April 13, 2013 (Craftsbury, VT) – Five and a half months is a long season and a long time to stay mentally and physically sharp. Now as the season comes to a close, I’m feeling quite exhausted and secretly hoping the rest of the snow will melt so we can say a final goodbye to winter.

Luckily the season ended with as much excitement as it began so underneath many layers of fatigue I’m more inspired than ever for a new year and the challenges and adventures ahead. Here are some belated stories and reports from the final races of the year.

The XC World Cup season ended with World Cup finals in Sweden.  The top 50 in the World Cup overall standings compete in finals.  Qualifying for these races was a “reach” goal for me so it was exciting to make it happen and experience the progress.

Last year the USST had three women  and two men qualify for finals and this year we had six ladies and four men racing in Sweden which showed our team improvements.  World Cup finals is a four race mini tour which begins with a city sprint in Stockholm… read more w/lots of photos here.