Gunde Svan Cleans House: Bengt Station has resigned from the Swedish Ski Association. Gunde said that Bengt responded in a very mature manner during this difficult process. Basically Gunde has temporarily dismissed everyone so he can organize from scratch. In an interview with Laengd.Se, Gunde answered a number of questions.

LSE: You have let everyone go? Yes, I want to start with a clean paper and formulate my own plans. The picture must be visible, clear and maximized.

What do you mean by maximized? We are good at telling the skiers how to train, pole, skate and diagonal. But, we must place much more emphasis on how to be better leaders. I think we can do a much better job by making sure we have the right people doing what they can do best.

Now you are looking for a Dream team? In my organization I want to have the best there is. I want people, who I think, can really contribute. In this analytical process I am thinking exactly the way I did when I was competing. The worst thing you can do is to become complacent when things are going well. To win you always have to be one step ahead of the others.

Who, of those presently no longer employed, will be with the Team in the Future? That I can't tell you today. There will be changes, but what changes has not been decided. This is a complicated puzzle and I am constantly evaluating different scenarios to see what might be best for the majority.

You are not afraid that you will loose some of the most competent people? I know many are weighing different options, but I am not afraid of the future.

Do you think there will finally be some kind of order in the Swedish Ski team? I hope to present a good organization that will work for the majority. However, I doubt that everyone will be pleased and happy.

When will you announce the National Team training group? Within a few weeks. I am responsible for the team, but I want to announce the team in conjunction with those who will be the coaches for the men and women's team.

What are the Competitors saying? We had a very good meeting a week ago where everyone had a chance to be heard. We discussed a lot of the organizational questions that I am now struggling with.

New XL100R Roller ski nomenclature: With three different shafts and three wheel combinations, the nomenclature became rather confusing. We think we have reduced potential confusion by making the nomenclature more meaningful and simpler. To see the latest nomenclature description of the XL100R and for more data on the product itself you can click this link: NOMENCLATURE.

The new XL100R ad that will be running in Trax magazine also has more information on the XL100R. Click below to see the ad and get more information on the XL100R. TRAX AD.

ALL WHEEL DRIVE: As an engineer, and a car nut, I have always been fascinated with various all wheel drive systems. It became pretty obvious to me many years ago that Haldex made the world's best all wheel drive systems. Haldex are used by Audi, the latest Range Rover, Volvo and by Bugatti Royal, at 1200 HP, the world's most powerful production car. It was literally impossible to drive the Bugatti without the Haldex system. However, all these cars use the earlier generation 1, 2 and 3 systems. This last summer Saab introduced a new 9-3 with generation 4 Haldex, called XWD ( Cross Wheel Drive ). It's far more sophisticated than anything before and includes a Saab designed electronic limited slip differential. To showcase the new development, Saab invited hundreds of automotive journalist from around the world to Sweden last summer. To show how the new Saab X handled with this XWD system, SAAB set up a very difficult gymkhana race course and made available some of the world's best handling cars to be driven by professional drivers, so they could compare them to the new SAAB. The cars included BMW -M series, Infinity 35, Audi and many other top handling cars, including the 420 HP all wheel drive Porsche Carrera.

Turned out that the small 9-3 with XWD had the fastest time of all cars, beating the Porsche Carrera, which was second. Porsche was embarrassed. Yesterday, Porsche announced that future all wheel drive Porsches will use the Haldex / SAAB system. The SAAB X should be available in the United States in April, but it is my understanding that almost all 9-3X allocated for United States for 2008 have been sold.

Making Progress on the new XL100R: This has been a tumultuous week. We received new composite tooling, three new injection mold products, one mold had to be modified as the material shrinkage did not follow the typical pattern, plus we had to evaluate a bunch of other new parts. In the middle of this I started feeling sick enough to have to go home. Felt dizzy and nauseous and fell asleep in the middle of the day. Still not feeling OK, but need to get the new production line going. It's always the same with any product that deviates from the conservative norm.

Over the last 12 months we have introduced a lot of new and better, products. The products include the XL brake, which is superior to the original Universal brake. The XL Speed Reducers, which are far better than the original speed reducer and the much improved wheel forks on the Aero 125 / 150 models. And, now we are coming out with the most advanced roller ski composite shafts on the market along with a revolutionary internal speed reducer and a solid rubber split rim tire. See the NEW PRODUCTS section for the latest we have to offer.

However, one of the most ambitious project is still not in production. Some 24 months ago we began the development of a daring new microcellular tire. Initial testing looked so good we felt very confident that this 100 mm tire would be the ultimate for paved surfaces. The owner of the company that was to make the tire, decided to retire and there was no one in the company with enough technical knowledge, or innovative talent, to take over the project. About ten months later we found a German company with advanced microcellular technology. The employees at the German company, with an American plant, were very confident that the tire would work. But, after making hundreds of prototypes none of the tires have met our specifications.

The microcellular tire has been tested by a very good young skier. Yesterday, his father told me that his son thought the tire was as smooth, or even smoother than his pneumatic 125's. In the present format, the tire only works for very light skiers. The project is not dead, but we have not made any progress in the last six months.

A Few Pictures of the XL100R: The NEW PRODUCTS page has a few pictures of the composite shaft and the wheel and tire for the XL100R. ( You can click on NEW PRODUCTS here or above to open link. ) Most of the production components are now in stock, but we are still missing a few parts. We expect to begin assembly mid April and should be able to ship the last week of April.

STAR SKI WAX: Under STAR RACE RESULTS on the Index page you can see some of the races were STAR wax was very successful. You can open the link by clicking STAR RACE RESULTS here or above. We have, in most cases, listed the snow, humidity and temperature conditions and the wax combinations that worked best. STAR is becoming the dominant wax at many of Scandinavia's best ski clubs. If you look at the recent National Championships in Sweden, and at the World Junior Championships you will find that STAR was a big winner.

Thomas Alsgaard, Frode Estil and Anders Myrland of TEAM FAST enter Skinnarloppet: Just 2 weeks before Vasaloppet, the most important marathon race in the world, Skinnarloppet is a great tune up race. This race in Malung, Sweden is only 45 Kilometers long so you are not going to get totally wasted. The winner of last years Vasaloppet, Oskar Svaerd won today followed by Myrland, Frode Estil and Thomas Alsgaard. Svaerd was an easy winner and said he was trying to peak in the next two weeks.

Alsgaard is skiing well, but found he is not registered for Vasaloppet, but Frode Estil and Anders Myrland were both registered.

STAR SKI WAX: STAR is one of the most popular brands on the World Cup. Probably the most successful. We have a new link on our home page called STAR RACE RESULTS where we have listed the waxes used in some of the races.

Not really Brain Surgery: This last weekend at Vermont Academy many skiers had trouble with grip. Some tried "hairies", but these were not good conditions for that approach. Alexie Sotskov used STAR K3 for his skiers and they had excellent skis. Our kick wax recommendations clearly indicate that K3 should be used in these conditions. We made this chart to help people, but apparently nobody except Alexie used it. Our charts for Glide and Kick are in pdf format and can be found under FASTER SKIS on our index page.

What a great article by Ian Harvey: In the latest "Master Skier" Ian has a very refreshing article about ski technique. Harvey very clearly illustrates how the world elite ski with very different technique, both in classic, skate and double poling. It's a very good read by a person who knows how to ski. Can't stand the many articles by skiers, coaches and ski instructors who promote a specific technique. And many who insist you ski a certain way, have no credentials.

Skiers and coaches have told me that Lukas Bauer has poor classic technique. Maybe it's not traditional, but skiing is all about getting from point A to point B in the fastest time. As Ian stated, you have to find your own technique for getting from point A to point B in the most efficient manner. Lukas has dominated the World Cup in classic skiing this season including the Tour the Ski. When he returned to racing yesterday in Otepaa he was dominant again in the classic 15K. Kris Freeman was a very respectable 16th, but Kris was still 2 minutes behind Bauer. In a 15K, there are usually 20 to 25 skiers within 2 minutes of the winner, that simply shows how fast Bauer skied.

Ski Wax is now Hazardous Substance according to the US Customs and Homeland Security: This story is true. We received some ski wax from STAR on January eight. Robin informed me it was sold in just a few days and we ordered more wax. It was shipped by UPS Air from Italy on January 22nd. When February rolled around and no wax had arrived tracked the shipment on the UPS sight.

It arrived in Koeln, Germany on January 23rd. It was identified as a hazardous substance and returned to Italy. Somehow it left Italy again and arrived in Philadelphia on January 29th and was forwarded to Kentucky. We could not track it on the UPS sight any further. The UPS sight indicated the package never arrived in Kentucky. STAR had a trace on the package and on February 7th we found out the package had been returned to STAR in Italy. It will now be shipped to us again. It must be that F1 cocaine powder that is the hazardous substance.

Take a look at our Sale Items: We need more inventory space as we are now getting ready for the roller ski season so we have some additional winter items for sale including a few of the STAR dual microprocessor digital wax irons. These are without question the best digital irons made and we are now selling them at a very special price. Call our toll free number 1-877- V2-Jenex ( 1-877-825-3639 ) for the best deal possible.

The 1994 Double Pole Revolution: Before 1994 no on believed that you could just double pole the 90 kilometer Vasaloppet and finish among the top ten. The double pole revolution started with Staffan Larsson in 1994 when he was seriously injured and was in a cast so he could not diagonal. He could only double pole and at 78 kilometers he had moved into 1st place with 15,000 skiers chasing him. He finally tired, but only four skiers passed him in the last 12 kilometers and he finished 5th overall. Have reported on this before, but the video from the 2007 Vasaloppet reminded me again of the importance of double poling in today's races.

Vasaloppet is mainly a downhill race as you start at 350 meters elevation and finish at 165 meters. However, in the first three kilometers you climb to 540 meters, a climb of 190 meters ( 640 feet ) and that's a lot of vertical. From 26 kilometer to 32 kilometers in the race there is another climb of 120 meters ( 400 feet ) and from 33 kilometers to 37 kilometers you climb again some 50 meters ( 165 feet ). So even though the starting point is some 185 meters above the finish, there are some serious climbs in this race. What skiers realized when they saw Staffan almost win was that double poling is very efficient. Today, the elite who race Vasaloppet hardly take a single diagonal stride. The average skier still strides the race, but the top finishers double pole. SVT has 14 short videos from Vasaloppet, seven of them show skiing from various points on the track. In the seven videos I did not see one diagonal stride. Anyone interested in seeing the best marathon skiers in the world should look at these videos and this is how you can watch them.

Go to the V2 index page and click on SKI VIDEOS. In the horizontal SVT bar click on Skidor, then on Laengdskidor. Next click on Diverse Arkiv Laengd, then Vasaloppet 2007. ( The reason I did not link directly is because the change their videos quite often. By going to Skidor, you can see all their ski videos. ) There are 14 short videos, seven with skiing action. The videos clearly indicate that double pole is the king of speed in classic marathon races. Most elite skiers use just enough kick wax to help them in the first steep 190 vertical meter climb, but it is my understanding that some use no kick wax at all. When you see the speed they are traveling at, it's truly amazing. No way could you achieve this speed by trying to stride.

What a Difference a Day makes: First the Norwegian red army captures the five first places in the classic sprint. Then in the 15K Freestyle not a Norwegian in the top ten and in the Free Style Sprint not one Norwegian in the final six. Just amazing how quickly things can change. Now looking forward to the next World Cup in Estonia.

The Norwegian Red Army dominant in the World Cup Classic Sprints: In the sprint for men in Canmore, Norway captured the first five places. Don't think Norway will be this dominant in the Free style sprints. Andy Newell finished a respectable 17th, with Chris Cook 20th and Torin Koos 26th. For the women there was at least some diversity in the race, as in the top five we had Majdic from Slovakia in first, Jacobsen from Norway in second, Kowalczyk from Poland in third and Kuitunen from Finland in 4th. SVT Television had a brief video of the pursuit for women, but no footage of the pursuit for men.

