You Should Be Rowing (Better)

Though it may sound weird, I like rowing.  Trust me though; there was a long time where I did not like rowing.  About the first ¾ of year through my first serious rowing program, I did not look forward to the rowing portions of my training.  I did them because I was pleased with the results.

500m Row Stats

I don’t know how it changed, but one day after a long row I got off the Concept 2 ERG and thought, “I actually enjoyed that”.  And ever since, I’ve been way less grumpy, and sometimes enthused about doing my rowing sessions. 

2015 USASA SBX Year-End Re-Cap

While my goal for this year was the same as the past few (win Gold at Nationals), I had a little more incentive to succeed, as a Gold in April would have made it 3 in a row.

Lined Up for Time Trials

Leading up to Nat’s, I had won 5 Rocky Mountain Series regional races where I was often racing against younger age group competitors.  I was riding really well and had consistent, strong starts throughout the year.

2015 USASA SBX Race Update

This has been an unusually warm and dry race season - luckily no races have been cancelled, but all of the scheduled practice days at Ski Cooper were scratched.  Speaking of which, Ski Cooper was a new race venue and provided a fairly technical course with over 20 features (even with the low snow totals). 

Ski Cooper Course Start

Ski Cooper Start Section

Fight Club on Snow - Part 3

Be sure to read Part #1 and Part #2.

So do our racing efforts line up with the movie themes listed earlier?  Decide for yourself:

- Racing provides a regular opportunity to participate in intense competition.  Preparing for racing (gym training, practice,etc.) and striving to be better each race gives an added focus to daily activities and SBX/SX athletes seem to have a certain passion for living that others may lack.

Close Competition Over the 1st Feature
Photo VAST::vastaction.com

Fight Club on Snow - Part 2

Be sure to read Part #1.

Unfortunately the media hasn’t really helped foster better understanding of our sports by describing Boardercross (and Skicross) as the NASCAR of snowsports – this analogy is completely wrong by the way – and I can offer up a few sports that make for a much more accurate comparison (read more about this topic on a previous post).  Even though these sports are, and have been in the Olympics since 2006 (SBX) and 2010 (SX), most people are not totally clear on what races are like and know even less about the athletes who compete in each discipline.

You Actually Tune Your Own Boards?