first skating race any suggestions? (tahoe-truckee)

"wintermutt" wrote in message
ups.com...
i was going to put cytomax powder in there.

Good idea.


a friend going with me has 2 pairs of skis one is only skating and the
other is a combination ski that skates but also has ridges on the
bottom so he can climb without herring-bone. which should he use?

He should definitely not use the (neat Fischer) combi skis for this race
unless he plans to also classical ski which would require that he remove the
skis so that the waxless pattern was inside for classic, and outside when
skating.

While there has been discussion whether or not the best skaters actually get
on their outside edges when skating uphill, I think that it is ver y likely
that any extra resistance from the fischscales will contribute to stalling
which is to be avoided at all costs.

Gary Jacobson
Rosendale, NY

i am doing an 18 miler next weekend. i was planning on taking it really
easy
so as not to bonk. have spent the last 6 weeks getting ready for it
physically.
i figured i would take some liquid on my back with a tube coming round
to my mouth. the first 6 miles are climbing. does it make sense to fill
the pack with water at the top of the climb so as not to carry it up or
am i going to be so dehydrated on the climb i will need it? i think we
will be close to 7000 feet.
i was going to put cytomax powder in there.
skis are madshus 184 i got used i really like them.
a friend going with me has 2 pairs of skis one is only skating and the
other is a combination ski that skates but also has ridges on the
bottom so he can climb without herring-bone. which should he use? we
both have been skating less than 6 months.
thankyou.

i do not know what exactly my friend has on the bottom of his skis with
the scales on them.
but i tried them and he can go uphill classical or skate without
changing which side the ski is on.

Wintermutt,

Definitely take some liquid in your pack for the first part of the
race. You'll want to sip occasionally, it will help later on. You won't
need a lot, but trying to fill up at one of the soup stations might be
a pain and take awhile, so if you're going for time, just put it in
your pack and go from the start, and then take some feeds at the top of
the climb after Starrat pass and at the second station down in the
flats.

My recommendation would be to definitely use skating skis, not combo
waxless/skate. If you (or your buddy) can skate at a reasonable pace
for an hour or so at a time, then there's no reason to bother with
waxless. There are NO steep climbs throughout the entire course, and
having a waxless pattern on the 18 kilometers of downhill will be a
drag, literally. They WILL be slow, and this race, although it has a
LOT of up in the first third of the race, is still mostly downhill to
the finish from the top. Unless your friend is super out-of-shape and
can't skate uphill for more than a few minutes at a time, he will be
much happier with skating gear. (eg., I skied last year's race with my
10 year old daughter, who skated the whole thing, and she's not one of
the top junior racers around here at all).

Have fun!

Mark

thankyou that is the info i was looking for.and good luck this year!

had a wonderful time at the race. i do a lot of triathlons and kayak
races, this race was very well organized especially considering 1200
racers. amazed that the results are posted on the web same day. course
was excellent. i plan to return next year.

Wintermutt,

How did it go for you on such an incredible day of skiing? Did you
friend skate or use the combi skis?

Mark

i had a blast. i was on madshsus 184 skates. one friend was on fischer
mls skates. other friend was on short skate skis. i basically cruised
the entire race, loved the backcountry after the hill, stopped at both
the soup stations, never got tired, never cramped, had extra cytomax to
drink at the finish, got to the end of the race and had a few beers
some food and kicked back and enjoyed the beautiful weather. track was
nice nothing tricky no ruts downhills were fun. i was the last person
in the last wave which worked out for me because the striders were
about the same speed as me up the first hill. after that i passed most
of them. the race is a bargain. you get a shuttle, nice shirt, food,
all the beer you want (good beer), and a 30K grooomed course for less
than you would spend at a lot of nordic resorts for 1/2 the benefits.

wintermutt wrote:
i had a blast. i was on madshsus 184 skates. one friend was on fischer
mls skates. other friend was on short skate skis. i basically cruised
the entire race, loved the backcountry after the hill, stopped at both
the soup stations, never got tired, never cramped, had extra cytomax to
drink at the finish, got to the end of the race and had a few beers
some food and kicked back and enjoyed the beautiful weather. track was
nice nothing tricky no ruts downhills were fun. i was the last person
in the last wave which worked out for me because the striders were
about the same speed as me up the first hill. after that i passed most
of them. the race is a bargain. you get a shuttle, nice shirt, food,
all the beer you want (good beer), and a 30K grooomed course for less
than you would spend at a lot of nordic resorts for 1/2 the benefits.


What a post !!
I just love you guys.

What was your time? I might have skied back past you after I finished
and went back to look for my daughter when she was finishing her race.
If you saw a couple of guys skiing upstream like a pair of lost salmon,
that was me and a buddy heading backwards.

Mark