World Cup 30K Pursuit in Canmore: Ten skiers finish within 3.8 seconds! You only have to look at the finish times to see how the skiers were skiing in packs, just like in a bicycle race. There have been several studies that show the increased energy expenditure when not drafting in skiing. To break away, and not be caught by the pack is extremely hard. The first group near the finish consisted of 21 skiers separated by 22 seconds and 18 skiers were within 8.9 seconds at the finish. Next was Kris Freeman, some 17 seconds behind the first group. The next group was a full minute behind Freeman so I suspect, without seeing any video, that Kris was in the first group when the speed increased. If you are not a pretty good sprinter, you really don't have much of a chance unless the last two kilometers is all up hill and a very strong skier could pull away. Kris was only 38.2 seconds behind the winner, while the next best US skier was over 4 minutes back.

Races canceled in Scandinavia due to lack of snow: Most of the cross country races were canceled in Scandinavia this last weekend due to lack of snow. The only place with a lot of snow is the Saelen - Idre area in the provence of Dalarna where they have 110 cm of natural snow. Saelen is where Vasaloppet starts. Idre, which is the Alpine area next door to Saelen, has the largest snow making facility for Alpine skiing in the world. This year Idre has had a micro climate all its own, as all the areas north and south of Idre are practically snow less, while Idre has over 110 cm of natural snow.

Many cross country ski areas that had invested in snow making also had to cancel races as the temperatures had been too high to make snow. The snow making for Vasaloppet is very close to Saelen so they have been able to make snow. To make sure Vasaloppet is not canceled they have installed massive snow making, enough to have sufficient artificial snow for a track 110 kilometers long. The Scandinavian web sites are full of articles about building more ski tunnels to keep X-C skiing from becoming an extinct dinosaur. As we know from climatologists, the northern areas of this planet are the predictors of global warming. Here in New England it is today very cold, but as we know from two weeks ago, things can change overnight.

Read a very interesting article about Global warming in a Dalarna newspaper. The contributor was a bus driver who, since 1970, had a bus route between Mora, the finish of Vasaloppet, and a town north west of Mora. He said that between 1970 and 1990 the snow was always hard packed on the road with virtually no melting until spring. ( They don't use salt. ) In the 90's there was periodic melting in the winter, ice formed and the roads became very slippery and sloppy. He said that every year since the early 90's the number of melt cycles had increased and the road conditions had deteriorated. I can relate to this. In the winter of 1983 I was working with L.M. Ericsson in Stockholm, Sweden and decided to drive to Rattvik to visit my parents. ( My parents moved from Westport, CT to Sweden in 1982. ) Just north of Stockholm the roads were completely covered with hard packed snow. Since no salt is used, the only time the snow melts on the road is if the temperature is above freezing. The roads were completely snow packed for the 300 kilometers to my parents place and the roads were exactly the same when I drove back to Stockholm three days later. During the 80's I worked in Sweden for a couple of weeks every winter and the road conditions north of Stockholm were just as the bus driver described, hard packed snow. Now, with thawing and freezing the roads are icy or sloppy and very dangerous, except of course when the roads have no snow in the winter which is happening more often.

Comments on doping by Dr. Bengt Saltin: The German Ski Association is apparently suing the reporters for ARD Television who claimed German skiers and biathletes were doped in a laboratory in Austria. Meanwhile Bengt Saltin, the famous doctor who discovered the effects of blood doping, said to Swedish Television this last Wednesday night that he knew several of the biathletes were doped and that there are at least three laboratories in Austria that are providing performance enhancing blood doping or other means of improving performance. According to the Austrian news bureau APA, swimmers, track and field and soccer athletes have also received banned substances in these laboratories.

Professor Saltin is right now working with the German anti doping agency to find out who has been using the facilities in Austria. What a mess.

A few comments on STAR ski wax from a Swedish Blog site: " After seeing how fast the STAR skis were this weekend my other brand will never be used again. From now on it's STAR." Janne

" Thanks for such fast skis on Saturday. They were rockets." Anna

"Thank you for waxing my skis last weekend. They were simply outstanding." Henrik

Charlotte Kalla must skip Canada: After the Tour win, which resulted in Kalla leading the World Cup in her first year as a Senior, she became ill. As a result of her win there was so much media attention that she must have been under a lot of stress. She is presently taking antibiotics and hopes to recover soon. She said this was the first time she had been sick in two years. Charlotte was really bummed out as the events to be held in Canada are her favorites.

German Athletes suspected of Doping: On September 2nd 2008, we reported on a highly developed German doping program that had been ongoing for over 30 years. Doctors at the University of Freiburg were the brains behind this program. Now the German TV channel, ARD, issued a report that a number of German athletes have recently visited a blood bank in Vienna where they supposedly received some high octane blood. According to ARD, those who visited the facility were German biathletes and cross country ski racers, some of whom, according to ARD were World Cup skiers.

After hearing the report by ARD biathlon coach Mussiggang said: " I have a hard time believing that any of our athletes are involved." Not the most positive statement from a coach. World and Olympic Heptalon Champion, Carolina Kluft said she thinks all world class athletes should be outfitted with a homing device so that all athletes locations could be monitored. She did not consider this an invasion of privacy as the homing device would simply identify where you are and where you have been. With Marion Jones finally admitting that she doped, and receiving jail time for lying to a Federal commission, it's about time we used the technology available to us to find out who these athletes visited and where they received their banned substances.

Rising Water: Just read a report by British scientists that the ice in the Antarctic is melting much faster than previous projections. ( Unfortunately I lost the report, but I do remember the most important facts.) At the rate the oceans water is rising, many cities will be under water by the year 2050. Many cities in Europe have already started programs to protect the cities from the higher water. The northern areas of our planet, those areas that were under some 3,000 meters of ice during the last ice age are somewhat fortunate as, even though the water is rising so is the land mass. The tremendous weight of the ice compressed the land mass and the area of compression is still coming back. This is very evident, especially in many parts of Scandinavia. If the scientists are correct, what will happen to New York when the ocean is one meter higher?

Ski Videos: If you click on the SKI VIDEOS on the V2 Index page you will be connected to Swedish TV. They have some fantastic videos of all sports. If you want to look at X-C skiing first click on Sport. You will then see a list of all sports. To view X-C, click on Skidor ( skiing ), then Langdskidor ( x-c). Some fantastic video from Tour de Ski, etc. They usually have good video of all ski events, Alpine and X-C. Note! Unfortunately not all videos can be viewed on computers outside of Sweden. To get a full screen view of the video simply click on the rectangle in the lower right corner of the video.

Global Warming: According to the experts on climatology and global warming, the changes in temperature, draught, rainfall, wind etc. are more dramatic than before global warming. On January 4, the temperature was -20C in the morning and on January 8 the temperature was +20C. That's a 40 degree Centigrade swing in four days. Took a picture of our driveway in the afternoon on January 6. As you can see below, we had a massive amount of snow. Took another picture in the afternoon on January 10th and it looked like summer. According to the local forecast we will get more snow tomorrow night.

STAR Ski Wax: This week we received some STAR wax that we ordered right after Christmas. If I remember correctly the wax arrived on the 8th. On Thursday, January 10th, Robin informed me that most of the wax we had ordered had been sold and we had zero inventory on several waxes that we just received. It's been impossible for us to project wax sales. When we look at the sales data for the last ten years, it just makes no sense.

Charlotte Kalla Wins Tour de Ski! This is her first year as a Senior on the World Cup circuit and she beats all the best including Bjorgen and Kuitunen. After Kalla, the next four skiers were over ten years older than Charlotte. If she does not pull a Per Elofsson by overtraining she could be both World and Olympic Champion. Anyone that can climb like she does is born with unusual aerobic capacity. She is an incredible climber, but starting 39 seconds behind Virpi, the leader after five events, I did not think it was possible for her to win. Gunde Svan and Charlotte set up a game plan where Kalla would go out slowly and then give everything she had in the steepest part. On the lower flatter section Virpi gained on Kalla and Charlotte found herself over 50 seconds behind. Here is an interview by the newspaper DN right after the race.

Were you worried when Virpi gained another 15 seconds on the flatter part? "Tried to forget it and ski smoothly. Know that I am very good in the steep sections" When did you first see Kuitunen? "Just when we started up the steepest portion. Then I started feeling really good because I was gaining on her. What did you think when you finally caught Virpi? " I just wanted to stay behind her and recover and not start my final surge too early." You spoke to Gunde just before you pulled away from Virpi. Why? "I wanted to be sure I did not start my sprint too early. Decided that when we hit the serpentine part I would go for it." When did you realize that you were going to win? "Just a few meters before the finish line."

Kalla's mother said that Charlotte was so determined and trained so hard they often had to put the brakes on her training.

Tour de Ski or Tour de Farce? In the last couple of days I have spoken to a number of skiers and coaches who think something is wrong when Lukas Bauer beats the best in the world by such margins. Does this remind you of Muehlegg in the 2002 Olympics? When Zach and I were watching Johan, Zach said to me that something was very wrong, Muehlegg must be doped. Many were skeptical and chided Zach, but Zach was right.

Found out today that no one has been tested in the Tour de Farce in the last three days. Odd Bjoern Hjelmeset made an ironic comment about Lukas superfast skis. Axel Teichman could not understand why they were not being tested. When Charlotte Kalla won on Tuesday she was not tested. Nobody is being tested.

When reporters from Sweden's largest newspaper, Dagens Nyheter, asked Jurg Cacol, who is in charge of the venue in Nove Mesto, why nobody is being tested he answered: "It's not always best to test at races, it's better to make surprise tests." DN Continued. "But is it not standard procedure to test the top three skiers in every World Cup Race? His answer was: "What's normal? It's the unexpected that gives us results." Sounds like a lot of do - do to me. WADA is simply not doing their job if they don't test every winner on the World Cup circuit.

STAR Ski Wax being tested for the 2010 Olympics: Today we shipped a massive amount of ski wax to Canada for testing in the unusual micro climate where the Nordic events will be held in the 2010 Olympics. Over the next two years Zach Caldwell will be testing wax and ski grinds for the US Team, and the test base is built around the STAR ski wax foundation. In the 2003 World Championships, when the US Ski Team had one of their best results ever, the US Ski Team used STAR almost exclusively.

Planet Earth: If you have not seen this magnificent series of 5 DVD's made by BBC, I urge you to watch it. It is simply mind boggling. The budget was almost unlimited and 40 photographers, accompanied by other professionals, spent five years making this series. This is what the New York Times wrote: "A tour de force.... A masterpiece. The Chicago Tribune made the following comment: " The best DVD of the year... an absolutely extraordinary achievement".

Tour de Ski: The third day of Tour de Ski just finished. The way the points system is configured, if you don't have luck in the sprints you can quickly be knocked out of contention. After the second day Lucas Bauer had a phenomenal lead, almost one minute, but after the Sprint he is now in second place. So many skiers fell, or were taken down by other skiers, that if Mother Luck was not on your side you could move down the results table at lightning speed. Charlotte Kalla, who was second before today's Sprint broke her pole and moved from second to 6th place. Marcus Hellner, second after the first two days was taken down by Svartedahl when Svartedahl fell, and Hellner moved from second to 9th after the Sprint. In some ways, the Tour is a crap shoot.

Three time Olympian called from Athens: On Thursday, December 27th, Don Nielsen called from Athens to let us know he had gotten married. Don moved to Greece in the early 90's. Don, who competed as a X-C racer in the 1976 Olympics and as a Biathlete in the 1980 and 1984 Olympics, has been a close friend of our family for some 25 years. Don spoke to my wife Anita, and said he would e mail more information about the wedding.

While training for the 1984 Olympics Don spent two weeks at our house. We had an excellent ski - running trail in the woods behind our house and a good spot for him to shoot. Also at that time we could roller ski almost anywhere, with very little traffic. Have lots of video of Don and our son Erik roller skiing. In the two weeks that Don was at our house he used up almost 3,000 rounds of ammunition. When our daughter Berit died, Don planted at Olive three in her memory on a beautiful hillside above Athens next to a monastery and he sent us several pictures of the tree and the plaque. Although we correspond regularly, we have not seen Don for a long time.

