"Jeff Potter" wrote in message
.. .
Dell [AMY!] Todd wrote:

[ ] I haven't been able to stride
much this year because of snow cover and conditions, it has been thin
and icey until just recently.

I used to gripe about classic in bad tracks until I got used to
rollerskiing classic. Now I don't need tracks at all. It's a
nice liberation. Also in races, the tracks are wiped out lots of times.
Good to not need them! It took me a dozen frustrating
outings on classical rollerskis to learn to easily keep em going straight
then my need for tracks went away in all
conditions. Also, and here's a biggie: get some stiff wide touring skis.
With those plus the new boots and bindings you can
easily ski in local training conditions. I typically only use my race
classics in a race. Around town our ungroomed
conditions are never good enough for race skis.

The past few years, I've also started enjoying striding a lot more than
skating when it starts getting hard/icy conditions.. I get tired of
skating in those conditions. It seems hard on my feet and body in general.
Once you get over the klister hangup (ski with some Norwegians, that'll do
it), it's much more fun for me to stride when it gets icy. Klister rooolz.

[ ] There are fewer
things to think about I feel, in regards to technique and power. In a
race your concentration can be on a fewer things that can really make
a big difference in speed, and it can be a lot more fluid.

Classic demands as much as we can give! I find it to be pretty subtle. But
I find it all that way.

Same here. Being a slow skier, I am still a technique junky, both styles.

It is also lots of fun
ripping downhills in the classic tracks, its like you are on rails
what a blast!! The few times I have skated there have been no tracks
to the side, so even for an experienced downhiller ripping down on
skaters is a little scary!

But with no tracks, classic downhill is scarier than skate downhill. The
stiff short skis and big boots help downhilling in
some cases. Classic downhilling is often "hold onto those flimsy noodles
for dear life!" The low boots sometimes feel less
secure.

Not necessarily true. I have enjoyed a 1000% improvement in the performance
in classic-ing downhill (e.g. skate and other turning at speed on classic
gear) with my new gear (new top shelf gear replaced 10+ y.old mid-shelf
gear). Disclaimer: I'm no elite skier, this is all *relative* to my own
previous performance! Both the skis and the boots made a large difference in
and of themselves - The new boots do much better with the old skis and the
new skis do much better with the old boots. Together, I feel almost as sure
footed downhill as I do on my skating gear. This is one of the reasons I
think a non-elite skier can really benefit from and enjoy elite-level gear,
especially if you're a reformed downhiller (free-heel and alpine) like me.
I don't know if Atomic skis are especially designed for downhill
performance, but they seem to handle a lot better than the old Madshus. The
Carbon boots may or may not be better than other top line boots (I doubt
it), but they work extremely well for this.

I am not sure why it seems to me that so many more people skate than
classic. I find it sad too, classic is where you start out as a kid
and should be something that you can do until your are 90+.

I recall Anikin saying that we love skiing because of the glide and that's
why kids love it, too. Anything that gives the
most and the easiest glide, they like the most. So he found they liked
skating better. I suppose classic relates to runners
and skating to skaters. Maybe lots of kids are equally good at both. To
get a lot of glide in classic there's a definite 100%
stop/start aspect to each ski cycle. Timing that can be tricky. Balance,
too. With skating it's just waddling, rocking, to
give the glide to a beginner.

I think this is true. My teenage kids, both who I think most would say have
pretty nice classic technique, ALWAYS default to skating - even when it's
cold and striding would be more fun (imo, of course - they don't agree) .
Aside from what you've said above, it seems to me that those who were full
grown and skiing by or before the late 70s early 80s before skating took off
still enjoy striding quite a bit more than others. So, it's sort of a
geezer thing as well, regardless of whether you're a runner (I'm not).

I like classic better, too, but find that V2 is a wonderful challenge and
beautiful in some ways. I dislike some aspects of
skating because they're LOPSIDED and involve intentional
passganging---poling and kicking on the same side!

I really enjoy V2 also. Once you get it, it can be very relaxing. I enjoy
skating and seem to relax quite a bit more as I get fit enough to V2 more
stuff than when I'm not fit and have to V1 more. duh.

Grissy