Interview: Brayton Osgood

by Corey Coogan
February 6, 2006

I spoke with City of Lakes Loppet race winner Brayton Osgood the morning after the event. He gave a more detailed account of how the race developed and what occurred on the finishing stretch. He also discussed his ski selection and wax and commented on the experience of competing in sprints and finishing in a city atmosphere.

Osgood skis for Alpina/Madshus and trains with Maine Winter Sports Center.

The Race:

According to Osgood, the men skied the bulk of the race in a pack of ten or eleven. By the time they got out of the hillier, wooded section, the pack had broken down slightly to approximately eight. Chad Giese took the incentive to pull the final two or three kilometers of the lake. Andy Hunter also fell off on the lake, reducing the pack to eight. With one kilometer to go, just prior to leaving the lake, the order was Giese, Osgood, and then Dave Chamberlain. In the finishing straight (the previous night’s sprint course), athletes had not only to contend with the “road furniture” (lamp posts, benches, and trees), but also skiers completing the 10-kilometer tour or the 35-kilometer classic. This made the stretch just one lane wide and prevented all passing until the final meters. When the path opened up, Giese went straight while both Osgood and Chamberlain headed left so they were three abreast and driving towards the line. Osgood says, “I felt my pole break, but just kept heading for the line. I was moving on Chad and I think I would have got it anyway, but. There was no line in the snow, which made things kind of interesting. All of a sudden, I was into the volunteers. I saw Weier [second] and Swank [third] come across behind me.” Osgood didn’t see or hear the Chamberlain and Giese crash into each other during the race, and only after he was across the line turned around to witness a bloodied Chamberlain and Giese come across the line in fifth and seventh, respectively.

Skis and Wax:

Despite the conditions, Osgood raced on a good pair of skis. He used the same pair that he competed on in the sprints the previous night. They were Madshus 296 with an Engineered Tuning Z40 XL grind. On them, he had Swix LF 6 with FC 7 over it. Osgood complimented Matt Liebsch as having, “By far the best skis in the group.” Osgood felt that his own skis were good, and that with the exception of Liebsch’s, the pack’s skis were similar.

Racing in the City:

Osgood: “I have to give the organizers and volunteers a lot of credit. I was in the Cities all week, and when they got that little storm and announced on Wednesday that the Loppet was on, I was absolutely shocked.”

Osgood, who had the opportunity to race in last year’s sprints on Hennepin spoke positively about that experience. “Racing on Hennepin was better because there were so many more spectators. It’s a shame that the water didn’t freeze up so that we could have done it again this year.” He looks forward to the return of the sprint and finish to Calhoun Square next year when he can return to defend his title.