Happy Holidays! We wish you all the very best in 2008. We will not be at work this week. We realize that this can be an inconvenience to some of you, but when you work over 2,800 hours per year you need some time off. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics ( www.bls.gov.) the average full time employee in New Hampshire works only 2,000 hours per year. Most of my career I worked over 3,000 hours.

Our son Erik, who is home for the Holidays from Boulder, CO, set a nice little 0.7 K ski track in our field and we got in about 15 laps on Saturday afternoon. First time on snow in a long time.

Tour the Ski starts December 28: Not too sure I like this format, but according to many World Cup skiers web sites, most are looking forward to this duel.

New STAR Personal Crono Test has arrived: This is the most user friendly ski glide tester ever made. We have only a few in stock, but if you order and we are out of stock, we can obtain more in about two weeks. With the U.S. dollar being worthless against the Euro, the Crono ended up about $145 more than we estimated. See NEW PRODUCTS for pictures and info on this superior ski glide testing device.

Comments from Anders Soedergren after the Kuusamo race: Last weekend I was 3rd, today 17th. Just could not ski fast today. It felt just like I was doing a long distance training ski. After the race I was not even tired, could have gone three more laps without any problem. Sometimes the body just does not have another gear, you just have one speed. The skis were OK and the cold did not bother me.

Have another tune up race on Wednesday with a very strong field and on Thursday we leave for Davos. Looking forward to Davos, one of my favorite places to ski. Hope I have another gear there. Will stay in Davos for a week after the race to train so will not race in Rybinsk. My friend Thomas Alsgaard said he is going to make a comeback. Have trained with him a few times this year. When we were in Greenland, Thomas and I went for a 5 hour 20 minute run in very difficult terrain. You have to be in pretty good shape to be able to do that. Think Alsgaard is making a comeback just because he likes skiing, not just to try make the podium.

Excellent results for Andrew Newell and Kris Freeman in Kuusamo: With a 4th place finish in the sprint for Andrew and a 5th place finish in the 15 K classic for Kris, the US is off to a great start for this season. In the female section Norway continues to dominate with Marit Bjoergen leading the World Cup by over 100 points after only 4 races.

Maybe this will be a real winter: According to he latest forecast New England should be in for a major storm this afternoon. Last year I did not even mount the bindings on the skis Zach Caldwell picked out for me.

Jay Hakkinen 9th in a field of over 100: The Biathlon Season started today and Jay had a superb race. Jeremy Teela was 38th and Tim Burke 49th.

Dick Taylor and his wife Sally visit: Dick and Sally stopped by and I had a chance to see the modified Concept 2 rowing machine that Dick has turned into a very good poling machine. With an ingenious adapter the Concept 2 becomes a very good double pole trainer. We spent several hours discussing training and grabbed lunch at a good local restaurant. Dick left a German Nordic magazine which is the best I have seen to date. My German is very rusty, but will review what I can before I return the magazine to Dick. Dick Taylor used my racing suit that my Grandmother made when he raced at the Nationals and qualified for the Olympics.

Testing New Roller Ski Shafts: For snow skis there are a number of different flexes to suit different skiers. Roller skis are generally designed for a maximum weight, which means that for lighter skiers the shafts hardly deflect at all and if you are on solid tires, this means a very rough ride. Aluminum shafts are the most common, however to make them last they must be quite stiff. ( Aluminum has very poor fatigue resistance and if the shafts are designed to absorb road shock by deflecting they will fracture in no time. To last, they must be stiff. ) With pneumatic tires a stiff shaft is not much of a problem, but with solid wheels you need a flexible shaft to absorb vibration. ( Just received a post card today from Brayton Osgood who trains in Bend, Or. He said the roads are so rough he does almost all his training on the Aero 150's. )

When we decided to build composite shafts we began by first designing a test stand that could accurately measure deflection of the shafts under different loads. After deflection tests, the shafts are fatigue tested under 2000 Newton ( 440 pound ) load for a million cycles. To date we have made about 50 composite shafts. They have been produced in two flex formats. A medium flex, which is about 3X more flexible than our aluminum shafts, but can still take a load of over 500 kilograms and a softer flex shaft which is about 5X more flexible than the aluminum shaft. These composite shafts are made from several different materials each providing a unique property. To date all of the composite shafts have been lighter than our aluminum shafts.

Just returned from testing these skis for ten days in a warm climate. Too cold in New England now to get a good feel for speed and road feel. All test skis were equipped with 100 mm solid rubber tires and were tested on some very rough road surfaces. The composite shafts gave a much better ride than aluminum. Although I weigh 75 Kg. (165 pounds ) I spent most of my roller ski time on the softer shafts. For best roller ski characteristics we should probably offer three or more different flex skis, but this is impractical, both for retail stores and for Jenex. We plan to offer two flexes, but for some skis there will be just one composite shaft, since even a stiffer composite shaft will flex 3X more than aluminum without fatigue failure. The shafts will definitely be available by March and will be offered in two different 100 mm wheel designs. All models but one will be offered in the new XL format which incorporates more advanced Speed Reducers and Brake.

World Cup Ski Racing has started: Marit Bjoergen is certainly back and 20 year old Kalla showed that, by finishing 3rd in Beitestolen and winning the opening Sprint Relay in Germany, she is for real. Not great results for the two Americans that competed in Norway. Let's hope that they perform better in Finland this weekend.

Ola Rawald makes skiers faster: The Swedish Olympic Committee has hired Ola to work with both biathletes and x-c skiers. The skiers are very happy to have Ola back. Many of them give Ola credit for the three Gold medals at the Turin 2006 Olympics. After the Olympics Ola worked with the Chinese Team. Rawald said that you will see the biggest difference in speed with the Swedish biathletes. He said that they will be much faster this season than last year.

Peter Larsson, who with Tobias Fredriksson, won the Dusseldorf relay said : "Ola is more than a coach. He knows your strength and weaknesses and he is incredible when it comes to improving your technique." Ola said it's really a simple equation. It's all about turnover, rhythm and power. Ola continued. Bjoern Lind developed tremendous power at the Olympics. We are now working on this again and on fine tuning the technique.

Races in Dusseldorf: After winning two Gold at the 2006 Olympics, then never making the podium last year, many ski enthusiasts said Bjorn's career was over. Bjorn heard this so often that in a recent interview by the newspaper Aftonbladet, he stated that this year would be different and he would prove it in the first race of the year. He did by coming in second on Saturday.

On Sunday he was to ski the relay with Tobias Fredriksson, but when he woke up Sunday morning he had a sore throat and Peter Larsson skied with Tobias and they won. The two youngsters Marcus Hellner and Emil Joensson finished third. There were 32 teams and Andy Newell and Torin Koos did well, finishing 9th.

In the women's relay the two Swedish teams were 1 & 2 when Lina Andersson fell during the exchange. In the 5th leg Charlotte Kalla pulled ahead by over three seconds and the Swedish second team took Gold. Gunde Svan was running around looking pleased as hell.

Did not take Gunde long to settle the dispute: Gunde met with the skiers last night and everything is settled. The skiers signed the agreement with the Swedish Ski Association and the skiers will be at the Sprint Championships in Dusseldorf this coming weekend.

Apparently Mekonomen will get the exposure they need as sponsor and the skiers are pleased with the negotiations.

Apparently Sponsors behind the new Rules: If you are a sponsor for the National Ski Team, and the team members leave the Team to form their own private team you probably have a right to be upset. Apparently the new rule, see October 19 report, was instigated to satisfy the sponsors.

However, none of the breakaway members have agreed to sign the new contract. It's my understanding that Gunde will be meeting with the skiers tonight. Previously it was reported that Gunde had already met with the skiers, but apparently he only contacted them by phone.

Duncan Douglas: Spoke to Duncan yesterday. Think he could burn out unless he gets some more rest. The former Olympic Biathlete called me yesterday after he finished a 56 kilometer roller ski on the 150's in 2 hours and 35 minutes. Duncan is a doctor ( MD), married and has four children. About two years ago he started training for ski racing again. In addition to his scheduled hours at the hospital, he is also on emergency duty and sometimes has a 15 hour shift. This makes training very difficult. He said that in order to train he often has to get up at four in the morning. Right now he is in very good shape, as evidenced by his recent victory at the roller ski race in New York where he beat everybody, including Kris Freeman. His training routine is that of a masochist. Since he has limited time to train he has to get the most out of each session. Being a doctor he obviously has an advantage over others in understanding the limits of training. If he does not "blow up", he could be one of the fastest American skiers this winter.

Skiers not pleased with new rules: When Mathias Fredriksson, Anders Soedergren, Bjorn Lind and Tobias Fredriksson were dissatisfied with the management of the Swedish Ski Team and formed the Mekonomen ski team, the managers of the Swedish Ski Team made a new rule. If you are on a private team you can't compete in World Cup events for Sweden.

Sweden is the only country in the world with this new rule. In Norway, and other countries, there are many private teams where the skiers can represent their country. Anders said: "You must know why the Swedish Ski Organization came up with this new rule" Gunde Svan is trying to figure out how to solve this problem quickly. He does not think it can be solved before Dusseldorf, but he hopes he can do something soon.

The public is furious with the Ski Organization. In just one blog I counted a large number of comments in just a few hours. People are calling the Ski Organization a cheap dictatorship and every comment I read implied that the people who made this new rule must be "miniature managers" with very little self confidence or self esteem. I hope Gunde blasts these buggers.

Gunde Svan quickly moving into his new position: Did not take long for Gunde to go to work. He has already spoken with Mekonomen management and tonight will be meeting with the ski team members that left the National Team. Mathias Fredriksson said he could not return to the National Team because he had a three year contract. Think that can easily be sorted out by letting Mekonomen become a sponsor of the National Team. Since Mekonomen have already provided money, they could get the same advertising exposure while being a part of the National Team.

Reading between the lines, I think what Mathias implied is that he would not return to the National Team unless Gunde removes some of the incompetent people now running the National Team. That's what this whole Mekonomen thing is all about. The skiers left the National Team because they felt there were too many people running the National Team that were not suited for the job.

Gunde Svan takes over the top job for Swedish Cross Country: The Swedish National Team has been split into two groups, the "Mekonomen" private team with four of Sweden's best skiers and the official National Team. The Swedish Olympic committee has been very unhappy with the poor management of Cross Country. Today at a Press Conference at noon, it was announced that Gunde would be the new head of XC.

For you youngsters, Gunde quit in 1991 at the early age of 28 when he was at the top of his career. My good friend Ferry Grill was the one who convinced Gunde to quit. With four Olympic Gold, one Silver and one Bronze, seven World Championship Gold, three Silver and one Bronze, Ferry felt that Gunde had nothing more to prove. It seems like everyone in Sweden is happy that Gunde is taking over. He is a great leader, a good communicator and if anyone can turn the team around it's Gunde.

More on Gunde: Just six hours after the announcement that Gunde was the new X-C ski chief the major Swedish magazines had already received over 5,000 comments from readers. Over 78% thought this was great for skiing. On the skiing web sites I did not read one negative comment except from one person who thought Gunde might be paid too much. Gunde had his own TV shows, has several successful businesses and does not need the money. Whatever Gunde is paid it will be worth it, because with Svan in charge getting deep pocket sponsors will be much easier. Corporate Sweden trusts Gunde. The Swedish ski budget was very small and the Ski Association had few large sponsors. With Gunde there, raising money will be much easier. Think this is a real chance for him to revitalize Swedish skiing again.

Duncan Douglas just plain Fast. Not aided by rocket skis: After the race on Saturday in New York there is a lot of misleading information on the web regarding Duncan's skis. Unfortunately I am responsible for some of the misleading information. I was doing a rapid pace hike up Mt. Pack Monadnock with my ski poles on Saturday when my cell phone rang. It was Zach Caldwell calling from British Columbia. He asked all kinds of question regarding speed of roller skis.

