First Half of Ski Tour Canada

The Tour has been an amazingly exciting and exhausting whirlwind, and an incredible learning opportunity. I've never raced a World Cup before, or even an international race for that matter (unless you count North American Midget Championships), so the whole experience has been new to me. It's been comforting to have Pepa, Nick, and my teammate Ida here to help guide me through. Sadly, my teammate Caitlin caught an untimely cold and couldn't start the Tour... I certainly miss having her here and I know it's been difficult for her to sit out these races.

The Tour kicked off in Gatineau, Quebec with a skate sprint on an 800m loop in a small city park. Testing skis and warming up on the course felt like skiing on a crowded multi-lane highway and was a bit overwhelming. Heading into the race I realized that I was actually more worried about all the logistics and making my start than I was about actually racing. Luckily everything went smoothly on race morning and I made my start with plenty of time to spare. The race itself was a bit of a blur, but fun all the same. The course was lined with enthusiastic, cheering spectators which was awesome! Congrats to Jessie and Simi who both finished the day in 3rd!

Ida and me at the Ski Tour Canada opening ceremony
in Gatineau
(photo: John Lazenby)

Starting my first World Cup!!
(photo: Deb Miller)

The Mama came to watch all four races in eastern Canada!

And Miss Maeve came to watch the first two stages before
jetting back to Norway

Following the conclusion of the sprint in Gatineau, all the athletes hopped buses to Montreal for the next day's classic distance race. The race took place in Mount Royal near the Old City. The course was quite narrow with some sketchy corners and some pretty steep walls which made the mass start quite exciting. Fortunately I avoided the major pile-ups, but did manage to take myself out on one of the corners when I caught an edge and my jelly legs gave out. However, I felt great racing, my skis were superb, and I was really happy to finish 39th.

The classic mass start 10k in Montreal
(photo: Deb Miller)

Skiing with Ida who made an impressive
come-back after braking a ski early
in the race
 (photo: Reese Brown)

photo: Deb Miller

While the busy Tour schedule doesn't leave
much time for sight-seeing, the view
from my hotel room in Montreal
was quite nice.

As was the view of Parliament from my room in Quebec City

Shortly after finishing the race in Montreal, it was back on a bus and the traveling circus rolled on to Quebec City. We had one day off in Quebec before another skate sprint followed by a 10k pursuit start skate. The races took place on the Plains of Abraham with the Parliament building, city walls, and Saint Lawrence River providing a scenic backdrop. 

The Quebec City stadium

Testing skis with GRP tech Nick, who has been an invaluable
support throughout the Tour
(photo: Reese Brown)

Racing along the city wall during the skate sprint qualifier in
Quebec. I finished 58th which was an improvement on my
61st place finish in the Gatineau sprint.
(photo: TokoUS)

Tuck-skating during the 10k skate pursuit in Quebec
(photo: Flying Point Road)

I was amazed by how many people I knew at all the eastern stage races. Many college and club teams came up to watch and it was incredibly inspiring to have so many current and former teammates, friends, and family members on the sidelines cheering. Thanks to everyone who made the trek up to Canada! Also, a huge thanks to Concept 2 and the National Nordic Foundation for making it financially possible for me to compete in the Tour. 

The little sister came to watch the Quebec races along with
most of the Bowdoin team. They were a
fantastic cheering squad!

It was super fun to have some of my GRP teammates at the
races! I must mention that they are the ones solely
responsible for the "Kaitlynn Miller, Athlete" Facebook
page. So if you saw a post and thought to yourself, "hmm,
this doesn't seem quite like Kaitlynn...", you were right.
They get all the credit.

Looking over Quebec City toward the Saint Lawrence River

Following the pursuit we jumped on yet another bus bound for Montreal and the following morning we boarded a plane for Calgary as the whole second half of the Tour takes place in Canmore. We already have two races under our belt out here and only have two more to go! The fatigue is definitely starting to set in, but I'm still excited to be racing. With each race I finish I have more confidence in myself and I'm very grateful to have this amazing opportunity to compete against the fastest women in the world. I'll write another update soon, which will feature many mountainous photographs of beautiful western Canada! 

Thanks for reading!