I was recently informed that I have been remiss in my spelling of German places and names. To that end, I do humbly apologize to all the German biathlon fans out there for my haphazard placement of “i”‘s and “e”‘s throughout the last few posts. You see, I have always had an issue with spelling and due to the spellcheck function on my word processing programs, it has never become public knowledge. However, since my computer doesn’t seem to recognize Deutsch, I will have to rely on you, the German reader, to inform me the next time I run amuck with the German language.

I am now in Siegsdorf, Germany – a beautiful little town about seven km from the biathlon center in Ruhpolding.  Last night I was fortunate enough to see the Foo Fighters and Rise Against on the shores of the Chiemsee… What a show!  Today we had a time trial in the morning, followed by a quick lunch and the move to Siegsdorf, where I’m now settled in now.  

Cheers,

LB

Yesterday was a distance day.  We spent the morning looping around the Ruhpolding Biathlon venue on rollerskis.  After lunch and a short nap, we headed back out again for the afternoon workout.  The Fritz Am Sand Hotel sits directly across the road from one of the more famous mountains in the Ruhpolding area.  From below, The Rauschberg looks like a modest climb – nothing special.  A bit rocky towards the summit but otherwise pretty tame.  But looks can be deceiving.

We set out for an afternoon jog that took us through the German woods in the shade, on paths that connect every village in Germany.  I have to say that Europe really does have such a better system for bikers, hikers, walkers, and other non-auto-bound travelers.  Especially in Ruhpolding, the network of bike paths is immense, linking miles and miles of the German Alps on smooth, uniform gravel.  And man do people use them.  All walks of life can be found at almost any time of day on these paths.  From sportsmen to elderly couples, there exists a motley crue of recreationalists coursing through the German woods.

After a short jog, we arrived at the base of the berg and started the accent.  Halfway up, we came across the traverse that took us under some large cliffs and exposed us to the valley below.  In one direction you could see towards the Chiemsee and the flatlands of Munich, and in the other, the biathlon stadium and the Alps.  After almost two hours, we made it to the summit and looked over a 360-degree view of southern Germany and Austria.  It was a good climb but after five and a half hours of training on the day, I wasn’t thrilled at the idea of running back the way we came up.  Fortunately, we happened upon the tram operator who told us that we were about a minute before the last tram.  We jumped inside and were back at the bottom in about five minutes, back at the hotel in twenty!    Oh, and since we went up by foot, the ride down was free!

-LB

After a long week of training, we stowed our rollerskis and headed out for a Saturday evening of local culture.  We found said culture at the Seigsdorf Gartenfest, an annual party put on by the town out in some farm fields at the high point of the village.  It was quite a scene, definitely picture-worthy, and if I had remembered to bring my camera to Europe, I would have taken many pictures.  Instead, you will have to use your imagination… Just visualize about a hundred of  the dudes you see above.  We were definitely a little out of place without lederhosen.

The night was clear and warm and we spent a good few hours hanging out sampling the local food and drink while the brass band plaid Bavarian folk songs.  At some point, we found our way out of the crowd and headed for the good ‘ol Fritz Am Sand Gasthof where we have been staying the past few weeks.

I had the chance to head up to one of the local lakes on Sunday and go swimming.  I couldn’t believe how many people were out on a Sunday afternoon.  I know these lakes pretty well as I have been skiing around them in the winter many times.  But that afternoon, they were totally different.  I think it might be due to the fact that there really aren’t any beaches near here so apparently everyone in town just heads to the lake.  I think there must have been two hundred people lounging around and/or swimming.  Anyway, it was a good relaxing off-day, but now we are back to work skiing and shooting.

-LB

I hereby challenge myself to start updating again. I seem to have gotten caught up in a spring and summer’s comings and goings without finding the desire to update about them. Hopefully that is about to change.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and I am now in Germany for a three week training camp, full of unbelievably photographic moments and scenes. For instance, today we took a bike trek through the mountains of Bavaria, funneling out onto the lowlands next to the Cheimsee. The Cheimsee is one of Germany’s biggest lakes and a big destination for boaters throughout the region. After a few hours in the saddle, we traded our cycling shoes for paddles and hopped in kayaks, heading for King Ludvig’s last castle. Apparently, Bavaria’s last king was quite the contractor and commissioned a bunch of sweet pads in which to store countless artifacts and priceless memorabilia relating to kinghood. One of these castles is smack dab in the middle of the Cheimsee, in the middle of the Herren Island (Man’s Island). There is a Damen Island (Women’s Island) too but I suppose ol’ Ludvig thought he’s be called a sissy if he built his big bad castle there. So, we paddled over to The Man’s Island, took a gander at all the majesty, and headed back to shore to bike back to Ruhpolding.

So far the training camp has been mostly biathlon-specific training in the mornings at the Ruhpolding venue, but we’ve gotten out in the surrounding region for the afternoon workouts. I’ll try and steal a few pics from my teammates and get them up here soon.

Later,
LB

Hi Everyone,

I’m in Antholz, Italy at the moment. Tim and I have been here for a little over a week following the conclusion of the Fort Kent World Cup. It was nice to be home in the USA for three weeks and I was fortunate to have some good results at both of the American races. I think the high point for me was definitely the 9th place in the Fort Kent mass start. During the previous day’s Pursuit Race, I made a costly blunder and forgot to take two of the four clips I needed for that four-stage competition. This meant that, upon reaching the first standing stage, I had to flag down a race official and get two clips from the spare rifle on the spare rack. This took added a solid 30 seconds on to my course time and took me out of a Top-20 finish. At the end of the day, when all the numbers were crunched, it appeared that this error had cost me the qualification for the Mass Start the following day.