We had sent Duncan some V2-6600 roller skis which use 76 to 80 mm in line skate wheels. For racing we use Hyper's fastest 80 mm wheels and that's what I thought was shipped to Duncan. ( With fast Hyper 80mm wheels Peter Galanz won the World Championship Roller Ski Pursuit some years ago. ) However, Duncan did not use this setup. I had forgotten that I had asked Libby Adam's to slow down the Hyper wheels by using our kinematic damping. Those wheels are ultra slow so Duncan's skis were equipped with some almost twenty year old Rollerblade wheels that were not that fast when they were new. Urethane wheels usually get faster in the first year, but after a few years oxidation reduces the elasticity and rebound of the material. Twenty year old wheels are not very fast. Duncan skied like hell to beat the rest by such a large margin.

The 6600 skis do have some advantages as with 4 wheels on each ski you get excellent push off and the wheels bridge gaps and depressions in the road making for a smoother ride. Fast wheels make a very large difference on courses with flats and down hills but, they are not that much better on all up hill courses. Over the years I have tested various skate skis on the 1.8 mile hill leading to the Waterville Valley Alpine slope. On the lower flatter section fast wheels made a very large difference, but for the last mile which is quite steep, there was not very much difference in the time going up the hill using slow or fast skis. The bottom line is that Duncan was not on very fast skis. He simply skied very fast.

Kris Freeman likes the new skis: Last week we shipped Kris a special pair of classic skis that use a different method of increasing rolling resistance. Kris called Zach Caldwell and said they were perfect. Today we are shipping some new skate skis as his existing skis are in pretty bad shape.

STAR wax and Digital Irons should arrive soon: There are only a limited number of 110 volt irons, so if you want the best iron made, call us soon.

The great Skier and Arctic Explorer Richard Weber called: The famous explorer has been a friend for over 20 years. First met Richard when he stayed at our condo for the NORAM ski races in the mid 80's. Richard won all the races that year and after graduating from college he became a famous explorer and guide. He just returned from his camp in the arctic. It's magnificent. Don't have the web site right now, but will post it.

Vasaloppet to have man made snow: With Global warming moving at a rapid pace the organizers of Vasaloppet are convinced the race cannot be held in the future without man made snow. They have now invested in a snow making facility that can produce 100,000 cubic meters of snow, enough to provide sufficient snow for a 100 kilometer track. With over 30,000 competitors and a massive amount of spectators, Vasaloppet has become an important economic stimulus to the area.

Vladimir Smirnov has a new career: Vladimir will soon be the General Manager for Saab Scania trucks in central Asia. He will be responsible for heavy truck sales in Kazakstan, Turkmenistan, Kirgistan and Tadzjigstan. After 16 years in Sweden he is moving back to Kazakstan. Scania is one of the five largest truck manufacturers in the world and is known in Europe as the King of the Road. Vladimir is such a well known figure in Central Asia and he understands the culture, so he will probably be as much of a PR man as General Manager. We have stamps from Kazakstan with Vladimir featured on the stamps. Know that daughter Anna will object to moving to Kazakstan, because she refused to move to Norway when Vladimir was thinking of moving. Anna is now 19 so she is probably ready to be on her own. Would not surprise me if h keeps his house in Sundsvall as he will be traveling to Sweden regularly.

Latest Catalog now on the web in Acrobat pdf format.

German Doping Scandal: The rumors have been around for years, even before the bicycle racers in Telekom ( later T-Mobile) admitted they were performance enhanced by researchers at Freiburg University. Now there is evidence that West Germany, not just the former East Germany, have been systematically doping athletes since the 1950's. Two researchers have already left the University of Freiburg and many more are expected to be indicted. An International commission of three biomedical professors and three Judges are presently investigating the doping scandal. One of the three professors is Bengt Saltin, famous Swedish doctor known for his hemoglobin research. The commission is expected to make their first report in December of this year.

What is known to date is that for many decades Freiburg University researchers have provided German athletes with hormone and blood doping formulations. This is probably the biggest scandal ever in German sports. We are presently only seeing the tip of the iceberg. Andreas Schmid and Lothar Heinrich have already been expelled from the University. Professor George Huber, who was the chief medical doctor at the 2002 Salt Lake and the 2006 Turin Olympics is also involved and has been relived of many duties at the University. The Directors of the University stated that researchers at Freiburg University would no longer be working with the 1,500 elite German athletes. It appears that the University of Freiburg was the center of athletic performance enhancement by doping. The Dean of the University stated he did not know how the drugs were obtained or who paid for them. ( Sounds like crock to me. )

It apparently began in 1952 when Doctor Reindell, working with the famous running coach Woldemar Geschler at Freiburg, decided to use drugs. Woldemar coached a mediocre middle distance runner named Joseph Bartel. At the time, Joseph Bartel was ranked 41st in the world. Oscar Wegener, a colleague of professor Reindell, recently said that when Joseph Bartell won the Gold medal in the 1952 Helsinki Olympics it was strictly due to being doped with Pervitin, a substance given to world war two German soldiers to make them feel temporarily invincible. Apparently a very powerful drug.

After professor Reindell retired, the person that took over the department for performance enhancing research was Josph Keul, a famous professor who tried to prove that anabolic steroids were not dangerous. One of the researchers working with Dr. Keul was Dr. Ernst Jacob. At the Turin 2006 Olympics there were several researchers from Freiburg and when Evi Sachenbacher was caught for doping her doctor was Ernst Jacob. Wonder what all these performance enhancing drug doctors were doing at the Olympics? Don't think they were just supplying water and Gatorade.

In 1977 professor Wolfgang Schauble, also at Freiburg University, said: "We want to use these substances only in restrictive and controlled conditions by medical experts, because in certain sports we can not be internationally competitive without these substances."

What do you think Wolfang Schauble is doing today? He is the German Minister of Athletics. This story about German doping is just beginning. It's a really sad mess. Wonder if other German cross country skiers besides Evi are involved.

Swedish Cross Country Racers start Team Mekonomen: Dissatisfied with the format of the National Team training program, four of Sweden's best X-C skiers have left the National Team and formed their own Professional Team. Right now there are only four skiers. Gold medal winner from Turin, Bjorn Lind, Mathias and Thobias Fredriksson and Anders Soedergren. Would not surprise me if others also join. The stock Exchange company, Mekonomen, has not declared how much money they have provided, but it's not a short term contract because it continues past the 2010 Olympics. This appears to be a solid organization. Involved are: Dr. Ulrich Ghisler, team doctor, who is very experienced with X-C skiers. Stefan Larsson, former National Team skier and winner of the Vaasaloppet ski race in 1999.

Coaches are: Ola Rawald, Mathias Persson, Glenn Bjoerklund and Janne Bengtsson. Others include Jean Marc Chabloz from the Swedish Biathlon Team, Bo Olsson, Karin Magnusson, who is the nutritional expert, and Emma Helena Nilsson, Administrator. Ski Tuning and service people include former National Team tuner Micke Book, Hans Ake Olofsson and Lasse Jonsson. This is a pro Team, probably better in quality than the Official National Team.

Kris Freeman's wheels a bit too slow: Next Tuesday we will send Kris some more wheels. At least he now knows that with kinematic damping we can make the wheels as slow as molasses. He said they were too slow for double poling, OK for diagonal.

XL105 Microcellular tires making progress: The last lot produced by the German company has been the best too date. However, the company has had problems with process variability. The rolling resistance from one tire to another has an abnormal spread, but last Friday we think we found what is causing the problem. We cut the tires down the middle, just like cutting a bagel. With the conventional microscope we did not detect anything unusual in the microcellular structure. We then used a Jenex video microscope. With this microscope we can get up to 300X magnification and we can look at a monitor instead of peering down a tube. It appears that the tires with higher rolling resistance have larger microcells in certain areas of the tire and we think we know what's causing this problem in the manufcturing process.

Slow wheels for Kris Freeman: Yesterday we sent some extra slow 910 wheels to Kris Freeman. Kris is now in such great shape, the 910's are not quite slow enough. The speed is regulated by the patented kinematic damping. To make the wheels slower than the standard 910's we used a higher viscosity damping fluid. Unfortunately we did not have any unassembled wheels with the aluminum hub used for the ratchet wheels. Like any speed reducing method the by product is heat. The aluminum hub would have been much more effective in removing the heat generated by the kinematic damping. As soon as we receive more aluminum hub wheels we will make another set for Kris.

Kristina Smigun retires: The Olympic double Gold Medal Champion from 2006 has decided to retire. When Vladimir Smirnov retired, Kristina became one of the top skiers to promote V2 products. She started skiing on V2 roller skis in the 90's. We always received pictures and post cards from her and when she visited Florida in the spring, which she did almost every year, we would send a new supply of wheels or skis to Florida for her to take back to Estonia. She is still quite young and it's a shame she decided to retire.

Visit to Sweden: Just returned from a trip to Sweden. Had a great time and in the twelve days there walked over 40 hours. We rented the same apartment we have been using for many years. The apartment is next to a very good bike / running path in hilly terrain overlooking the Arstavik sound between lake Maelaren and the Baltic ocean. Every two kilometers there are now new exercise stations. There is a balance beam, an arm dip station that can accommodate three people, two shoulder stations and three arm pull up stations. The shoulder / push up stations are very simple and very practical. A 15 cm X 15 cm beam, 3 meters long is pivotally mounted at one end and the other end rests on a horizontal support and has two ergonomic hand grips. A weight can be moved up and down the beam to generate more or less load. I used the least amount of weight and found that 3 X15 reps was sufficient to make my muscles ache. There were always people running and the exercise stations were being used every day by people of all ages.

Infrastructure getting better every time we visit Sweden. This is the first time we did not rent a car. It was totally unnecessary, it was much faster to travel by public transportation. The first six years that we rented the apartment we had a choice of using the subway or the bus. The bus station is located next to the subway, just a two minute walk from the apartment. Now there is also a high speed commuter train station located just above the subway station. There are more stops on the subway and it takes approximately 20 minutes to get to downtown Stockholm. With the high speed commuter train it takes only six minutes. The subway goes every 10 minutes, the high speed train every 15 minutes.

Letter from Bruce Bauer: In the beginning of August I received a letter from Bruce with photos of his horrendous project in the summer and fall of 2006. He built these massive stone wall and walk ways. He wrote: "I was in lousy shape last year and this is my excuse. About 10 ton of rock into the wall, 12,000 lbs. of concrete hand mixed in a wheelbarrow, another 10 ton of loose rock placed on the slope. I'd never done anything this size before, but it went well and was sort of fun in a hard working way.

This summer I've done much more training, especially with the Aero's with the brake. It works well, and of course it makes skiing through town much safer. This year we are going to get some snow and I am already looking forward to some racing.

Marty Hall: Marty just e mailed with photos of his new house in Ottawa, right in Gatineau Park. The house looks great. Marty and Kathy designed it and Marty was the general contractor. To reduce energy consumption they installed the new high speed direct water heaters, no hot water being heated in a tank using precious energy. The golf course is right out his back door and a 2 minute walk to the ski trails in Gatineau park.

V2 received a very nice Plaque from the Canadian Ski Team this week: The Canadian Ski Team has been using V2 roller skis, since about forever. Every year we receive a number of nice posters or a plaque. Very professional and they never fail to thank us for sponsoring their team with a few roller skis each year. They often buy many more skis than the number offered in our contract for the team. For Junior National Team skiers, like Alex Harvey, we have special prices and Pierre Harvey and Richard Weber always make sure their skiers have a supply of V2 roller skis. Canada is on a roll, by the 2010 Olympics they could be a major Nordic power.

Swedish A Team for Men not cohesive: Don't really know what is happening, but Swedish skiers are opting to train on their own. Mathias and Thobias Fredriksson have left the National Team training program and now Anders Soedergren and Bjorn Lind are contemplating training independently. Sweden still has a very good team, but it's not the kind of coach - skier relationship that it used to be. Something is truly wrong with the XC program. Apparently the Team is really opposed to the new management. This last weekend Anders got married. This was to have happened last year, but a tragic family accident, where his bride's brother died, postponed the marriage.

