Wax for the Birkie!!!

My first Birkie is coming up, and I want to make sure I have the best
skis possible. I have two wax lines -- Toko and FastWax.

Right now I'm torn between Blue, Teal and Tan for Saturday's big race.
I'm looking at the FastWax interactive advisor
(www.visi.com/~fastwax/advisor.html) but I can't seem to nail down what
to use. The air humidity is supposed to be 40%, but with the new snow
and clouds the tracks might be a bit more wet.

For Toko, I'd just go with the old standby -- Dibloc Red and HelX. My
skis have been really fast on my Tuesday night group with that --
though it might just be that the old Rossis have so much wax in them it
doesn't matter what I use!

But you guys are old hands at the Birkie and might know more about
waxing than I do. What do you think?

Also -- didn't they used to have sprints for everyone? Now it's just
the Salomon Elite Sprints. I was thinking about jumping in. Doesn't
seem fair. I can't hang with those big boys, but I wouldn't mind duking
it out with some of my contemporaries.

Steve Pederzen

This morning forcast is about 5 degrees warmer than earlier in the
week.

Friday Night: A 30 percent chance of snow. Mostly cloudy, with a low
around 10.

Saturday: A slight chance of snow showers. Partly cloudy, with a high
near 22.


With this forcast. For Fast Wax I am leaning towards A Blue base
followed by two layers of Tan.

For Toko I would put in a Blue LF base with a 50/50 Blue/Red HF Combo

As for the sprints. There is a citizens sprint on Friday afternoon on
main street.

Hayward Chamber of Commerce Citizen Sprints
The Hayward Chamber of Commerce Citizen Sprints will be held on
Hayward's Main Street on Friday, February 24th at 3:00 p.m. Contact the
Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce office at 715-634-8662 for more
information.

Bruce Fiedler

Thanks, Bruce.

I'm going to try to get the blue base in tonight, and then finish up
the waxing tomorrow so I drive over Friday morning to watch the
sprints, get some pasta in me and rest up for the race.

Does Team Birkie still wax skis for Birkie racers? I remember taking
skis over for some racer friends, and that seemed like a good idea.
Those racers were a lot better at picking and applying wax than myself,
and it supported a good cause.

Here's an idea: Do you think any of the wax company guys would be
willing to wax up some citizen boards? Seems like they should. I know
I'd tell everyone how good my Swix waxed Rossignols were. I met a man
named Roger Knight from Swix once, so maybe I'll see if he can help.

Thanks again, Bruce, for all of the info.

Steve Pederzen

wrote:
Thanks, Bruce.

I'm going to try to get the blue base in tonight, and then finish up
the waxing tomorrow so I drive over Friday morning to watch the
sprints, get some pasta in me and rest up for the race.

Does Team Birkie still wax skis for Birkie racers? I remember taking
skis over for some racer friends, and that seemed like a good idea.
Those racers were a lot better at picking and applying wax than myself,
and it supported a good cause.

Here's an idea: Do you think any of the wax company guys would be
willing to wax up some citizen boards? Seems like they should. I know
I'd tell everyone how good my Swix waxed Rossignols were. I met a man
named Roger Knight from Swix once, so maybe I'll see if he can help.

Thanks again, Bruce, for all of the info.

Steve Pederzen

Check several of the area shops. I know Riverbrook (Seeley) has wax
techs from various companies waxing skis at their shop, and I'm sure
Outdoor Ventures and New Moon (Hayward) are doing the same. It's best
to get in early, since they do a lot of skis.

I've used the Riverbrook service for several years now. Not that I'm
lazy, but after many years of fighting for wax bench time at our
lodging, the schleping of a wax box and the worry over choosing the
right wax, I decided to take a more relaxed route. Riverbrook does a
great job and I have one less thing to worry about. Definitely worth
the money.

And yes, I had fast skis...my body just couldn't keep up.

Mark

I'm in Wave 10, which is where they start new Birkie Racers, but I'm
going to try to get a better start when I pick up my bib. At least up
to Wave 5.

I see where you're coming from, Jeff -- there are an awful lot of
skiers out on the trails, which might be detrimental to my pace. Still,
I'd like to think that slower skiers will stay to the right and let
faster racers get their race in. Registration is a lot of money if I'm
just going to walk through it! I'm sure that if I give enough warning,
people will let me through.

Thanks for the update on getting skis waxed too. Think I'll head over
to New Moon and see if they'll tell me what they're going with. I might
get slowed down a bit, but I still think that fast skis will be
important -- it is 55 kilometers!

I'm also looking forward to a cold beer at the Sawmill after the race.
It's fun to rub elbows with "the big guns" and chat about skiing and
the cool new equipment coming out.

Steve Pederzen

Too late for wave changes by 10 days, unless you're name is Daehlie. If
you want to move up, just start up front, get out quickly and make time
where you can. Just don't burn yourself out on the hills.

Gene

wrote:

I'm in Wave 10, which is where they start new Birkie Racers, but I'm
going to try to get a better start when I pick up my bib. At least up
to Wave 5.

I see where you're coming from, Jeff -- there are an awful lot of
skiers out on the trails, which might be detrimental to my pace.
Still, I'd like to think that slower skiers will stay to the right
and let faster racers get their race in. Registration is a lot of
money if I'm just going to walk through it! I'm sure that if I give
enough warning, people will let me through.

Thanks for the update on getting skis waxed too. Think I'll head over
to New Moon and see if they'll tell me what they're going with. I
might get slowed down a bit, but I still think that fast skis will be
important -- it is 55 kilometers!

I'm also looking forward to a cold beer at the Sawmill after the race.
It's fun to rub elbows with "the big guns" and chat about skiing and
the cool new equipment coming out.

Steve Pederzen

Gene Goldenfeld wrote:
Too late for wave changes by 10 days, unless you're name is Daehlie. If
you want to move up, just start up front, get out quickly and make time
where you can. Just don't burn yourself out on the hills.

Gene

To echo Gene's comment, don't burn yourself out on the hills. Pick your
spots to pass, try to pick off one or two skiers at a time, and save
your power for the *top* of the hills. Especially after OO, if you can
power up the last bit of each hill, V2 over the top, and get a few tuck
skates down the other side, you'll save minutes over the rest of the
skiers around you.
Don't get impatient on the downhills - it takes a lot longer to pick
yourself up from a yardsale than it does to ease up a little on the bad
ones - especially early in the race.

Relax, enjoy, and good luck.

Marsh
wrote:


I'm in Wave 10, which is where they start new Birkie Racers, but I'm
going to try to get a better start when I pick up my bib. At least up
to Wave 5.

I see where you're coming from, Jeff -- there are an awful lot of
skiers out on the trails, which might be detrimental to my pace.
Still, I'd like to think that slower skiers will stay to the right
and let faster racers get their race in. Registration is a lot of
money if I'm just going to walk through it! I'm sure that if I give
enough warning, people will let me through.

Thanks for the update on getting skis waxed too. Think I'll head over
to New Moon and see if they'll tell me what they're going with. I
might get slowed down a bit, but I still think that fast skis will be
important -- it is 55 kilometers!

I'm also looking forward to a cold beer at the Sawmill after the race.
It's fun to rub elbows with "the big guns" and chat about skiing and
the cool new equipment coming out.

Steve Pederzen