Early Bird Gets da Cord

Skiing In da Snow Globe

Off da Bike

On da Bike

Tech Trails w/ Gabby

Ate well and slept intermittently well last night.

My boss gave me a day off and Mother Nature blessed us with a cozy bluebird day without any Lake Effect Snow. I got to the main Trailhead by 9:15 am and skied through the entirety of Michigan Tech Trails at an easy/relaxed pace. Trails were exquisitely groomed - sturdy classic tracks and a corduroy skate deck! Focused on lean from the ankle, weight transfer and longer glides on each ski, positive shin angle, knee drive, minimizing tail slapping, arm recovery, keeping chest up during ascents (thanks, MikeY), step turns at speed (within reason), etc. and maintaining terrain-appropriate technique.

Stopped a few times for photos and few more times for sipping water. Saw/Chatted with Dan Dahlquist, Jan and Craig, Beth Reed, Tim Schulz and Brian. The choice of kick wax worked well too. I was able to stay in the tracks in Hairpin, Down Under, Tanglewood, Homestead, Ridge, Balsam and more. This is the longest outing of this 2021-22 winter yet and the longest outing on fully waxable classic skis.

In hindsight, I should have started this outing 30-45 minutes sooner than I did. Rising temperatures softened the trails to some extent - especially the sun-facing ones. At times it felt like I was dragging the skis and I could hear the sandpaper like cacophony. Glide was nearly non-existent over the final 7-8 km. Fell twice - once on Portage (pole landed between the skis) and once on Balsam (ski got stuck in the soft snow). Good outing!

Ski: Salomon RC7 Waxable 196 Classic; Glide: Toko BP LP Blue applied on 2022-01-30, and polished with a dedicated brush on 2022-01-31; Structure: None; Grip: Toko Nordic Base Wax Green ironed in, corked and cooled. 5x Toko Red corking in between layers on 2022-01-31

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Start: 09:25, 13/3 F, 7 mph SSW, 86% humidity, Scattered clouds; Middle: 11:30, 23/18 F, 4 mph SE, 77% humidity, Broken clouds; End: 13:34, 29/24 F, 5 mph SE, 62% humidity, Scattered clouds; Air quality: 37, PM2.5

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Gowtham (G)

Michigan Tech

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Early Bird Gets da Cord

Skiing In da Snow Globe

Off da Bike

On da Bike

Tech Trails w/ Gabby

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