Coaching: Sometimes coaches tell athletes they have potential, even when the results are not really great. These coaches, in my opinion, are not doing their job. If the athlete is not improving and is actually following the coaches program, the coach must try a different program and if the results don't improve, even after the training program has been modified, the athlete has probably reached the peak of his ability or the coach has some really bad training programs. This is a tough decision for a skier and a coach. Many skiers don't accept this. If the coach has the guts to tell the athlete: "You are probably not going to get any better" , skiers usually don't take kindly to this advice and try to find another coach.

If you look at training scientifically, test results must improve in order to get better race results. Roller skis are not the most precise method of evaluating training improvements. However, they are a pretty good barometer. Just like skiing on snow, conditions vary. Roller skis get faster in warmer weather and older wheels often roll faster. ( Not because the bearings are getting faster. But, sometimes the material continues to cross link. When this happens, the rebound, or energy return of the molecules in the tire goes up, which makes for faster wheels and faster skis.)

One of the best ways to test your condition is simply to run up a mountain road and measure your time, about every 6 to 8 weeks. Try to do it when the temperature is somewhat similar, but it does not have to be identical. Make sure you have the same rest periods before each time trial. Running in shoes will not produce the variability of skiing on snow or roller skis. If you are getting slower or faster, the clock and the pulse meter will tell you. Test results are critical to evaluate performance. Some athletes try to evaluate too often. That's a real no, no, because that means you are not sticking to a training program. High School kids do this all the time.

There are a lot of "coaches" out there who have no scientific background. They might have been reasonably good skiers, but they do not fully understand the science of improving physical performance for X-C skiing. These "coaches" can ruin the best potential talent we have. In my opinion, Kris Freeman is one of the best talents for traditional distance skiing, and he wasted several years on a training program that was not suitable.

NENSA to have top racers on the same roller skis for specific races: This is good news. But even so, just like on snow skis, different weight skiers and bindings in diffent positions, will never make the skis perfectly matched. Roller skis are just like snow skis, no one ever has the same exact speed. However, it's better than not controlling the type of roller ski being used. Good luck at the races!

Climbing Pack Monadnock and "Old Time" Racers: Today is the 4th of July and decided to work only a few hours. Seventeen days ago I got the worst respiratory infection I have ever experienced. After five days in agony decided to see a doctor. After listening to my chest he became worried about the infection turning into pneumonia and put me on antibiotics. He told me it would probably not help, but it was a precautionary measure.

After two weeks I started to feel a little bit better, but the antibiotics did not help. Because of our work load it was impossible to rest. Love to hike up Pack Monadnock, a small mountain just 2,200 feet high ( 700 meters ). Decided that today, the 4th, this would be a very good way to clean out my lungs. Always use my classic ski poles when going up. The shortest route is just 1.45 miles ( 2.33 kilometers ) but, the vertical climb is some 1,000 feet ( 300+ meters ). It's a really good workout. Used to roller ski up the paved fire tower road, but have not done that in several years.

Apparently everybody had the same idea as I have never met so many people on the trails. I was very surprised not to meet another person using ski poles. Our Japanese distributor recently contacted me to find out if "Nordic walking poles" were very popular in the US. Told him no, because my wife and I hike a lot and we rarely see them. However, every time we go to Europe we see a lot of people using poles. Anyway, the hike helped me clean out my lungs and from Pack Monadnock, which in the local Indian language means "little" Monadnock, you can look directly at Monadnock mountain, the mountain that now exceeds Mt. Fuji in Japan as the most climbed mountain in the world. Monadnock is about 300 meters higher than Pack Monadnock and is located some 25 kilometers south east from Pack Monadnock.

With ski poles I can hike up Pack much faster than without poles. In "tick" season I often hike up the paved auto road. Found I am over 10% faster with poles and my pulse is lower. Using upper body propulsion combined with your legs gives you an advantage. Just like cross country skiing, no upper body power and you can be dead meat.

Back in the "old days", before cross country skiing became a professional sport, many world class cross country skiers were lumberjacks. Do you think they had upper body power? When I was about ten years old I worked one summer for a few weeks in a lumber camp in Sweden that had a very good cross country skier. After cutting trees all day, light almost 24 hours a day, he would go for a 1 to 2 hour run. Talk about upper body power. He was the smallest of all the lumberjacks, but every week he cut more wood than anyone else. You were paid by the amount of wood cut. Each lumberjack had his own "res" which is a pile of wood where the thickest part of the trees are laid on top of each other in a cross ply fashion until the pile at the heaviest section is at least one meter high. The bigger lumberjacks could lift more weight, cut more trees in fifteen minutes than the cross country skier, but they tired quicker and had to rest more often and never equaled his weekly output.

Not that many years ago, at a World Cup event in Falun Sweden a reporter for a Swedish Newspaper wrote that an older person, without a racing bib, was skiing behind some top racers for about five kilometers and maintained the same speed as the best World Cup racers. No officials tried to remove him from the course, because he was the skiing legend, Sixten Jernberg. The Olympic and World Champion was over thirty years older than the racers, but he was skiing at the same pace. Know how Sixten trained, as I have read his book several times. When he was building a cabin in the mountains he carried all the materials to the sight. One time he carried a back pack weighing 80 Kilo ( 176 pounds. ). That's a heck of a lot more than he weighed. So in the old days upper body power was obtained by work. Now it's mainly double poling. ( Sixten also said that based on the tremendous improvements in ski racing equipment and wax he was surprised skiers were not that much faster in classic skiing. He was extremely surprised to be able to ski with the best at his age for a full 5 kilometers. I am not surprised, watching the old movies from the Olympics in 1956 and 1960, he was flying.)

Priority Lists: In any business, setting priorities is important. In most companies very few departments agree on priorities. That's why you need to have someone that decides the most important tasks for the future. It is normally the President or General Manager, but not always that has to make the tough choices. Manufacturing, Engineering, Marketing, Sales and Human Resources all have their own priorities. We know that our home page needs a major make over, but when you are sitting high enough to view the whole landscape of the company, the home page in my opinion, is not a major priority.

Right now our shaft, brake, speed reducer and tire suppliers are not providing enough components. We need more components to meet customer demand. This is a major problem we are trying to solve. But, equally important is the ability to stay one step in front technologically. Have only worked for four companies in my 50+ year working career and that includes V2 Jenex. In every company I worked for, or founded, our success was based more on technology than marketing expertise. In the largest company I co-founded we could afford to hire great marketing and sales people, and we did. ( We hired more MBA's and Ph.D's than you can count on your fingers and toes.) But our success, as the best in the world in our field, was based mainly on technology coupled with good marketing and sales strategy. That company hit sales of over $1 billion per year, but is no longer that large. It required both great marketing and sales management, but we were not a Coca Cola. We were mainly a technology company, not selling pop soda for $1.00 that cost $.05 to make and $.60 to market.

When making roller skis you don't have a lot of options. Nordic Skiing is a minuscule market. The quarterly sales in the electronics company at it's peak was about 3X greater than the sales of all Nordic Equipment sold in United States and Canada for a whole year. So now, as a small company making roller skis we juggle a lot of things. We can't afford to hire people to do specialized tasks. We hope to have a new home page in the next nine months. Some think it's a major priority. As the person who has to make the final decision I do not.

New XL 105 Tires: In the last two weeks we ran another 60 hours of laboratory testing of various tire configurations and we have finalized the tire specifications. There are some very good software programs now available for Statistical Analysis. These programs can turn your most intuitive engineering senses upside down. This time we tested over 12 tire configurations. Tires varied in width, profile, diameter and density. The designer of the experimental test program works for the German Company and is an expert in this kind of SAS ( Statistical Analysis System ) experiments. We provided the engineering information and he developed the experiments.

Not using these new statistical analysis tools, it would be impossible to define the best geometry, material and density of the tires. All this said, we must remember that this technology is nothing if the new tires don't work on roller skis on the road. Based on the latest data we should be able to start testing the XL105 tires on the road in August. The engineers at the German Company were very complimentary about our laboratory testing. Most experiments were done twice to evaluate repeatability and the data never varied by more than 0.25% which, according to the experts, was exceptional.

Shipping Aero XL: We have started shipping the Aero XL. In the angst of getting out back orders, the first skis were shipped without the new labels as the delay would have been three days. The suppliers of shafts, speed reducers and brake parts are beginning to fill the pipeline, but orders for Aero XL received now will not be shipped for about three to four weeks.

Years ago we made it a firm policy not to jump any orders ahead of others. Orders are shipped in the sequence that orders are received. We have only broken that rule a few times, and only under exceptional circumstances. We broke that rule this last week. A National Team skier from a foreign country called and said his car was stolen with his roller skis in the car. He was desperate. He called on Friday and we shipped his skis by Fed Ex on Monday.

Last Wednesday we finished the mounting instructions for the new Speed Reducers and on Thursday we shipped as many Speed Reducers as we could assemble. Planned on finishing the brake instructions today, Sunday the 17th, but woke up this morning with a fever, sore throat and a serious chest infection. Just too tired to go to work.

Russians crazy about Aero skis: A few weeks ago we shipped almost 100 pair of Aero skis to Russia. On Thursday this week we received another order that was even larger. The distributor said most of the skis were sold before they arrived in Russia. Since our suppliers of components have not yet caught up with the largest back log in our company history, this means that new orders for Aero products will continue to require about a four week lead time. We also have people on vacation, which makes it even tougher.

Three steps forward: This week we made more progress on the new 105 mm tire than we have in the last two months. With more test samples coming soon, think we can come up with a tire geometry and material composition that might work.

Very interesting article on Europe's comeback: Michael Heise, chief economist at the Allianz and Dresdner bank, wrote the article. These are just a few comments from his article. For years Americans have been hearing about economic stagnation in Europe. The truth is Europe is back and very much so. GNP is expected to grow by 2.7% this year, above US levels. It is Sweden that is now the leader, it's gross domestic product expanded at a rate of 4.4% last year, productivity growth exceeds the US and at the same time Sweden is running a healthy fiscal surplus. Both Sweden and the Netherlands are achieving economic growth without sacrificing their social safety nets. Anyone who doubts Europe's comeback should look at the equity market capitalization. According to Thompson Financial, Europe is now ahead of the US with a market cap of $15.72 trillion slightly higher than the market value of the United States.

After reading the article started to think about the many large Swedish companies. Having been a supplier to such companies as Volvo truck and aircraft group, Saab Aircraft and L.M. Ericsson Communication I am somewhat familiar with Swedish companies. Got on the web and found out that Swedish companies are the largest in the world in many fields. Volvo is the largest truck company in the world. Not talking about pick up trucks, real trucks. Few people realize that Volvo owns Mack Trucks, White Trucks, Clark Equipment, Renault Trucks from France and Nissan Trucks from Japan. SAAB Scania, is also one of the top five large truck companies in the world, with sales in over 130 countries, but not the US. ABB ( Asea Brown Boveri ) is a Global leader in power distribution and automated manufacturing. They make a lot of the Robots used in Detroit for auto manufacturing. ABB has 108,000 employees and sales in 2006 of 28.4 billion dollars. Sandvik is a world leader in machine tooling and construction. Last year they had sales of $12 billion and employ 42,000 people. Skanska is one of the world's largest construction companies. They have operations all over the world and do major construction projects in the United States, as in the new water supply tunnel in New York. Electrolux ( not the US vacuum cleaner company ) is the largest manufacturer of home appliances in the world. They own such US companies as Eureka and Frigidaire and also the giant Italian Zanusssi. Husqvarna is not only the largest manufacturer of lawn mowers in the world, but also chain saws. Stihl is larger than Husqvarna, but not when you add in the sales of Jonsered, which is part of Husqvarna. Volvo Penta is the largest manufacturer of inboard marine engines. From 10 HP to 2,0000 HP they have 5,000 dealers globally. Pergo is the inventor of laminated flooring and the largest manufacturer of laminated flooring. L.M. Ericsson is the leader in cellular phone transmission equipment. The last time I looked they had over 40% market share in the US. IKEA is the largest supplier of furniture in the world. They have stores in all continents. SAAB Aircraft is the world leader in Turbo Prop commercial aircraft. In the last twenty years they produced over 400 commercial aircraft and many American airlines use SAAB turbo prop planes. THULE racks for skis, bikes, canoes, kayaks and everything else is the world leader in automotive carriers. Astra Zeneca is one of the giants in the pharmaceutical industry. These are just a few of the large Swedish companies that have enabled the country to grow economically with excellent health care and social services.

