The Weather: I'm sure you've heard of the cold weather coming this weekend. I've had to cancel the Lake Elmo Clinic. It will be rescheduled for Next Saturday Jan 26th. They have also cancelled the Pepsi Challenge due to the extreme cold predicted. It's fairly common for the Pepsi to be cancelled. These couple of weeks are historically the coldest of the Winter. It may not warm up even by next Tuesday. See below under Stuff for tips on cold weather skiing.

Clothing: The clothing will ship this weekend. I may have the stuff next Tuesday. I'll send out an e-mail to all those who ordered. I also have extra pieces and lots of hats if you want something.

COL Group Tour: The City of Lakes is coming up on Feb 3rd. In addition to the classic and freestyle races there is also a 10K Tour. If some people would like to do the Tour as a group Arvid has agreed to lead the group. Ski together and just have a good time, take pictures, use wooden skis, were weird clothing. Hopefully wear your R&G; gear if you have any (hats?) Maybe we can start a trend of Skiing Groups in this race. They really want the COL to be a fun community event, not just a hard core race event. By all means head out on your own if you want but this might be fun. Drop me an e-mail and we'll get a group together. Don't forget the volunteer opportunities and the Luminary Loppet. I need to get down there to see that this year. Check them out at www.cityoflakesloppet.com

Trips: There is still one more R&G; trip that usually happens. That's the "Last Gasp" trip to the North Shore. We usually ski Sugarbush in Tofte. Probably the weekend of March 15. Sugarbush has incredible skiing in a very remote setting and if the weather is good you can't beat Spring Skiing. RSVP if you are interested. Along that same line we have secured the on trail lodgeing for the Jan Road Trip to ABR next year. In fact we now have "Right of First Refusal" so we have it as long as we want it. We were getting spoiled staying there over Thanksgiving, so now we have it in Jan as well. Anyone else who has a trip idea feel free to present it. As long as I don't have to run it. Seems like that's what I said about the North Shore trip, but I seem to have inherited it.

Race Reports:

From Everett Meyers: (Lurker)

Seeley Hills Classic was excellent. I skied the 42km which started out heading north on the Birkie Trial from OO to the High Point which is 10km away. The piston bullies had ground up the ice crust with the old transformed snow underneath and the �” of new snow from the night before. Temperature at started out around 21 and went up to around 27. The tracks were very fast at the start with some people falling on the 1st hill down from OO. I made it clear and found out early that I should have used blue klister with a multigrade purple cover. My rex grip tape wasn’t grabbing enough chunks of ice to kick me up some of the hills others were climbing with ease. It made for a good work out climbing to the high point, but I also had lots of fun racing down hills with little kick wax to slow things down. After about 7km people settled into their packs and remained about the same to the end. I enjoyed the fact that you are skiing with people most of the race as it is an out and back with chances to see the entire field a couple time while skiing.

Stuff:

Skiing Facebook: I discovered the US Ski Team attempt to create a Cross Country Skiing Community. I sent out a couple of links and encouraged you to signup. It can't hurt to get XC skiers connected. We don't get a lot of respect or press coverage as a sport. So anything we can do to rev up the community should help. As far as I can tell this is a version of the FaceBook phenomenon. Not that I know anything about FaceBook, but this seems worth a shot. A group has been set up for Ride and Glide. Go there. Register yourself. Then click on groups to see the groups. Then click on Ride and Glide and you'll be able to join. Then we can use this as our club forum. It has a lot more features than the other one I set up. The pictures and videos are worth the trip. Here's the link to signup http://teamtoday.ning.com

Take a look at these two videos on World Cup skiers Northug and Angerrer. Some good technique examples
Video One
Video Two

Cold weather skiing: With the cold weather due over the next week the skiing will be brutal. If you go out the best option is to go classic. In general it easier to stay warm while classic skiing, especially your feet because your toes are always moving. Also when it's this cold skating is so slooooooow. Classic on the other hand has fantastic kick when it's this cold. Your wax always works. You can just about climb the "Kitchen Wall". Be careful. Use Dermatone on your exposed skin. Consider using Moleskin. Get some booties. If you must skate wax with Fastwax White or Start Green. In general have a good time and enjoy Minnesota in the Winter. One good thing about the cold is it effectively reduces the population. Most people stay indoors.

Sues Nutrition Corner:

Race Nutrition:

After our discussion of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fluid it is now time to put it all together as you prepare for your race. Timing is as important as choosing what to eat and getting plenty of rest. It will also be important for you to make decisions about food intake based on your own personal preferences and tolerances. You will by now have experimented with foods and timing during training sessions in learning what you can tolerate.

I have attached one possible strategy help guide you as you make decisions in the types of foods to eat and when. Use it as a benchmark and add or delete the foods that work for you.

View/Download PDF

Let me know how this works for you as I will be eager for any input.

Good luck with your race!

The beginning skate group focused on hill work, V1, and field skate. It was a cold and windy night so hills seemed to be a good way to keep everyone warm. Also, we were fortunate to have the wind blowing in a direction to help push us up the hills and help slow us on the downhills. Key points emphasized were : 1) maintaining a balanced position over the ski (front/back) , 2) swinging the hips towards the gliding ski, and 3) modifying tempo to accommodate for changes in the terrain. Point #1 is very important, especially in soft snow, as allowing your weight to get too far forward when hill climbing can cause the ski tip to plow into the snow which robs you of forward momentum. If you are skiing up a hill and start to feel like you are loosing all glide, try shifting your weight back on the ski. Point #2 is all about momentum and balance. By swinging/twisting your hip towards the gliding ski - eg: if I am gliding onto my right ski I am swinging/twisting my right hip towards the ski which results in my left butt-cheek twisting a bit behind me - I am getting my center of gravity better positioned over the ski for improved glide and also "throwing" momentum from my hips in the direction of the gliding ski. In essence you are "throwing" your body up the hill. Try it. If it seems confusing get a coach to show you in more detail. When I learned how to do this it was one of the coolest things I ever learned on snow. It makes hill climbing sooooooo much easier. Point #3 is important because on a flat you can "ride the glide" and have good forward progress with a slower tempo/turnover. However, once you get to a hill and you start to fight gravity you often need to quicken your tempo/turnover rate in order to get over the hill.

