The Big One
matt | February 18, 2009This is it… for all the marbles and jelly beans. The Birkie is the most important ski race for almost every racer in the Midwest and almost all master skiers. Sure, a National podium is great, yeah its cool to make the World Cup, winning Supertours can be exciting but in the minds of most skiers winning the Birkie would trump almost anything except maybe a medal at the Olympics.
This week has been relaxed so far which is good after a busy weekend of racing in Madison. Being relaxed is important to racing fast and it is my game plan to not get Birkie fever until the morning of the race. Then I can get all stimulated and sweat it out on all the big climbs.
This will be my seventh Birkie and I have progressed over the years. In my first six Birkies I placed 35, 38, 22, 12, 12, and 7th last year. It is always the goal to improve upon one’s previous Birkie place. It is going to be tough because the Birkie is going to have a lot of fast guys this year but it is the Birkie… anything can happen!
[...] Matt Liebsch of Maple Grove, MN won the men’s
Fever at the Birkie | February 22, 2009[...] Matt Liebsch of Maple Grove, MN won the men’s 50K with a time of 2:11:47.9 followed by Wisconsin resident Bryan Cook finishing 43 seconds out and Canadian Dan Roycroft another 5 seconds back. “This is it… for all the marbles and jelly beans,” Liebsch wrote on his blog a couple of days before race day, ”anything can happen.” His description of the race’s importance only gives us an idea of how happy he is with his performance. [...]
[...] Matt Liebsch of Maple Grove, MN won the men’s
Fever at the Birkie | February 22, 2009[...] Matt Liebsch of Maple Grove, MN won the men’s 50K with a time of 2:11:47.9 followed by Wisconsin resident Bryan Cook finishing 43 seconds out and Canadian Dan Roycroft another 5 seconds back. “This is it… for all the marbles and jelly beans,” Liebsch wrote on his blog a couple of days before race day, “anything can happen.” His description of the race’s importance only gives us an idea of how happy he is with his performance. [...]