A changing planet: When we moved to southern NH, 35 years ago, from Massachusetts and before that California, Milford was a sleepy rural town. There was only one traffic light on route 101A from Milford to Route 3 in Nashua. Today there are 31 traffic lights and soon there will be more. Southern NH is becoming a suburb of Boston and the quality of life is deteriorating. Apparently developers refer to this as progress. For the last thirty years, southern NH has been the growth area for the state. When we purchased our 27 acre lot in 1972, it was a parcel of land that had been intact as one unit since 1762. The deed to the property was 210 years old

The land was not advertised for sale. When we saw the view from the top of Federal Hill over the Monadnock Mountains we went to the Town Hall to find out who owned it. The woman had inherited the property, but the deed was so confusing, she did not know how many acres were involved. Stone wall here, to stone wall there. She thought the property was about fifteen acres. Turned out it was 27. We have loved every moment of it until the recent developments on our street. For twenty + years only three new houses were built. Then a parcel of 65 acres was sold to a developer, who purchased another plot adjoining it and began to build some 82 homes. Not long after, some seventy more acres were sold to a developer of condominiums. With 72 condominiums and 82 new homes on our formerly peaceful country road, our neighborhood is no longer a sleepy New England Town.

We actually have to wait to cross the road safely to get to the Mail Box. It used to be that when we heard a car we used to look to see who drove by. Now we count how many cars pass per minute on our street. Our son Erik, who lives in Boulder Colorado, can't believe the change to the area. Nothing we can really do. Population increases, more homes are needed. Some call it progress. Might just move to northern NH, where the population is decreasing.

Two steps forward, one step back: That's the way I would describe the development program for the US made microcellular tires for the Aero 105's. The material has never been used in tires before and there are so many variables it's unbelievable. Just one change and the material behaves very differently. We are now making 9 different tires for laboratory evaluation. The tires are designed so that the laboratory data can be entered into the diagnostic software program that will determine what parameters enhance certain performance characteristics and what parameters are negative. It's extremely exciting, but also frustrating. However, I know from developing products for over 40 years, you have to plug in the right numbers or it will not work.

The material has some very unique properties. The German company has used this material very successfully for many elastomeric applications, however never in a rolling application and that's why we need to do so much testing to find the right geometry.

We apologize for the long Delivery time for Aero Roller Skis: It's not that we are behind the planned build schedule, the skis are simply more popular than expected. The demand has been unprecedented and our suppliers of components have been struggling to catch up with the increasing demand. However, it's not like with really popular products where you have to wait an eternity. I ordered what is probably the most popular camera lens in the history of the Nikon company. Since I had numerous 35 mm Nikon lenses I did not order the new lens when I ordered the camera. It took four months to receive the camera and when I got it in February of 2006, decided to order the new lens. It arrived in January of 2007, 11 months after ordering the lens and I had to pay $150 over the suggested list price. Talk about back orders and popularity.

New XL Aero Skis: In less than two weeks we will begin to ship the improved Aero 125 and 150, called the Aero XL series. Brakes for the new XL. The XL have the rear fork designed so the brake can be mounted without drilling any holes in the chassis. The new mounting system also leaves more space on the shaft for the bindings. By eliminating ten components and using a superior mounting system the brake is now 25% lighter and less expensive. Better Wheel Forks. The new forks are stiffer and stronger without increasing weight. Improved Speed Reducers. The Speed Reducers are now designed so the same unit can be used on both the 125 and 150 wheels. ( There are two positions for locating the bearings, one for the 125 and one for the 150. If you change from 125 to 150 wheels, or vice versa, you don't need to purchase new Speed Reducers. ) The new lever engages both serrated bearing retainers for more uniform pressure and the bearings have a simpler mounting system and can readily be replaced by simply removing a bolt and nut.

Kris Freeman finally switched to V2 roller ski ferrules: Got a call stating that Kris finally had it with his sponsors roller ski ferrules. Since our ferrules make the poles a slightly different length, compared to his sponsors ferruless, he had several pair of poles cut to fit V2 ferrules. He already told Zach Caldwell that V2 ferrules made a major difference in his roller skiing. About a week after providing Kris with ferrules, John Bauer e mailed and said he had been using V2 ferrules for a year now and he wrote they were by far the best he had ever used. ( Believe he got them from New Moon Ski Shop in Hayward, where he lives. ) Kris is still training on the slowest wheels we can provide. Actually, with our patented Kinematic damping technology we can make wheels so slow, they would be brutal.

Amy Caldwell off to Coach in Canada: Before she left last week we supplied her with spare wheels and lots of roller ski ferrulles. See Caldwell's home page for the latest on the family venture. It sounds awfully exciting. All the best to Amy, Zach and Gunnar.

R&D: When in February we started working with the multi billion dollar German Company, we knew it would be a long and very tough development program. Building a new microcellular tire in the US, that's different from anything built before, ain't going to be easy. Fortunately their engineers are really into the project. One engineer told me this project was more interesting than anything else he was working on. It's revolutionary, and when you break new ground, using materials that have never been used for this kind of application, you are bound to run into some unexpected setbacks, and we have. However, as one engineer said: "This material is just too good not to work." The company has some very good diagnostic tools and we now have a powerful 3D modeling software program.

Two weeks ago I ran over 35 tests in the laboratory, some 60 hours of testing in one week. The data was pumped into the software analysis program and we saw some trends that appeared significant. Without the laboratory testing machine we would have only roller skiers testing and we would have little scientific data. After using this very good laboratory machine for almost ten years, we know that certain parameters regarding tire temperature, rolling resistance, tire deformation, permanent set under load, etc. must be achieved in the laboratory, before road testing. Skiers come in very different size and weight. All have slightly different technique and they often ski on different road surfaces. Before the test machine, it took us over two years to come out with the very simple 900 roller ski tires. We began testing in 1987 and shipped in 1989. And these were just solid rubber tires. The data varied so much depending who was using the roller skis that when you reviewed the data it made no sense for the engineers that were developing the material. Everything was so subjective, they had no idea what material parameters to modify. For development purposes, we finally decided to use the data from just one very good skier who was getting his Masters in engineering. He was a top skier, a very good engineer and with his input we finally came to market with the skis.

Based on the laboratory data to date, there is no way to predict when we are in a position to begin testing tires on the road. If I were to make a guess, maybe some time in August. We know that if the tires don't meet certain laboratory test parameters, it's just a waste of time and money putting them on roller skis. What we have found over the years is that often prototype and pre production tires will test fine, but when the manufacturer goes into full production the tires are not the same. The first time this happened to us was with an American company located in Rhode Island. The test samples and pre production tires were great, but the production tires were awful. They were never able to produce the tires on the production line and the money spent on molds went down the toilet. We found a new supplier in Iowa, built another set of molds for their line, and finally received good production parts about one year later. It took over a year to get the tires right.

One of our suppliers in Taiwan has the same problem. The tires built in the laboratory and on the pre production line work fine, but the production tires are very different and of much lower quality. Because of these problems in the past, all of the microcellular test tires produced for us by the German company are made on the production line. This will eliminate a potential setback as we move from test tires to production tires.

Canadian Nordic Program: Based on what I have heard from Marty Hall and others in the Canadian Nordic program, it's scientifically structured and extremely well financed. In fact when I was told how much money they already have for the 2010 Olympics the number was so large it was hard to believe. Apparently the economic success began with the 1988 Calgary Olympics. The money was wisely invested and has grown to staggering sums. Very different from the US and many other countries programs, where they are always begging for money.

Right now the Swedish Nordic program is on the tightest budget in years. In fact it's so financially deficient many athletes are very worried about the future of cross country skiing in Sweden. Unlike Norway, where skiing is a major sport, there are too many competing sports in Sweden. It's a country of only 10 million people, yet Sweden has over 50 NHL hockey players, including the captain of Stanley Cup winner Detroit. Ottawa's captain is also Swedish and they are in the Stanley Cup finals this year. Because Sweden has won Olympic hockey twice in the last four Olympics it has become an even bigger sport. Tennis, Golf, Soccer and Track and Field are much bigger in Sweden than Nordic skiing. Just like in Germany, skiing is becoming a minor sport. Doug Garfield, who has been researching this, told me that it was not long ago that skiing was viewed as one of the three most desirable sports in Germany, now it's not listed in the top ten. Very unfortunate.

In Waterville Valley: This is only the second weekend in the last six that I have not been working. Must admit it feels good to get away for a couple of days. We are staying at our condo in Waterville Valley and on Saturday we had dinner at Bruce and Julie Brinkema's new house in Waterville. It's truly magnificent, with one of the best views in Waterville. Bruce and I were roommates at Dartmouth and our families have been very close for over forty years.

Today I jogged for the first time in a long time. ( I was not running, I was shuffling. As I was moving along at snail pace it was hard for me to comprehend that in High School I was a 4'36" miler and that in our first test run for the cross country ski team at Dartmouth I beat all the Varsity skiers. ) Took the outer loop around the Valley where you first head up towards the Alpine slope on Tripoli Road, then turn on to W. Branch Rd. by the Mad River. It's just 4.3 miles, but my old body felt it.

Russian and Estonian skiers into Aero skis in a big way: Recently shipped almost 100 pair of Aero's to Russia. A coach, who saw the Russian team training last year, said that every skier he saw was on Aero's. A few days after shipping to Russia received an e mail from Kristjan Vaehi on the Estonian team ordering more Aero's. Over the last ten years we have shipped a lot of skis to Estonia.

People on our street in Florida are fantastic: The neighbors on the cul de sac at my parents former house are simply great. The houses are all located on Lyons Bay, one of the many beautiful bays on the Gulf coast. Last year a neighbor took us on her boat for a marvelous trip along the bay and the intercoastal waterway. Saw osprey, dolphins and all kinds of other beautiful wildlife. She is a fabulous Captain, who also has a license for twin engine airplanes. This morning a neighbor came over with a Spanish mackerel he had just caught about a mile out in the gulf. The fish looks great and he suggested we broil the two large fillets with mayo sauce mixed with garlic. Anita just picked up some vegetables to go with tonight's dinner. Most of the people here are from New York State and New England.

The house was in pretty bad condition when my parents were forced to move out and enter an assisted living place. The result is that every time we come down we have a lot of work to do. Today was an easy day, some tree pruning, put in a new kitchen light, which meant some rewiring, replaced the locks on the pool doors and we had the Salvation Army come over to pick up some furniture we do not need. Pruning bushes here can be very interesting. I was up on a six foot step ladder when, as I reached in with the pruning shears, something flickered in the dark leaves and I spotted the head of a snake. He was almost at the top of the bush. Climbed down and got Anita so she could see it. Then got the camera to take a picture of it. The snake finally turned it's head so I could get a better shot of it to identify it in my Dad's reptile book. Turned out it was an Eastern Racer. They average 4 feet in length and prefer bushes and trees. According to the book, Racers are very fast and somewhat aggressive. Since we generally only spend a week here, each time we come down, it's taking us an awful long time to fix up the place. We like to do a lot of the work ourselves. It's more satisfying than just hiring someone for every little task.

