CCC JUNIOR B TOUR
For the last several days the Junior B tour, which includes athletes that just missed qualifying for the World Junior Championships, have been skiing in Europe in preparation for the German National Championships in Oberhof. Racing begins Friday with a skate sprint. The team is led by Callaghan Training Centre's Chris Manhard and Tim Wintoniw, Head Coach Augustana Vikings Cross Country Ski Team - Camrose Ski Club.
We will be providing several updates from the Tour:
"The trip has gone well so far. The weather is very very warm and windy and I hope we make it through the weekend. The skiing is quite basic, seeing as there are the Special Olympics on till tomorrow so we have had a 2.5 km loop to ski on since we arrived. We will be allowed on the course tomorrow afternoon for our first chance to ski the race trails. First intensity today and some felt little rough and some said they felt amazing so I am looking forward to seeing how everyone adjusts to the first races.
The weekend should be interesting with 30 mls of rain expected to hit us Saturday night and Sunday."
Day 1:
"The trip started out with all of us flying from our respective airports to Pearson International in Toronto to meet up as a team for the first time! What an awesome group it is! From there, the long day of sitting began. The flight went smoothly and uneventfully, which is usually a good thing on travel days. It might be exciting but never fun to have unexpected complications.
Once we landed things started to get interesting. First off, we picked up two sweet Mercedes Sprinters, one aqua blue and one red, named Rahha and Joukkue respectively (the names are Finnish, Google translate it).
From there we stopped for lunch and found a fresh orange juice squeezing machine, and finally made it to OBERHOF!! Home of amazing alpine flowers, H2Oberhof, the famous ski tunnel, and of course, many a Tour de Ski stage World Cup! Let the German adventures begin!"
Day 2:
"After a good night of sleep, it’s nice to get back on snow and go for a ski. Everyone was happy to shake out the legs and as we skied we all started to feel better. So far, Oberhof has only been foggy and it feels like Nationals: weather is windy and warm. Now that we had a couple of dinners here, we can say that the salt in the soup wasn’t an accident! You can count on the soup to be salty and buttery! "
Fluid replacement...
The Oberhof trails, with typical Oberhof weather, that's why they have a ski tunnel
Day 3:
Today was the first day we saw the sun as well as the beautiful landscape. I think everyone enjoyed having a little warmth and sun. We had a great classic ski with some intervals to get our bodies going before our first race on Friday and it sure felt good.
We finished the day by eating waffles and drinking coffee. A few went to the famous ski tunnel to cross that off the bucket list. It was an awesome day!
Ski tunnel
Further updates and race results to follow as the Tour progresses.