Rodrigues Sprints 2024
The Rodrigues Sprints
12/7/2024
Popular Racing ramped up in Craftsbury and Quarry Road this weekend. The big news was that snow blanketed much of the region in recent days, and skiing has been quite good for the first week of December in much of upper New England. While several early snows missed Craftsbury, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday saw some very nice accumulations, giving conditions a midwinter appearance. Skiers were excited to venture off the snowmaking loops and get a few kilometers in beyond the hamster wheels they had been confined to.
Racing kicked off on Saturday with the Rodrigues Sprints in Craftsbury. The event has grown in popularity over the years, and the format has evolved accordingly. This year, the sprint rounds were divided into three blocks so athletes could contest the heats within an hour. The change had many positives, but a few athletes were negatively impacted as they may have been at the top of their block with nowhere to advance. So, qualifying had a new twist of importance. The rounds were much more pleasant as there were not long waits between heats, and there was much less attrition of athletes over the day. The schedule was predictable, and that seemed to suit everyone!
The conditions were fresh powder with temps steady in the mid-twenties for the day. Craftsbury has been packing the natural snow onto the stored snow base and now has enough depth that the two do not mix. Skiers were surprised to have all fresh snow to ski on. The course started in the Upper Field, then went down Teaching Hill into the Lower Field, through the dip up to Coaches’ Corner, and followed Lemons down to the Snow Pit and up Cabin Hill. Skiers finished by crossing the Lower Field and sprinting up Teaching Hill with the final fifty meters in sprint lanes.
After qualifying, the consensus was that the loop was much harder than anticipated. Breath rates were low on the almost free ride to the snow pit, but then, when it was time to turn on the watts, they did not respond, and heartrates raced through the ceiling, leaving skiers anaerobic for the second half of the climb to the top of Cabin Hill. After a little respite across the Lower Field, skiers still found themselves depleted for the final sprint. All in all, it was as it should be.
The race field was super competitive, comprised of many collegiate carnival skiers and the top juniors. There were four master skiers and a couple of BKL skiers. I guess the FIS points attract a different level of competition. For the masters, there was Chris Burnham (NWVE), Dennis Page (Nansen), Ace Serianni, and myself (NWVE). All of the masters expressed their experiences when qualifying, as stated above. Chris had talked to a few of the early starters to get some insight and governed his effort at the start, but it was not advantageous, and he still ended up feeling the same as the rest of us.
Dennis qualified the highest for the masters, and Chris was a little behind. Ace and I were a bit further back. In the rounds, Dennis and Chris made the group two cutoff. Ace and I were in group three, with Ace at the top and I was in the middle. Chris performed the best in the rounds and advanced places. Dennis was not too keen on the tight racing and drifted off the back without being able to regain places. Ace mixed it up a bit, and I failed to execute on my strategy. Chris noted that not many passes were happening on the climb to the cabin, so he made an effort to be at the front in his heats. Chris ended up advancing as Dennis dropped, and in their final, they were in the same heat. Chris overtook Dennis to get the master podium!
Ace just missed block two and was at the top of block three with Acadia Enman (MNC). Both dropped their first round but held steady for the remaining two. Ace ended up winning his final round. Acadia remained composed and looked impressive with her MNC teammates in the final sprint. Ace found double poling to be the ticket to maintain his composure down the final stretch, as his skate balance would not be reliable.
I felt much like Dennis, and I do not like skiing in close proximity to other racers. I dropped one heat, while my closest qualifier, Max Ronner-Bland, advanced one heat. The hope was that I would bump back up, but that did not work out, as I took third in the second round of sprints. In the third round, Gigi Graves (GMVS) moved into my heat and utilized Chris’s strategy of leading. While Gigi skied well-controlled, the rest of us scrambled with some contact but no falls. Max enjoyed the head-to-head racing and held his own in the final rounds. Max also had one of the best cheering sections, which included his father, Dan, and Grandpa Perry.
The day was of smiles and friendly competition. It was fun to watch the elite rounds play out, and racing remained exciting throughout the day. Everyone was evenly matched in their individual groups, and all benefitted from the format. As the day closed out, the attention turned to the slightly changing weather forecast and what the morning would bring for day two.
Damian
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