These posts are from 1996 yet still seem to hold up well for the most
part. Peter H might want to take a look at the second article in light
of the recent discussion about the physiology of skating and striding.

There have been a few changes in technique since then that might
modify his comments here or there. I also suspect that stride cadence -
and not just stride length - has become a differentiating variable at
at least the top levels. For example, watch Becky Scott and Julia
Tchepalova relative to others on the climbs at Canmore. This may be a
function of the trend in recent years toward steeper climbs on
repeating shorter loops (done for cutting costs and easier TV access
and spectator viewing).

A google search for Stephen Seiler turns up a few interesting pieces,
including the male-female differences article in running. His
co-author on the latter, Steve Sailer, a political conservative, also
wrote an insightful piece just after Annika played the Colonial in 2003
(he had predicted correctly how much she would miss the cut by).

Gene


"jgs" wrote:

Here is a link that I think relates.

http://home.hia.no/~stephens/size&end.htm
and also;
http://home.hia.no/~stephens/skiphysi.htm

More questions than answers?

/john