MRC Ski Race Team Weekly Blog
Posted: Fri Jan 08, 2016 3:48 pm
3 of us are fielding a team of World Class ski racers, every Thursday night At Nashoba Regional. Team Name: SPG and the Scotts, The team consists of:
Jeremy "Skinnyphat" Cratty (SP)
Jean-Claude Gumbo (G)
John "Smudger" Smith (Scot #1)
Phil "Berserk" McGurk (Scot #2)
The format, 2 giant slolom runs against a supposedly evenly match opponent. A win is a point, and time against your handicap is worth points. Top 3 skiers from the team add to the team score.
The MRCers have never ski raced, and the nerves were running high. Phil, the veteran, was downplaying his capabilities.
Week 1 report:
120 or so racers. Gumbo was up first with # 72 so we had a long wait. The early racers are the fastest from the year before. Top times early were 21.5-24secs (legit ski racers) but soon were dropping to high 20s and low 30s. Gumbo finally is up and the heckling began. He shot out of the gate like a, well like a 50 year old guy. But the flow took over and and he gracefully made his way his way down the course with no apparent mistakes and edged his opponent for the WIN! 31-ish second. 1 - 0 good guys. Smudger was shortly after. His opponent? No one, apparently that person saw Smudger and ran for the hills. He cruised to a solid 29-ish time and a win. 2 - 0. Skinnyphat is up next, and the competitive juices were flowing. He looked at his opponent, an attractive 20-something female from Boston. That upped the pressure a bit, as immaturish (not a word but still) ribbing would be coming my way if I lost. I blasted out the gate, carried way to much speed into the "steep" section, almost crashed, hung on and won but it was close. 28-ish seconds. SPG and the Scotts 3-0. Berserk McGurk went last and was outgunned by a clear sandbagger who posted a 25 sec time. Our first blemish. Round 2 went downhill (the bad way). Gumbo crashed and had to climb back up to make his gate. 50+ secs and a loss. Smudger spun out and also had to backtrack, oh but wait, still a win against the phantom opponent. 4-2. I had a long wait as the guys in front crashed into each other. My female opponent was playing mind games with me. I went even harder this time, was a bit sloppy on top but smoother on the bottom. Win #2 and a slightly faster time. Berserk got smoked again, not much he could do. 5-3 overall, and when everything was tallied we were in 9th place out of 40 teams. We held our own in the bar, but better nights are still to come.
Jeremy "Skinnyphat" Cratty (SP)
Jean-Claude Gumbo (G)
John "Smudger" Smith (Scot #1)
Phil "Berserk" McGurk (Scot #2)
The format, 2 giant slolom runs against a supposedly evenly match opponent. A win is a point, and time against your handicap is worth points. Top 3 skiers from the team add to the team score.
The MRCers have never ski raced, and the nerves were running high. Phil, the veteran, was downplaying his capabilities.
Week 1 report:
120 or so racers. Gumbo was up first with # 72 so we had a long wait. The early racers are the fastest from the year before. Top times early were 21.5-24secs (legit ski racers) but soon were dropping to high 20s and low 30s. Gumbo finally is up and the heckling began. He shot out of the gate like a, well like a 50 year old guy. But the flow took over and and he gracefully made his way his way down the course with no apparent mistakes and edged his opponent for the WIN! 31-ish second. 1 - 0 good guys. Smudger was shortly after. His opponent? No one, apparently that person saw Smudger and ran for the hills. He cruised to a solid 29-ish time and a win. 2 - 0. Skinnyphat is up next, and the competitive juices were flowing. He looked at his opponent, an attractive 20-something female from Boston. That upped the pressure a bit, as immaturish (not a word but still) ribbing would be coming my way if I lost. I blasted out the gate, carried way to much speed into the "steep" section, almost crashed, hung on and won but it was close. 28-ish seconds. SPG and the Scotts 3-0. Berserk McGurk went last and was outgunned by a clear sandbagger who posted a 25 sec time. Our first blemish. Round 2 went downhill (the bad way). Gumbo crashed and had to climb back up to make his gate. 50+ secs and a loss. Smudger spun out and also had to backtrack, oh but wait, still a win against the phantom opponent. 4-2. I had a long wait as the guys in front crashed into each other. My female opponent was playing mind games with me. I went even harder this time, was a bit sloppy on top but smoother on the bottom. Win #2 and a slightly faster time. Berserk got smoked again, not much he could do. 5-3 overall, and when everything was tallied we were in 9th place out of 40 teams. We held our own in the bar, but better nights are still to come.