Carbo Load with Pie and Bread

This Saturday was a busy weekend for HURT-nation and folks were traveling in all directions looking for strong starts to the racing season.  Coach Halligan took a tough U18 crew to the first NENSA Eastern Cup in Craftsbury for the individual classic race followed by a pursuit freestyle on Sunday.  Brian Beyerbach led the way on the results sheet with a 67th overall finish for the weekend.  Nino Manzella had a real strong finish right on his heels. Dan Manzella capped off the HURT boys show with a strong performance and a marvelous classic effort on Saturday.  In the women's race it was Eliza Blood who grabbed the top HURT spot with a 73rd place finish in a very deep and dense race field.  Emily Atamanchuk and Briana Fitzgerald got there first taste of Eastern Cup Racing with strong efforts on both days.  Full results for the overall weekend can be found here: https://www.nensa.net/results/

The NYSSRA points series opened with two races: The Osceola Pie race and the North Creek Nordic Fest. The North Creek Nordic Fest was met with mid-winter snowy conditions on Saturday and even though the concurrent high school race was cancelled due to tricky travel HURT made a strong showing on the course in the club race and on the podium.  Here are some shots of the steps.

The women's podium featured NY skiers (now Castleton College skiers) Emily Cromie (2nd) and Megan Greene (1).  4th place Castleton skier is featured in this picture even though the 3rd place was grabbed by fast skiing NYSSRA-regular Gabriella Frittelli.

You have to show up in the junior girls race to get on the podium!

Paul Allison, Doug Diehl (not pictured) and DPK take the steps on the masters podium. The Directress #2 waits patiently to get her dad's podium bell. 

Seamus Tomb (1) Alex Fragomeni (2) and Will Davis (3) in the boys 5K.

Podium finishers were joined by Casey Tomb, Brendan Tomb, Julie West and Alec Davis.  Full Results can be found here: 

Unfortunately, heavy rains drowned out the scheduled Sprint Race slated for Sunday morning but it was still a strong start for an event that looks to grow and bring lots of folks to the great venue at Gore and to the great business in the North Creek Region.  All award winners walked away with homemade dessert breads from Cobble Creek Farm!  Thanks to UHTA (Upper Hudson Trail Alliance) for hosting the event with us!

Not to be outdone, the baked goods kept coming at the Osceola Pie Race and HURT sent a Western delegation to the Tug Hill for the goods.  Ed Luban had a great day on home turf in the deep deep lake effect powder and once again lived by the old standby rule...."You have to show up to beat me!"

visual approximation of skiing in the Pie Race POW.

The Odd Oddsmaker Odds Take 2 - Season Kickoff Edition

Alright....the masses have spoken.  The interweb-nation may have decided that they are collectively over reading the "top 10 buzz-feeds" Buzz Feed", special-edition-fake-news-breaking-conspiracy-stories crafted by middle schoolers in Moldova, and the nonsense spewed from certain politician's tweet machine....but the web has come alive with a resounding "WE WANT MORE" when it comes to NY nordic ski racing reports from the Odd Man himself. 

So....here is goes.  World Cup racing moves to Davos, and New York racing revs up this weekend with a NYSEF opener (non-series). The following weekend (Dec. 17th) the NYSSRA points series and NENSA Eastern Cup series kick off in North Creek and Craftsbury respectively.  Winter is here...racing is here...time to place your money on the ladies. 

If you ever have a pundit ask you how to heal a nation divided, look no further than HURT-Laydz-nation.  Half the group hails from Shen....and the other half from Queensbury.  Blood rivals. Section 2 powerhouses. Queensbury has, and maintains, the upper hand in this storied history. But don't turn your back on the young upstarts from the suburban jungle of Clifton Park.  With no real hills to train on, the CP gals have turned to the creative training ideas of the French. Mademmoiselle A. Weidmann leads this crew of giggles as they look to close the gap on the Q-squad.  The youth, energy, hunger, and team unity are hallmarks for this half of the Laydz.

Odd-maker Odds:  3:2 that Shen will have the loudest cheering section at any nordic race North of 30 degree Latitude. 

Noah Hoffman fantasy equivalent pick: Stack your team with Sweden.  Nilsson, Ingemarsdotter, Falk, Haag....just like picking Park, Weidmann, Burns, Caron, McGill.  They will have their days. And with well paced money you may just win big. 
You looking for a safe bet? Hit a bad stretch of betting after placing the college savings on Huneck? Here is a good way to get your coin back.  Let it ride on Qbury and Norway.  When Johaug gets banned for a few years...Bjoergen will come back and Weng will beat her.  They are deep, they are strong and they just keep coming.  E. Blood leads this squad once again but on any given week you could be looking for big results from Gengel, Atamanchuk, Falla, Borgos, Oestberg, even the youngest Beyerbach...it really doesn't matter. You'll be making a winning bet.  Don't give them the championship plaque just yet...we all know that a lot can happen in a season.  But they have talent and history on their side.

Odd-maker Odds:  4:1 that they will leave more glitter on the trail this season than this guy.

Noah Hoffman fantasy equivalent pick: Norway.  Just Norway.

So....You think all the HURT Laydz are from two schools? Soft-spoken but steely-eyed Briana Fitzgerald would like to beg to differ.  She brings top 10 section speed from Scotia and a dedication unmatched.  This is your Parmakoski bet.  You won't be disappointed.  You may not win the big money, but you will have your principled Green Party vote.   

Who can heal a nation divided? What kind of leader can lead with such grace, dignity, power and strength of will?  Who has the god-like character traits of Athena and resolve of Joan of Arc?

Boom. 

Look for total domination in the U8 races.

And her army is growing. 

Be frightened.  Be very frightened.  Gurlz Rool.  Boys Drool.