Cross country skiing

[limewave]

Limewave,

I also wanted to ask you whether you knew anything about the Ada bike shop near Grand Rapids? Thanks for your help !

Have a great weekend skiing!!!

http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

Thanks for the maintenance tips! I will be sure to wax them now.

And, yes, I am VERY familiar with the Ada bike shop. I used to go to their winter indoor spin every week. And have done an occasional group ride with them.

[ridebikeme]

Thanks for the info! What else can you tell me about them? Feel free to PM me if you're more comfortable... should have done that myself.

[SheFly]

Got out for the first skate of the season this week, albeit on man-made snow. There was only 2 km open, and about 500 people on it, but it was nice to be out doing something different!

ridebikeme - how's the snow up there? We're heeading to Bethel next weekend and looking to do some skating...

SheFly

[ridebikeme]

Shefly, as of now the snow is pretty decent... we received about 6" last night. Obviously it's not your typical winter with snow fall, but this last storm has really helped. The weather forecast for Monday looks as though it might rain, but I'm hoping that they are wrong. If you're looking to nordic ski while you're here, the best area is probably Black Mtn . Obviously they made snow for Nationals and the new snowfall has only helped them out. I'm sure that the Bethel Inn, Carters are probably ok as well, just not as much snow. Not sure whether Sunday River has opened the Outdoor Ctr or not; I would tend to think that they have. Definitely keep an eye out on the weather though!! Have a good weekend!


http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

[ridebikeme]

LPH, I'm not sure whether I'm following you about the "kuzmin". Could you explain it in more detail? It seems that the people who race here may put different textures in their base(s) or have multiple ski's. And although you obviously scrape wax off your ski's after you wax, I'm not sure that I am following you. Are you saying that you scrape down enough to be on the base material alone?

I worked today, and while I'm mounting ski's etc... I kept thinking about your email about this... didn't have time to email you before I left.


http://chasecyclery.blogspot.com

[lph]

I tried to find a link but it was a bit wonky. Anyway, the "scrape" (dammit, can't remember the word, works more like the thing you peel thin shavings off a piece of wood with, bevel?) is just a square piece of metal with four sharpened edges. Invented by Russian skier Leonid Kuzmin. He made 3, for cold, "medium" and warm temps, and they give slightly different textures in the base. The theory is that you scrape off the worn outer layer down to fresh base every now and then, but do not apply glider wax. You have to fix your skis in a clamp, then scrape the entire length with firm pressure, to avoid nicks or cuts. You apply kick wax as normal under the kick zone.

I doubt that really elite skiers use it, but the "Kuzmin scrape" has become very popular among both competitive and recreational skiers here, anyone interested enough to mess around with melting in different glider waxes in the first place. We just have the "medium" one, and so far the glide seems good.

And hey, it's a gizmo

[Crankin]

This is why I have waxless skis. I put the Swix glide stuff on every couple of times, especially if it's warmer out, but I would not be able to stand doing this kind of maintenance every time I ski.