Got Bibs?

Ok this post isn’t going to be as deep as this blog can be. You may find it funny, you may find it strange but here is a letter to all bib makers and ski clubs buying bibs from an athlete who has experienced it all.

First we must establish when a set of bibs must be replaced. Many clubs replace their bibs when a sufficient number are missing that trying to figure out who is who becomes distracting and annoying. As a racer I kindly request that if your bibs are loose and flap in the wind, please replace them. If your necklines look like they could make frills on dresses, they are loose. Chances are that if your bibs are old and loose some are looser than others, and it sucks getting thrown that bib that falls off you like a billowing sail. And it’s not fair! Also I once saw a bib obviously sewn back together after EMTs or ski patrol had cut someone out of it. If you have a bib like that please hang it on the wall and get a replacement bib for it. No one wants to think about what the story is with that bib in the start gate.

Great! You want new bibs. Any athlete loves new bibs and everyone will fully support you. Hopefully even a sponsor who will pay for new bibs!  Now use these tips to buy the perfect set that everyone will love and will last longer than your budget needs it to.

I think a lot of bib makers think of bibs like stretchy tight shirts and I want to first say that the thought process behind that, while well intentioned, is incorrect. Bibs are much more than that and the way ski racers use them means that you need to throw that off of the table right now. Ski racers don’t just wear bibs on their chests – on race day they are wearing bibs all different ways, and pulling their bibs on and off all day. They may have a bad shoulder or elbow and so getting in and out is tough. We also follow no rules of etiquette for donning clothing. Bibs get pulled up over boots as well as the traditional pull over the head and down. And realize that we also are basically living in spandex onesies. We have to get in and out of those to do basic human things … you get the idea. Bibs get wrapped around arms, shoved down on hips, and tossed over necks. Pretty much any way you can put clothing on, bibs have gone on that way. They also go on every body type imaginable from 240 pound boys to 100 pound girls, so think accordingly.

Every thread of a good bib should be stretchy. Like really stretchy. Most everybody has stretchy waistbands but we need stretchy armholes and stretchy necks too. Necks are super important and I want to emphasize this. Bibs are like giraffes--they need great necks. Many companies don’t make the neckline with stretchy thread. The neck needs to stretch to fit over a large waist without pulling out the stitching. This is the most common way bibs get loose. The neck gets ripped because racers are pulling them every which way and the neck isn’t stretchy enough, so the thread there gets ripped and then your bib looks old and loose and frilly, and it’s flapping in the breeze – which is, umm, not fast.

Next we have the classic concept that a bib should be short. Wrong. Bibs should be longer. Especially on girls, bibs ride up. Remember that women are hourglass shaped. So the waistband on a short bib will ride up to somewhere around our bellybutton. This makes them slow and it makes it hard to read the numbers on the back. We try to pull them down in the gate but it doesn’t always work. If you make bibs a little longer they don’t ride up as much.

Last we must address the issue of girls vs. boys. There are some boys out there that are big. When bibs aren’t big enough for them they have to rip under the armpits to fit into them. This brings us back to both the extra stretchiness and that girl bibs and boy bibs should not be shared. Ever. If you have a race for just one gender, use their set of bibs. Don’t use the other gender’s bibs because they were the first ones you found. If the numbers on the bibs are easier to read… too bad! You should have made the boys bibs a different color. If you have to make the girls’ bibs pink or purple so that you don’t confuse them – and so the boys refuse to wear them -- do that. Just don’t mix them.

So that is about it. That was a lot longer blog than I thought it would be but I hope you use this info to better make or buy bibs. If you read all the way to here give yourself a big pat on the back! If you use this information and make your next set accordingly know that I, along with every ski racer around, thank you.

What's Your Race-Day Personality?

(Some of my teammates and I getting some needed recovery kayaking around Dillon Lake in Colorado)

 

As ski racers descend upon the state of Colorado to prepare for the coming season I watch as we all begin to polish ourselves for the first races. The goal is that by the time we leave our first start gate we will shine more brilliantly than the stars. We see all of our friends from other teams that we haven’t skied with since last March. It’s game time and technique is only one of the things we are working on these days. It’s Colorado and training changes. We begin to train longer courses (assuming we ever get enough snow here to do that!) and the timing gate is out on a regular basis. Our technique is hopefully coming together and all the problems we had at May camp are starting to look like they might be behind us. Hopefully we are stronger than ever and now we shift from dryland training to conditioning maintenance.

In my opinion this time is critical for our psychological training. We should have been practicing things, visualizing, and discovering ourselves over the summer but now we need to do some race day preparation. It is hard for anybody to know what it will feel like in that gate until we are there, but hopefully we are trying to figure it out. We should have some idea of what kind of race-day personality we are.

A race day personality is what kind of state of mind we work best with on race day. Some people are super focused and intense, some are silly and playful, some are nervous, some are calm. It all depends upon who you are. For example I am an intense personality with a touch of playful. I need to get focused on the task at hand but I also need a little bit of lightheartedness to keep me from over-thinking my race. I like to talk to people but I will also draw internally some as I bring my focus and intensity up. I know other people who are completely different; they need to be totally by themselves or need to get to the start last minute to freak themselves out about something other than the race. There are nearly as many race personalities as there are racers and everybody needs to find their own. As a J3 Mikaela Shiffrin used to sleep at the start (I don’t know if she still does this); she won Topolino after doing that. Now is when racers should play with this. Do you ski faster when you chat your way out of the start or when you take time to focus? Do you like people cheering for you or is it distracting? Do you like to be in a rush at the start or have plenty of time?

I think it is important to remember that everybody is different. What works for your best friend, brother, teammate, idol, etc. might not work for you.  What worked last year might not even work now. You never know. As you get older I think you start to get a better idea of what is good but it still changes somewhat. Now is the time to figure it out so lets get out on the snow we have and remember races aren’t even around the corner—they are nearly upon us. Let’s start the season sparkling like the Colorado snow we are dreaming of!

It's Fall are You Ready?

Well fall is in the air and that makes us ski racers a little jumpy. We are both excited and nervous for what is to come. I always go through twice as many emotions as leaves this time of year. Ski racers everywhere are putting the final touches on our physical conditioning, moving from strength to more power based workouts. Some of us raced in South America and New Zealand but everyone else is left with the question: ‘how will I stack up?’ Luckily we still have a little time to polish ourselves, both our mind and our body, before snow covers the slopes.

 Hopefully our skis have come in and we are getting them prepared for Colorado. As a speed skier I spend a lot of time and wax around now to get speed skis as fast as possible before going out of the gate in November. It is a pain in the ass, especially for those of us who don’t have a technician but at the end of the day you need fast skis and so I do it.

Some of us are back in school now and trying to adjust to a new year. Though I am not one of these people anymore (phew) this was always the time of year where you needed to both get on top of everything and present a good front to your teachers (a good impression now will do you wonders after a month away in December).

I am always happy to see the backside of summer. The cooler temperatures do wonders when I am working out. I can finally cook delicious soups for dinner. When evening comes I get to snuggle in front of a warm fire, perhaps with a cozy cat on my lap. Luckily we have a green house so I still get to enjoy fresh basil and tomatoes even despite the hard frosts we have begun to get. Yes fall is great and despite the fact that I only get to enjoy about 5 weeks of it I enjoy every minute.

It is almost time for Soelden! Good luck to all the world cup racers out there I know I am excited to see who is hot this season. Soelden has often given insight on who will be hot this season and I expect no less when the World Cup descends upon the glacier for the season opener. I’m excited… are you?