Don't Wait Up, I'll Be There Soon

Monday

Trying out the new gear.

Long Skate

Swedetown, 10F light wind.  cold -weather wax NF, glide fair to poor.

We skied the first parts of Powderhouse and all of the Bears.  A new wax job did improve the glide, but the cold weather made for pretty slow going and even slower as the temperature dropped.  Still, this was one our last chances to do two out of the three race sections.

Starting after the Baby Bear hill, I began to stop a lot.  Before that, we simply took breaks.  On the way up Papa and Momma Bear, I stopped more and more frequently.  Kirsten kept moving along, sans poles.  In the beginning, I would wait for her to catch up.  Later, Kirsten waited for me.  I was stopping two or three times for her once.  In the end, I didn't see her at all because she had to keep going to avoid getting cold.  

Once back in motion, there were two ways for me to go.  One was as pokey and slow as I could manage in the belief that I could last longer.  I found that that led to technique generally breaking down.  The other way was to just ski.  I probably got at least as far before having to stop.  It was also a lot more fun.  I shall try it next time and see how it goes. 

As to whether we'll be ready to race, Kirsten thinks that with occasional pauses she'll be able to ski it without using her poles.  I worry about myself, but I'm 'suspending disbelief' until I get much closer.

As to the gear, The jacket is only a shell.  However, with a base layer and a long sleeve cool-weather technical shirt and a hat with a buff to move up and down, I stayed warm enough, even with pauses.  Only when I stopped completely did I feel cold.  My lobster mitts only got too warm after the Bear loops.  It means I can wear the new jacket down to at least 10F.

I may get to ski more this week as I have a few days off.  Naturally the weather is cold all week (sigh.)

Here's the map.  Add more time for pauses.  A lot more time.  My GPS pauses when I do.