The other day when we went out for lunch a dolphin was cruising back and forth near the dock by the restaurant. Yesterday we took a break from work with a hike in a state park just three miles from the house. There we saw a very streamlined bird we had never seen before. Looks like a very large swallow. It has a split tail and a red bill. Apparently it's an Arctic Tern. According to the bird book he is the champion of all migrating birds. They breed in the Arctic and winter in the Antarctic. They migrate over 25,000 miles per year. One of the most beautiful birds I have ever seen and based on the streamlined structure, must be a very fast flier.

"Mind boggling increase in morbidly obese": I was sure that I recently read an article that stated there had been a reversal in the increase of obese people. However, as I read the article in USA TODAY, I realized that the previous article I read was from a Scandinavian news paper that showed that the number of children and adults that were overweight had declined. According to the latest study, 66% of Americans are now overweight and in just the last five years the number of morbidly obese has increased by 24%. The definition for overweight is 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight. Morbidly obese is defined as 100 pounds, or more, over a healthy weight. According to the study by Roland Sturm, of the non profit RAND Corporation, the increase in morbidly obese is "mind -boggling". Sturm went on to say: "The numbers show the trend is paralleling what is going on in our society. We need to move to a healthier environment."

George Blackburn, associate director of nutrition at Harvard Medical School, calls the increase a catastrophe. He said: It is an emergency because the disability, the discrimination and the health care costs for this population are enormous.

Work: Recently a retired friend told me how great it was not to have to go to work. He said that for the last ten years of his career he disliked his job, but decided to stick it out to get his retirement pension. He is probably 12 years younger than I and he asked me why I continued to work. I then realized how lucky I was. In the last 50 years of working there were really not many days when I did not like to go to work. In any job there is tension, stress, anxious and nervous moments, but these moments can also be exciting. Tension could result from a new project not meeting the schedule, suppliers not performing, sales, marketing and engineering not on the same wave length, customers not paying their bills on time, or having to make presentations to Wall Street Analysts and wondering if I would screw it up by not getting across our strategy and dragging down the value of the company stock. But, there was more excitement than tension. What I like most about my job is finding new solutions to a problem. When at Dartmouth College a close friend, who later graduated from Tufts Medical School, showed me the antiquated medical instrument he was using. Found a better solution and designed a new fiberoptic sigmoidoscope that was the first of it's kind in the world. That was the beginning of my love for designing things, which to date has led to hundreds of designs and over 25 patents.

We had a Minuteman missile crisis in the 60's. Had to keep the engineers working in L.A. one week till about 2 in the morning.When I told them that I expected all to be at work again by 8 A.M., every morning, no one objected. Many of us were workaholics. That was very early in my career and that kind of work environment established a pattern for the future. Unfortunately, this kind of professional commitment has never left much time to train for ski racing. In 1970 I decided to start X-C ski racing again. Realized that my commitment to work was injurious to my health. My weight had gone from 152 pounds to 187. Began training, very little time when you work over ten hours and most of the time at least six days a week, and spend another 90 minutes on the road going to and from work. This was in the early days of the semiconductor revolution and competition was fierce. Most of us worked through lunch, munching a sandwich and never leaving the office. Decided to enter Vasaloppet. Since it was 90K needed some distance work and began long runs with our dog. Usually ran for 2.5 to 3 hours on Sunday, about the only day when I had time for a long run or a long ski. Every other morning at 5:00 AM roller skied at the Ipswich River State Park in Massachusetts for 30 to 40 minutes. Since my rule was to try to be at work no later than 7:00 in the morning, that's all the time I had to roller ski. Dropped my weight to 154 pounds, but my race results that year were not great. Three years later the results were acceptable, considering the few hours that I trained.

I am sure that if ski racing ever becomes more important for me than work, I could probably do OK in my age group. The reason I think my body could absorb quite a bit of hard training is that in a recent physical exam my test results were considered extremely good. My cholesterol, liver, blood values and blood pressure were so good that they asked me to explain in detail my diet, what supplements I took and what physical exercise I did. Told them it's probably all genetic, but they did not buy it and asked me to tell them. Eat a lot of fish and chicken. Oat meal or other cereal for breakfast with bananas, blueberries and cinnamon. Cinnamon has been shown to reduce cholesterol, as does oatmeal, and blueberries are one of the better antioxidants. Never use anything but low fat milk. Don't eat ice cream or other desserts, except if someone serving dinner offers it. Have one glass of Red Grapefruit juice every day. An in depth study in Israel showed that red grapefruit was extremely beneficial in reducing cholesterol and blood pressure. Better than any prescription statin they tested. Never liked soda or junk food so don't drink any kind of pop or eat junk food. Try to eat a reasonable amount of fruit. Have plenty of wine. As for exercise, most of it comes from doing a lot of physical work. For supplements take 400 mg. of cod liver oil every day, 1000 mg. of bilberry extract, milk thistle for my liver, selenium and a multivitamin.

Anders finally mentioned the slow skis at Sapporo: In a previous note I mentioned that Anders Soedergren rarely complains and that in one race his skis were incredibly slow. It was over a month after the World Championships in Sapporo that he finally admitted the skis were brutally slow. To finish 14th, with skis that were so slow that Fredriksson gave up at 20K is quite an accomplishment.

The Environment: Anyone who reads this news column knows how passionate I am about the environment. When, over ten years ago, I began my campaign about global warming many of my friends were skeptics. ( But, I was used to this. When we founded our electronics company I told our employees, in a general company speech about the future, that by 1990 most cars would be front wheel drive. For a long time I was the laughing stock of many because of this statement as, at that time, no car made in the US was front wheel drive. However, before 1990, most cars produced in the world were front wheel drive, including American cars.)

Global Warming is finally becoming a major subject in the US. Even our President, who not very long ago said, global warming is due to natural causes, is making statements that CO2 is causing the change. However, his calculations did not compute. When he mumbled something in his TV report about the pollution in China and India, he was right, but he also got the numbers wrong. Experts on climatology measure CO2 emissions based on emissions per capita, not just by country. The only sensible method of measuring pollution is by output of pollutants per person. It is estimated that by the end of this year, China will have equal CO2 emissions to that of the United States. The President made a point of this. China is becoming one of the most industrialized countries in the world and has a population of 1.3 billion people, compared to 300 million in the US. So, if China as a country, pollutes equally as much as we do in the United States, it simply means that each person in China is only polluting 23% as much as each person in the US.

Now know why the US is a big Polluter: Drove down to my parents house in Florida this week. When we arrived in Florida, Nokomis next to Venice on the Gulf Coast, the traffic was so bad from Ocala to Venice, 184 miles, that all three lanes of the road were at times at a virtual standstill. An aerial photograph from a satellite would have depicted 3 lanes of road for 180 miles, in both directions, with nothing but cars. Most of the cars were SUV's and pick up trucks which probably average about 18 miles per gallon, or less. Our turbocharged 280 HP car averaged 30.6 miles per gallon for the 1550 mile trip down from NH. Having raced cars I like to drive fast, but never with crazies around me. Have often driven over 130 MPH on the Autobahn in Germany, but never where it could endanger anyone. Most of the cars coming from Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, etc. were driving like maniacs, completely out of control, until the roads from the north merged and the Gulf coast of Florida became a parking lot. ( I felt safer driving 130 MPH on the Autobahn than 75 MPH on I 75 or I 95 .)

Brilliant Idea: To reduce pollution, the EU is now contemplating a system that taxes your vehicle based on the amount of CO2 emissions. Since each country has it's own taxation system, the EU can only make recommendations, however many countries favor this system. Personally I think it's a brilliant idea. You want to pollute, then you should pay for it. Based on the information from an article in today's New York Times, the pollution in the US is as follows: Generation of electricity accounts for 34% of the pollution. Mainly due to the stinking coal burning power plants in the mid west that are damaging the forests in the North East. Transportation accounts for 28% of the pollution. According to the New York Times here are the five worst and five best vehicles.Worst polluters: Ford F series, Chevrolet Silverado, Dodge Ram, Ford Econoline and Dodge Caravan. The Least polluting vehicles: Toyota Prius, Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and Honda Accord.This review did not show details on commmercial 18 wheelers and how they pollute with respect to cars and pick up trucks. Hope that the recent statements by the President will get the message to the average person that Global warming is for real and every person should start to do something about it now.

Environmental meeting in Florida: Yesterday met with a number of people who live on Lyons Bay. A person had received a variance from the state of Florida to tear down a small house and build a large new one with a septic system that does not meet the state requirements for nitrogen emissions near the water. The bay is a paradise for all kinds of fish, manatee, dolphins and many birds including eagles and osprey. Over the last 25 years the pollution by humans is very noticeable and we want to make sure there are no more variances allowed. We are going directly to the Governor of Florida with our objections.

The FIS is quick to present Alpine results, but very slow with cross country: Today was the last day with the relay races in the World Junior Championships. I was anxious to get the results. The FIS had not yet posted the results so looked at some Scandinavian papers. Found out quickly that Norway won the girls relay with Sweden second and Sweden, surprisingly, won the boys relay with Russia second. But, no matter where I looked could not get beyond the first few teams. Wanted to find out how the US and Canada made out. Five hours after the races were completed, still could not get the official FIS results.

Charlotte Kalla went out last, 18 seconds behind Astrid Jacobsen of Norway. The course had been shortened from 5 to 3.3 kilometers. Kalla was gaining ground all the time and at the finish she was right behind Astrid. Many felt that if it had been 5K Charlotte would have won. In the boys race it was simply a sprint to the finish with Adam Johansson winning over Russia by a few centimeters.

Last years Holmenkollen winner sick: If it's a distance race and Anders Soedergren does not make it into the top ten I always think he either missed the wax, took a tumble or he is sick. In Lahti last weekend he finished 11th. I was waiting to hear what happened. The following day he had a fever. Turned out he raced with an infection ready to erupt. He was too sick to even think about entering Holmenkollen the next weekend. Many of the best skiers have said that Holmenkollen is the ultimate experience and the most important race on the World Cup. The old boys did well today. Thirty six year old Odd Bjoern Hjelmeset won with Estil Froede, 35 in third place. Kris Freeman had another good race finishing 21st.

Magnar Dahlen must be smiling: Magnar is not just the coach for Finland, he is one of the best wax technicians. The wax technicians must have nailed the wax today in the 30K and 50K at Holmenkollen. The women went 1, 2 and 5 for Finland. Magnar is the guy who got us involved with STAR ski wax. The Finnish women have been outstanding this year. However, today it was not just the women who did well. Sami Jauhojaervi, just 25 years old, finished 5th and Ville Nousiainen, just 23 years old, finished 9th.

Charlotte Kalla totally dominant in the Junior World Championship Pursuit: Unlike the Pursuit for men, where five finished within 10 seconds, Kalla left everyone breathless and won the 10K by a whopping 40 seconds. She was so far ahead, she stopped in the stadium and grabbed a Swedish flag before crossing the finish line. Elizabeth Stephen from the US had a very good race finishing 17th and Brittany Webster from Canada had a superb race, finishing 6th.

Alex Harvey only 5 seconds out of First Place: Alex has another year in the Junior league and was only five seconds from first place. The first time I met Alex's father, Pierre Harvey, was in 1990. We did some work together on a project for a Canadian company. There was a ski show in Montreal and Pierre came down from Quebec City to help us at our booth. He is a fantastic person. Pierre is also a winner of Holmenkollen. Alex could be another Pierre, maybe even better than his father if he concentrates only on skiing. Pierre was both the best skier and the best cyclist in Canada. Pierre got Alex some V2- 910's for training.

Made another mistake: In the March 7 report, said that the US has only two really good cross country skiers. Not true, as Kikkan Randall is a world class sprinter which she showed again with a 5th place World Cup finish. My apologies Kikkan.

More from the 50K in Sapporo: Anders is such a nice guy it sometimes takes awhile to really know what happened in a race. When Anders wrote, he said he had a bad day at work during the 50K. It was only after reading his comments several times, and reading what Braeten said, plus Mathias Fredriksson, that the whole scenario came to light. Sweden screwed up badly in the waxing department. Mathias quit the race because his skis were so slow. Mathias said there was no way to finish in the top ten with skis that slow.

