Birkie Day


10,000 cross country skiers have converged on our little village to ski the great American Birkebeiner. The Birkie is a 51 km (32 mi) race from Cable to Hayward, ending on our snow covered main street.

My job: Ring cow bells at the finish line.

Comments

  1. It's today?!? Ohhhhh goody!! I can't WAIT to hear your stories about it THIS year.

    Ring that cow bell with pride!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:21 AM

    I guess you will be ringing your bell till

    THE COWS COME HOME

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am no longer a Birkie Dog. For the past thirty-two years I have spent the last Saturday in February on the Birkie trail...until now. An internet glitch prevented me from being among the many friends and skiers who share my love for skiing in the northwoods. This year there was web registration and I opted for this, presumably, easy alternative. It took a few times as the Birkie website was not able to accept registrations as advertised, but soon enough, with a click of the mouse, I was in...or so I thought. I continued on with my training and planning and received regular Birkie updates all year. This past week I went to confirm my start wave and was shocked to find I was not listed as a participant. I was even more dumbfounded to learn that the race had filled up. I called the Birkie office to no avail. Director Ned Zuelsdorff was equally unsympathetic to my plight.

    Thirty-two years of consecutive Birkie skiing is no easy feat. I have skied with the flu, rearranged vacations and surgery, and even skied two days prior to (successfully) taking the bar exam. Skiing the Birkie each year the rest of my life was my dream. I always knew my streak of coming to Hayward would end, but I did not expect it this soon, or with such brutal force. I am greatly disappointed by the lack of consideration shown by the Birkie staff, including Mr. Zuelsdorff. The Birkie was created by Tony Wise bring people to enjoy the northwoods. Today, I no longer share that dream.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Mark O Wilson8:14 PM

    Mary, I am so sorry that happened, and feel really bad that you had this terrible experience.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous6:49 AM

    Mark, This event made the channel 8 (WISH-TV) news here in Indiana

    Doug

    ReplyDelete

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