Interview: Brian May

We conducted a short interview by e-mail with Brian May. The day before, Brian had come from the sixth wave at Blue Hills to win the race.

• Skinnyski: Can you tell us about your race? Didn't you start in wave six, while a lot of the top skiers were in wave one?

  May: Yes, I started in wave 6. The earlier waves were filled when I arrived to check in, so I took what I was given and figured I'd ski my own race. The disadvantages were not getting to ski with other fast skiers and having to pass slower skiers from the earlier waves. The advantages were having faster tracks to ski and not having to worry about sprinting against anyone at the finish. I went out hard at the gun and got pretty fired up passing skiers in the early part of the race. I felt really good in the hills and was getting enough rest on the downhills and flats (lots of tuck skate) to continue hammering along. I enjoyed the course, nice rolling terrain and lots of variety. All in all, I had a really good race.

• Skinnyski: How did you deal with all the traffic you must have surely encountered, especially on the big climb?

  May: It really wasn't too bad. The traffic was pretty thick on the first big climb, but I was agressive and pushed my way through. I made it clear that I was coming by, but also managed a quick "thank you" to many who kindly stepped out of the way. I hooked a ski tip in the powder while passing about 1/2 way into the race and took a tumble, but I was up pretty quickly and carried on my way.

• Skinnyski: My memory is a little fuzzy here, sorry: If I recall correctly, didn't you move to Duluth last year from somewhere in Canada?

  May: Yes. I grew up in Corner Brook, Newfoundland on the east coast of Canada, a place that gets lots of snow (average annual snowfall is 14 feet!). After a year in Norway (going to folk high school), 4 years in Kingston, Ontario (skiing on the Queen's U varsity team) and graduate school in Halifax, Nova Scotia (where, unfortunately, the skiing really isn't that great), I landed a job at the University of Minnesota in Duluth. To be honest, I couldn't be happier with the move. As an athlete, Duluth is a great place to live. There are so many parks and trails in the vicinity for skiing in the winter and running in the summer. My training has impoved dramatically since moving here.

• Skinnyski: Outside of Governor's Cup last year, what other races did you do last year (1999-2000 season) and this season?

  May: Last season was a bust for ski racing for me. Governor's Cup was pretty much my only race. I went into the season out of shape (finishing my thesis in Halifax) and with moving, getting to know a new city, starting a new job and a painfully short ski season, I never really got out of the blocks.

• Skinnyski: What did you have on your skis for the race?

  May: Toko World Loppet Red with some reasonably coarse structure (left over from last year's Birkie wax job) underneath. My skis seemed pretty good, especially where the sun was out or the snow was a little granular, but not noticably better or worse than those of my competitors.

• Skinnyski: You stated you used Toko World Loppet Red. That's generally listed as a 21F to 32F paraffin range wax. Did you use any fluro (aka. JetStream), or was it straight Loppet Red?

  May: Straight World Loppet Red, no fluoro. It was cold/dry enough that I don't think fluoro would have made a big difference (though I heard that Start FCM was testing faster than the Toko Red, so maybe it would have made some difference).

• Skinnyski: Margaret (my wife) noticed on the video clip that it appears you are using older Exel poles. Can you comment the equipment you used?

  May: I think it's important to have top-of-the-line equipment, but it doesn't have to be this year's top-of-the-line equipment. My poles are Exel Ion's from about 1988 (haven't broken them so I haven't seen any real need to replace them). I skied on ten-year-old Fischer RCS skis which, given different wax, tested out faster than my brand new RCS skis yesterday. Equipment is getting better but the year-to-year changes are pretty small. For a given race, the two most important things are getting a good wax job on the day and coming to the start line physically and mentally ready to race.

Related links

• Brian May starting from Wave 6 at Blue Hills - 2.3MB