tons of people lining Main Street and cheering us home. This was apparently one of the toughest/slowest Birkies in recent years. The snow conditions added anywhere from 30 min - 2 hours to peoples' time, and 20% of registered skiers didn't make it to the finish.
We had a great day playing out in the snow. The woods were gorgeous; the sun kept us reasonably warm; and, best of all, we managed to finish the American Birkebeiner.
