Tour de Finn | City of Lakes Loppet Recap
- Posted on
- By Allie Rykken
- Posted in Tour de Finn
A stunning. sunny day at Theodore Wirth Park. A successful third stop on the Tour de Finn! Standing, updates, and recap posted.
RECAP/REFLECTIONS:
Loppet weekend. Wow. I’m still in that floaty post-race, sore muscles, happy heart state. I’ll be straight - this week prior was a rough one for a winter lover’s soul. Melting snow, race cancellations, races being shortened. Forecasts for the 50s. The sunshine helped, but there’s been something deeply unsettling about the lack of/instability of essentially missing a season. Life fluctuates naturally, but I suppose I always assumed we could rely on basic seasons of nature. I would love to write a whole different post about climate change and people’s complete avoidance of the discussion. We’d much rather say, “Weird winter, huh?” as if nobody wants to acknowledge what’s happening. But forgive me, my point being that while winter still feels absent, this weekend was a COMPLETE JOY!
While conditions remained mushy on Saturday, Sunday racers woke up to fast, ideal corduroy trails - and really, how delightful after weeks of sugary, mushy skiing. The sun was shining, but temps stayed low enough that the trail remained firm well into the morning. As someone who has adamantly avoided skate races, and short races for that matter, I was amazed at how FUN it was to go flying around the course. It was a day where everybody was a fast skier. While spectators weren’t allowed on course, there were plenty of racers and course marshals and creative spectators and music and announcers that made the race full of energy and excitement.
This is the biggest race in the Tour de Finn, and it really is a community celebration. I am reminded every year of how reviving and fulfilling this weekend is to so many people. I dare you to not run into friends, acquaintances, and make new friends while you’re out there. No matter how your race actually went, this event is much bigger than the race itself.
So, thank you, Loppet Foundation, for working so hard on top of all the other things they bring to the community - programming, snowmaking trails, something about a World Cup…! As a friend said, “I think we should do this every weekend!”
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STANDINGS:
Check out the standings! The points system is proving to successfully reward participation. Placing higher in the results is helpful, of course, but showing up takes the cake. In the teams division, you can see the YAM Bam Thank You Ma’am has a significant lead over the next team, Vakava Racing, which is followed closely by Team Birkie Marathon and Flying Fungi of Yuggoth.
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LOOKING AHEAD:
I wish I had some clear statements here, but everyone is used to this by now. Thanks for hanging in there. We’ve had three races so far in the Tour de Finn, and we’re hoping for a couple more.
- Mora Vasaloppet officially canceled their race this year, after a significant effort to maintain a longer loop.
- The River View Loppet - 18k classic - was rescheduled to February 18 in Brule, Wisconsin. We’ll keep updated on trail conditions there. This would be a natural snow course.
- We pause for Birkie weekend, and hope they’re able to pull a course together, weather permitting.
- Finally, we have the Pepsi Challenge at Giant’s Ridge on March 2. Remember, March is the snowiest month of the year, and this is a whole month out, so don’t hang up your skis yet. An amazing number of people put their skis away after the Birkie, and they are missing out on the best weeks of skiing of the year, usually! The Tour de Finn race is the 25k classic.
Mark your calendars for March 14 - we will have a Tour de Finn end of season celebration with awards for individuals and teams at the Trailhead in Minneapolis. More details to come, but food and awards will be from 6-8 pm, and skiing is encouraged if we have snow too!
Results & photos for the City of Lakes Loppet can be found at loppet.org and Skinnyski.com.