In the media, Anders blamed his back for only finishing 14th. But, as you unravel the layers of the onion, you find hints about terribly slow skis. In fact, brutally slow. Anders did not want to blame the technicians. Absolutely sure his back hurt, because he was trying to get into the top ten with skis that did not move. Braeten said there must be much better cooperation between the technicians and the skiers.Braeten blamed the skiers as much as the technicians for such crap skis.

Optimistic: This week, met with the high technology German company for the 4th time. Discussed tire technology with the Chief Chemist, Product Manager and the Chief Tool Designer. We hope to have prototype samples within a month. If this technology works, it will revolutionize roller skis. They will be, lighter, smoother and more durable. And, all custom components will be made in the US.

Kris Freeman had an outstanding 50K, finishing 12th: Kris showed again that he is one of the best in the world and is in a separate class from the rest of the US distance skiers. Kris finished just 2' 38" from the winning Norwegians. Lars Flora and James Southam were respectively 12' 35" & 21' 28" back. As I stated earlier, the US team has only two world class skiers, Kris Freeman in distance and Andy Newell in the sprints.

Oscar Svaerd wins Vasaloppet again: This morning it was another sprint duel to the finish of the 90K race. Svaerd just beat world marathon cup leader Ahrlin.

Ander's back gives out: The 50K is the best distance for Anders and he rarely finishes outside the top 10. After his horrendous fall in the 30K pursuit, where he dislocated his shoulder, his back gave out today and he finished 14th, 2' 46" from the leaders. Will have to wait to see what he writes.

The 15 K Freestyle at Sapporo was a total fiasco due to snow: The highest seeded skiers, who started in the back, had a much a rougher time when it started snowing. Those who started early missed a lot of of the snow and a totally unknown young Belorussian named Leanid Karneyenka started third and finished 2nd. Johannes Eder, not in shape, started second and finished 4th. This is what Anders Soedergren, who started 116th and finished 13th, said about the race: "Had the best freestyle race this season, but got nowhere despite being in good shape. Before the race I was warming up in the hill at the 5.7 K point when I spotted Johannes Eder, the former doper from Austria. He was obviously in bad shape and I felt he would have a very tough day. At that point I had no idea what was going to happen.

Could not have imagined that he could be 4th. But, in Sapporo anything can happen. Snow, that felt like sandpaper, began to fall during the race. Things must change. So far only an 8th and 13th place finish and I am in very good shape. Must now do a much better job in the relay and in the 50K." Ander's did do a good job in the relay yesterday getting Sweden a bronze medal. For the US team it was another nightmarish day with best finisher, Lars Flora, in 57th place.

Relay for men: Apparently the US team never started. The big surprise was Germany not getting a medal. A lot of sickness at Sapporo and several teams used substitute skiers. 3.5 seconds separated the top three teams, Norway, Russia and Sweden.

Virpi Kuitinenen has been simply awesome: How many medals? How about Bronze in the individual sprint, Gold in the Sprint relay, Gold in the Distance relay and Gold in the 30K classic. She gave Finland a one minute lead in the first leg of the relay. It was almost three years ago that she decided to train on slower, more demanding roller skis and she switched to V2- 910K's. In the 30K there was apparently only one American entered, Catlin Compton, and she never finished.

Who is this? A Norwegian 19 year old Junior finished 3rd in the 30K. Another star is born. Therese Johaug did the impossible, beating all but two seniors in a 30K. Can see a real rivalry between Charlotte Kalla and Therese in the future. Both 19 and both top finishers in the Senior Championship. That's good for the sport.

Evolution, not Skiing: Jill Preutz, from Iowa's State University and Paco Bertolani, from the University of Cambridge have been studying Chimpanzees in Senegal. They found that chimps actually made wooden weapons. They took branches, removed leaves and twigs, sharpened them and used the wooden spears to kill smaller animals. Until recently it was thought that the apes copied farmers, who used tools, but these animals developed the weapons on their own. DNA from Chimps relates them to humans.

More News about Anders Soedergren after his Pursuit race: Just received an e mail about his shoulder. That was no fake shoulder injury noted in the article below on the 30 K Pursuit. Dr. Ghisler, said that when Anders decided to finish the race, still 18 kilometers to go, he made a wise decision. The extra blood flow to the injured shoulder, he popped in place after the accident, means that Anders might be able to compete in the remaining races. Dr. Ghisler said that if Anders had quit, chances were that he would not have been able to compete in the rest of the races at the World Championships. The additional blood flow to the injured shoulder from skiing another 18K might save him. If the pain in his shoulder does not subside, Anders will have to take pain medication until his shoulder is operated on after the ski season. Obviously Anders is both determined and tough. He said before the World Championships: "It's the Podium or Nothing." My admiration of Anders has never waned. This quiet, very personable athlete, and also a very intelligent person, is a true representation of the best in cross country skiing. After finishing 8th after falling and dislocating his shoulder I give him an A+.

The World Championships in Sapporo: The US team is there, but so far the only skiers with any presence are Newell and Freeman. Both of these skiers have proven in the past that they are among the very best in the world. As every ski enthusiast probably knows by now, Newell finished 5th in the Sprint and in the 30K pursuit Freeman finished 19th, just 1' 8" from the top three, who were all within 0.9 seconds.

The rest of he US team were over 2 kilometers back. They were loosing 0.54 meters per second to the top ten skiers. Kris Freeman decided to have his own training program last year supervised by Zach Caldwell. He spent most of the year training by himself in New Hampshire. Whatever Kris is doing, the rest of the team should also be doing. I know a lot what he was doing from Zach and from Kris himself. High resistance, long workouts.

Something wrong with the course when 50% of the racers fell in the Pursuit. It's not often that the world's best skiers fall. It happens, but 50 % of the skiers in a race? The course had a treacherous icy hill followed by loose snow in the bottom curve. Mathias Fredriksson and Anders Soedergren were in the lead pack of six, when at 12 kilometers Anders was forced into the loose snow and took a horrendous fall. This is what he said:

"Took such a fall when I went into the snow I look like I went ten rounds with Tyson. I have blue marks everywhere. Had been leading the race and felt really good. My shoulder popped out when I went down and although groggy, the first thing I did was pop the shoulder back. After I had recovered enough to continue it was a mental game. Never thought I would see the lead pack again, but with six kilometers to go I had managed to catch up. I was in the back with Estil Frode, but continued to slowly advance. To finish 8th, 15 seconds out of first place was not my goal. Braeten was furious with the condition of the course. He told me 35 skiers fell."

Considering the fall, think it's quite remarkable that he finished just 15 seconds out of first place. Fredriksson, who had also been in the top five, went down in the same hill and finished 14th.

Olsson called the Italian an Idiot: The person who had the right to be most upset during the race was probably Johan Olsson. He had a perfect race. He was in the lead pack all the time and with just six kilometers to go he was leading the race and said he felt very strong. When entering the feed station an Italian knocked him down and Johan got his elbow in his stomach. He got the wind knocked out of him. He said it took him a long time to recover. He managed to finish 20th.

He said: "You train hard for a year and when you are leading the race with just six K to go some idiot knocks you down." Braeten said the regulations at feeding stations must be changed, so this cannot happen again.

Charlotte Kalla "grymt" cool in today's 15 K Pursuit: The nineteen year old Junior has been called a super star and in her first Senior World Championships she showed why. In the classic portion she thought everybody was skiing to slow and moved out in front to increase the pace. At the change zone for skating she was in first place. She pulled a bit too hard in the classic and paid for it later in the skate. But how about finishing 7th, less than 25 seconds from 1st and beating most of the best skiers in the world including Marit Bjoergen and Olympic Champion Kristina Smigun. Many said she was "grymt cool" which translates from Swedish into awesome cool. For the US it was another sad story with Kikkan Randall finishing 41 and Lindsey Weir last out of a field of 52.

The Importance of Stretching: On Saturday, two weeks ago, I decided to cut some wood for our stove. Had just purchased a new Husky ( Husqvarna ) chain saw, as my 20+ year old saw was beginning to balk. Did not properly choke the saw and had to pull it about a dozen times before it started. Cut wood for about an hour and then did some carpentry work in the new office I am building above the new garage. The following morning had a pain in my back. It was different from any back pain encountered in the past. It was a continous pain and hurt no matter what my body position.

After nine days in pain I was getting worried and went to physical therapist / chiropractor office. Jim Weir, who I usually see, was on vacation skiing and I met with a Mr. Howard. He looked at me and then started testing me for flexibility. My quads and hamstrings were so tight my pelvis could not move properly. Had neglected my stretching for a long time. When he tried to stretch me, both legs cramped. He said: "I don't think there is anything wrong with your back, you are just too tight. " He told me to stretch every hour for a few days and to let him know if the pain disappeared. I noticed that the pain was reduced after every stretching session and just three days later, the pain was gone. From now on I will stretch several times a day.

Anja Pearsson perfect so far: After trying to recover from her knee operation and her boots and skis not working properly, she got everything together for the World Championships. Today she won the Downhill race and, with two more races left, she has won three Gold this week. Believe this is the fifth World Championship where she has captured a Gold medal, but three in a week is a little unusual. She also made history. The only woman to have captured Gold in all five Alpine Diciplines.

Made in USA: With so many things we buy being made overseas it would be nice to get something made in America. All custom components in V2 roller skis are made in the USA, except for the Aero tires. No company in United States makes this kind of tire anymore and the last pneumatic bicycle tire produced in the US was in 1987.

For over a year we have been working on a new tire design that could be produced in the US. A tire that would provide a smooth ride, yet cannot go flat. We will not know if we are going to be successful for another few months, but things are beginning to look brighter. A very large German company, with a major manufacturing facility in New England, will soon be making prototype samples. They have the technology and they are interested in our project. Jenex has expertise in a field they would like to enter, so this relationship can benefit both companies. If the tires are successful, the new roller ski models will have all custom components made in the US.

James Mannion called: On Friday, when I am alone at the plant, Dr. Mannion called and asked about a new Speed Reducer for his Aero 150's. Some two years ago Dr. Mannion wrote a very favorable article about our new brake. Nordic skiing is a very small world and with the web, news passes fast. His article complimented the new brake. It also made me realize that roller skis are a lot safer today than 15 years ago.

A tumultuous month for the Swedish Ski team: Don't know what really happened, but there appears to have been a disagreement between Inge Braaten and Thomas Alsgaard. Alsgaard just left the Swedish Team. Many skiers were disappointed, but there has been no official comment why the sudden departure. At this moment there is another problem, at least according to Braaten. He wants everybody at high altitude training before the World Championships, but some, including Fredriksson and Larsson, want to train at lower altitude and they have left Switzerland for Sweden. There have been hundreds of comments on the web by X-C ski enthusiasts. About 90% feel that Braaten is treating experienced skiers like high school kids.

Meanwhile, Magnar Dalen is letting everyone on the Finnish Team decide on their own between high or low altitude peaking before the Championship's. The Finnish Team is coming on very strong, both men and women. Virpi leads the World Cup and several new Finnish men skiers have been in the top ten this season.

Waxing Note from the US Nationals: Zach called me from the Nationals about some wax experiments. He then e mailed me the information and I forgot about it. It was written in early January from the ski races. Here are some excerpts form his letter.

" I had made up 12 different top coat combinations and Swix FC10 liquid ( with moly ) and FC2 were the best. Faster than pure fluoros with no additive content.

The last test ski I had was a total experiment - STAR MP30 crayoned on to the ski cold with F2 sprinkled on top and melted through. It was clearly better. Decided to experiment a little further and used MP30 with fluoro liquid finger painted on top and the whole thing ironed at very high temperature. New winner and that was our race wax."

Zach said he let some of the other technicians use the STAR MP30 and they confirmed his findings that it was the fastest. Lars Svensson had told Zach that when putting a liquid fluoro on top of MP30 it should be ironed