In V1 and field skate we focused on timing and getting balance over the ski. A few people did the hip twist (see hill climbing description) and found it to be tremendously beneficial for improved balance over the ski.

We were a little short handed for Intermediate Skate so Todd came over from the Beginner group to help us. We split into two groups. Todd and Tom took half and I got the other half. We spent the night working on the finer points of the various techniques. This was targeted at people were already reasonably proficient and was a way to help them step up to the next level in their skiing. Here's what we worked on:

• Jump skate V1: A technique that allows you to kind of sprint up a small hill. You push off the skate ski so hard that you actually get airborne (both skis off the ground) between steps. You use light and quick explosive steps. It's just something to have in your repertoire. Some people really liked it. It was a natural for them.
• Slow skiing: It is possible to V1 up a hill without going anaerobic. Or so I hear. The key is to practice skiing very slowly. This forces you to do the timing exactly right or you will stall out. You can't cheat when you go this slow. It's great for your technique and once you master it you can climb a hill without going under. Very useful when you're tired and limping home. Skiing slowly, in general, concentrating on form is a very good way to develop your technique
• The finer points of V2: Arms shoulder width or wider provide better balance. Think of a tightrope walker. Loose relaxed arms and shoulders. Elbows out. Think "Chicken Wing" Don't reach to far forward. Keep arms bent. Crunch down on the double pole and then rise up on the glide ski. Watch some of those videos linked in below
• High speed V2: The conditions were pretty slick and fast so we attempted to push the students "Comfort Zone" by V2'ing "Fast". I use easy relaxed V2 for teaching purposes. That's the best way to learn the timing and balance. But this night we had the students push hard with the poles and skate hard and get going fast with big strokes and long glides on the icy snow. We had a few spectacular crashes. It's good practice to ski fast once in a while to see what it feels like. To push you out of your "Comfort Zone" which will help you get used to faster skiing.
• Knee drive V2: We talk a lot about knee drive in V1. It's also important in V2, but it is difficult. Landing on a "Bent Ankle" while V2'ing takes some practice and can be quite scary. You really have to lean into it. But it does work and it is your ultimate goal. Several people were able to master it almost immediately. I'm impressed. I have a tough time doing it myself. It just seemed to suit their style just right. I think I have a few converts

Then just some basic stuff that we haven't spent much time on so far this year

• Field Skate: Practice
• Switching sides while climbing: Practice
• Birke Shuffle flying herringbone): Be sure to swing arms across in front of you. Then we did the "Conga Line" drill. Yes many pole baskets were stepped on. Felt just like the Birke.

We had a great time braving the winds and hard pack of Como Tuesday night. We gathered in my favorite “secret” spot ( the back side of the ski hill where they till, but turn off the tow rope at night, so no one is there and worked on body position and foot acceleration when climbing steep hills (god knows there are plenty of them in the Birkie - so it seemed like good practice). After we were all totally fried, we hit the other side of Como for some V2 and V2a body position and dynamic skiing work. While the group was small (5 only) we had a great ski and found solace in knowing if we can glide a ski in this, when we hit the better conditions of northern Wisconsin in late February, we will be prepared to really relax and commit to the ski - allowing us to ski fast and relaxed for long periods of time when it REALLY MATTERS J [ben]

After watching the group try to improve double-pole technique on icy tracks in the dark last week, I thought that an indoor session would be more productive. Of course, I knew going in that not everyone appreciates the immense value of dry land exercises or has the patience to work through the component parts of a technique via dozens of repetitions. But the group has a number of people who are dedicated and we had a very productive session using the back area and wall upstairs.

Being inside also became a more comfortable opportunity to ask questions that come up during practice. One especially important one was about whether the focus in diagonal striding and kick/double pole should be on the push (kick) down and back or on the forward motion. This matter has been debated in American skiing for some decades now and The Master Skier still runs articles with titles such as, “Kick like a mule.” However, the tacit consensus that has formed over time is to focus on forward motions, unless there is a special problem behind that needs to be addressed, and even those are usually related to body position or forward action problems (e.g., ‘bicycling’ or stiffness in the extended leg). This approach is in my opinion wholly appropriate, since our aim is to go forward down the trail.

If one thinks of the “kick” as the result of an upper body crunch into the legs aided by poling, and one thinks of the leg extending back as an equal and opposite reaction to the motion forward of the glide leg and torso, then there is no reason normally to be concerned about what’s going on down and behind. One place this becomes apparent is striding uphills. If the skier focuses on picking up the tempo a bit and making short, quick strides up the hill, then everything else normally falls into place (given appropriate kick wax). If the skier is focused on the kick down and pushing back the leg, then it becomes harder to maintain proper timing and momentum, and then some kinds of compensation in body position, technique or tempo are apt to occur.

After our one hour session inside, half the group had time to take it out on snow in the front area, where their progress and better understanding for self-correction were noticeable.