However, luck was with me on Sunday and a few of the qualified athletes dropped off the start list within an hour and a half of the start. Thus, I was given the last race slot and a chance to compete in my second Mass Start of the season. The race went well and I was able to shoot two penalties, leaving the range in 8th position for the final lap. I was able to hang on and place 9th, my career best.

Now, it’s just been a week and a half of training in Antholz. Tomorrow we drive to Munich and catch the charter flight to Khanty Mansiysk, Russia. World Championships are less than a week away!

All the best to everyone!
Lowell

I’m back in Fort Kent, ME preparing for the second world cup in a two-week tour of the US. Well, not so much a tour, but a touchdown in Aroostook County. It’s been great to get a break from the European racing scene and finally make the world cup tour come over to our neck of the woods. Last week we had a great series of races in Presque Isle, just 45 minutes south of here. The organizers there put on a great show and I heard nothing but good things about the quality of the event they pulled off.

After the Pursuit race on Sunday, we journeyed north to Fort Kent on Monday, with a short stop in Long Lake for lunch. I haven’t been back to Fort Kent since I lived here in 2005 and 2006 while competing with the Maine Winter Sports Center elite team. Although things seem pretty similar to when I left, one thing is much different: the rolling biathlon course of years past is no longer. Instead, I was confronted with possibly the longest, steepest climb of any world cup course I can recall! The course leaves the stadium and heads downhill for about 15 or 20 seconds. Then, it’s a grueling climb for about a minute or more, followed by a gradual section of about 100 meters, capped off by another brutal ascent. Basically, you go from the low point to the high point of the course within about 700 meters.

But, the course was prepared really well and the stadium is put together nicely. Since Fort Kent is not a booming metropolis, there isn’t a whole lot of lodging. So, the organizers have set us up in the dorm rooms of the local university campus. It’s a trip back to freshman year – communal bathrooms, dining hall, and dorm room lodgings. But, the food is good and we are only five minutes from the venue so I’m content and looking forward to the racing. We have the first race on Thursday at 11:30am EST. Hope you can tune in!

-Lowell

The December world cups drew to a close yesterday with the Mixed Relay in Pokljuka, Slovenia. I raced in the third slot while Sarah Studebaker led off, followed by Annelies Cook, and Leif Nordgren anchoring. It was a great day for the entire team on the range. We used only five extra rounds between the four of us which amounted to the best team shooting of the day for any of the nations. The mixed relay capped off a three-week stint of world cups that took us from Ostersund, Sweden to Hochfilzen, Austria and finally to Pokljuka, Slovenia.

Ostersund was a good start for me although my ski-speed is still a little slower than I would like. I managed to squeek into the top 40 in the Sprint, shooting clean and placing 38th. Although it was a nice start to the season, I was pretty excited to get out of the frigid temps and head for the sunshine of Austria. The sunshine only lasted for a couple of days at the beginning of the week in Hochfilzen. After that, we had three days of back-to-back racing in blizzard conditions. By the end of the weekend, about a meter of snow had fallen on the Austrian ski town. I was happy with this world cup despite the less-than-ideal conditions. I raced to 55th in the Sprint race and moved up to 39th in the Pursuit the following day. My ski speed improved and I headed for Slovenia with a couple more world cup points.

The Pokljuka world cup is one of my favorite race series because of the town we stay in. Bled, Slovenia is a tiny little city, set in the Slovenian mountains. It has a majestic lake, bustling downtown, great pizzarias, and a castle on a bluff overlooking the town. Many of the venues we go to are located in remote hard-to-reach areas. In such cases, you generally spend your time either at the hotel or at the venue and nowhere else. Bled is nicer in that you can get your mind off of biathlon for and hour or two and head downtown for a coffee, or take a recovery jog around the lake.

I was satisfied with the final week of racing in Slovenia although I didn’t make it into the world cup points again. As I see it, there were two highlights of the week for me. The first was that I improved my ski speed by around three minutes in the 20km when compared to the previous 20km Individual in Ostersund. Although I had 5 misses and just missed out on a top-40 finish, it was encouraging to be back in the mix on the ski course. Also, we had a great mixed relay which I mentioned in the opening paragraph. All in all, I feel good about the way the first three world cups have gone and I’m looking forward to a little down time before we start back up again in January at World Cup #4 in Oberhof, Germany.

For now, I’m spending a few days in Siegsdorf, Germany (just a few kilometers from Ruhpolding). I slept in today and went for a nice afternoon ski tour with Christian Sieler (See photos above), Toni Lang, and Katrin Hitzer. It was nice to see different side of Ruhpolding, not just the biathlon stadium.

From here, I will travel to Obertilliach, Austria on December 24th and train there until heading to Oberhof on January 2nd.

Happy Holidays to everyone!

-Lowell

Awoke to a veritable heatwave here in Ostersund: -17C (1.4F). Last night, training temps bottomed out at -21C (-6F), which felt very cold and made shooting a little more challenging than normal. I took a few pics after training this morning in the two or three hours of sunlight that flirted with the tops of the trees. I don’t think the light actually ever made it down on to the tracks. Enjoy.