The wagon train left Richmond to make the crossing to Jackson, NH, at 5 AM on Sunday morning. Two car loads competed in an event that was pulled off very well, considering it was bare ground across Vermont and most of NH.

The conditions Sunday morning were changing quickly, and the snow surface was a dynamic mix of granular, slush, ice and tilled ice, all changing over to water. For the most part the course held up. However had the race been just hours later, nothing would have been left to ski on. The race course was three loops with a steep uphill about half a kilometer in, and then rolling down hills until a long gradual climb and descent on an out-and-back trail and then a kilometer of relative flat until the steep uphill again. The race was a seeded mass start. With only room for three lanes, it was the best they could do, and it seemed to work okay for most.

NWVT had very impressive team and individual results in the final points race of the season. Perry Bland, coming off a slog in the Craftsbury Spring Fling the day before was very excited for the race, exclaiming the conditions were going to make for a real tough endurance test. He even picked up a lucky penny on his way to registration. As the rest of us worried about wax and snow, Perry seemed to have a certain calm as he soaked it all in.

As the race was underway, Dhyan Nirmegh broke out with a fast pack. Perry was in another not too far behind, Lary Martell and Scott Magnan were chasing, and Damian Bolduc settled in on his own in the middle of the field. On the second lap, Lary caught Perry and they worked together as Scott continued to chase. The top woman found Damian's pace suitable for drafting. On the third lap Scott caught Perry and Lary, but the reunion was brief as Perry pulled away dropping Lary and then Scott, reeling in Nirmegh.

With only a few K's to go, Perry overtook Nirmegh, and they skied together picking off other competitors as they closed in on the finish. With only a short sprint remaining, Nirmegh attacked and tried to get past Perry. Going as hard as he could Nirmegh knew Perry had him beat when he unleashed a double pole sprint on him that he could not counter. "I pulled up beside him going as hard as I could, and it was like he said NO, not today, and just dropped me. I had nothing left." groaned Nirmegh. Scott and Lary were not too far behind, and after drafting Damian for so long, with 3k left, the top woman pushed him aside (knocking him over) and put a minute on him by the finish.

The last race of the season always seems to be the most exiting. The team really comes together and competes very well. This can be seen in the way we all work with each other, but still put our best race out there. Our team success was measurable Sunday with team scoring. NWVT took third in the team scoring getting beat only by much larger teams CSU out of Boston and Ford Sayre out of Hanover. Thanks to some special recruiting by Perry, we were able to field a four-man masters club team with a special guest Steve Wright, who finished very well over-all. NWVT has made an impression this year as we broke into the top-ten clubs in New England by quadrupling our points over last season. I hope to compile a more extensive end of season club report by next week, but to close for today: As has been the case the past few years, a team member has given us all something to think about over the summer by having a stellar performance in the last race. This year it was Perry who blew our doors off in the final K's of the last race. Complete results at www.nensa.net.

Final NWVT results:

14th place: Stephen Wright 1:51:08 (special guest for masters team scoring)
18th Perry Bland 1:51:32
19th Dhyan Nirmegh 1:51:39
22nd Scott Magnan 1:52:48
25th Lary Martell 1:54:29
39th Damian Bolduc 2:01:57