Early Bird Gets da Cord

Skiing In da Snow Globe

Off da Bike

On da Bike

Tech Trails w/ Gabby

Ate and slept well last night.

Weather and trail conditions hadn't been conducive for skiing all of Tech Trails on waxable classics (read: the wax tech got the kick wax wrong) last weekend. Steph's genius idea was that we start from the Nara Trailhead so as to cover the big climbs (Racer's Return, Skidder, Balsam, Maple, Linden, Cemetery and Peepsock) in the first 10 km while we were fresh instead of attempting them (likely slogging through) over the final 10 km.

We started a few minutes before Sunrise on skate skis to work with the prevailing/predicated weather conditions. We took turns leading each other as we skied along. On the minus side, freshly falling snow made it difficult to see/navigate the ruts but on the plus side, it made the scene very serene and offered extra cushion when I fell once on Balsam loop.

TomW's tip on double poling came in handy to ski through the Tolkien Trails without needing to switch to classic skis. I used Coach's Skate to climb some of the bigger hills (Maple and Cemetery). We stopped a bunch of times for nutrition and photos. It was a bit scary to see an unleashed dog almost attack Steph on Tolkien Trails. Good conversations. Good outing.

I didn't believe I had it in me to skate ski the entirety of Michigan Tech or double pole almost the entirety of Tolkien Trails at least until 2022-23 winter. Grateful for my family of friends, mentors and coaches for bringing me up to speed on required technique and confidence.

Ski: Fischer Speed Max Skate Plus 186 Cold; Glide: Vauhti Pure Pro Base LP applied and polished with a dedicated brush on 2022-04-01. Vauhti Pure Pro LDR Liquid Glide applied on 2022-04-01 and polished with a dedicated brush on 2022-04-02; Structure: Toko Yellow

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Start: 07:26, 33/27 F, 7 mph SSW, 90% humidity, Overcast clouds; Middle: 08:52, 33/33 F, 2 mph SSW, 94% humidity, Overcast clouds; End: 10:19, 36/33 F, 5 mph S, 91% humidity, Mist; Air quality: 64, 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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