It with great anticipation (and more than a little trepidation) that I announce I am returning to competitive Nordic skiing after a 27 year "retirement". [That's me in the picture to the left (#89) at the Pale & Peddle in Henniker, NH in January of 1979. Notice my "little bro" Jay, #38]. How could I have known at 13 years of age that I would miss the sport as much as
I did? Part of the reason for my initial retirement was so that I could focus on basketball and be with my friends Dwight and Thom. [Not to mention, chicks dug guys who could ball...and much to my surprise I later found out that didn't mean 'cry like a mama's boy']. Back in the day, the
Bill Koch ski league was a great outlet for my budding endurance sport passion. For the better part of 4 winters I raced in and around Northern New England in the race series named after the first great American cross-country skier
(and Brattleboro, VT native), Bill Koch. Later, as an exercise physiologist, I would marvel at the superhuman metabolic en
gines of world
-class cross country skiers with their VO2max's of 75+. As as endurance sport, in my book, it has no rivals. I've always thought that if given the chance to be
any Olympic athlete I would be a Nordic skier. You can take your Michael's...Phelps, Johnson, and Jordan. For me, the greatest athlete of all-time will always be Bjørn Dæhlie (Google that one...). A special thanks to my mother who saved these great photos all these years!
I did? Part of the reason for my initial retirement was so that I could focus on basketball and be with my friends Dwight and Thom. [Not to mention, chicks dug guys who could ball...and much to my surprise I later found out that didn't mean 'cry like a mama's boy']. Back in the day, the Bill Koch ski league was a great outlet for my budding endurance sport passion. For the better part of 4 winters I raced in and around Northern New England in the race series named after the first great American cross-country skier 
(and Brattleboro, VT native), Bill Koch. Later, as an exercise physiologist, I would marvel at the superhuman metabolic engines of world-class cross country skiers with their VO2max's of 75+. As as endurance sport, in my book, it has no rivals. I've always thought that if given the chance to be any Olympic athlete I would be a Nordic skier. You can take your Michael's...Phelps, Johnson, and Jordan. For me, the greatest athlete of all-time will always be Bjørn Dæhlie (Google that one...). A special thanks to my mother who saved these great photos all these years!
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