Patch to Patch Ski Race

There's still snow in NY.

So why not do a 30k when you haven't seen snow in more than a month?

Yesterday was decidedly my last time on snow for the year- a 3 loop, 30k skate race at Salmon Hills. I wasn't too excited for the Army ECCC weekend, so a low pressure ski race and maybe a long ride on Sunday was a more attractive and less driving intensive option.

The forecast called for temperatures in the high 30's, so I had the rare opportunity to use all that stupid expensive wax I have and never look at. I decided on HFBD8, and probably would have used Cera FC2 if I had a thermo pad to work it in with. Why? Why not?!?! I'm practically a masters racer (well, not quite, but getting closer) so I am almost entitled to use equipment far beyond my capabilities. Now I just need a really expensive road and time trial bike...

I hesitantly lined up at the front, if for no other reason than to be out in front of the double pole scramble. Unlike cyclocross, not too many others were fighting for the all-important front row spot. I downed a Gu, got it all over my gloves, and we were sent on our way.

Almost instantly, the race strung out in a small paceline, with guys like Chad driving the front with a few others in the mix, desperately holding on. Within a kilometer, the pretenders dropped off pretty hard and there were probably 4-5 guys ahead of me. I wasn't too comfortable with their pace given the race length, so I let a small gap open as I settled in. A XCRochester guy complained about the gap, so I let him pass and close it himself.

Then I lost sight of everyone, both in front of me and behind. Justin made a brief appearance behind me, but I scrambled away on a short uphill section. Again...by myself.

I pulled back the XCRochester guy as we got into the really hilly trails on Coey Hill. I wasn't exactly graceful or efficient in the slush, but neither was anyone else, apparently. I opened the gap to 100m or so and decided I'd ski more conservatively, given that I had 23k more to go.

Since I don't own a water bottle fanny pack, I really had no way to get fluids during the race. It's probably a good idea to take fluids during a 30k. I had a water bottle in the snow near the lodge, which I debated retrieving...but didn't bother. I rationalized that I could resist dehydration for another hour. They did have coolers with water, but they made no effort to help the racers in feeding. That was kind of annoying.

I spent the next lap by myself, keeping watch on the XCRochester guy stalking me. Most of the time he was out of sight, so I relaxed and went into 'training ski' speed. Given the size of the gap to the skiers ahead, I made the correct decision to play it conservative and just maintain my advantage. As I came through the second lap, I fumbled with another Gu and got it just about everywhere. I love Gu for cycling...not so much for skiing.

All was fine as I skied my race at a pretty comfortable clip until I looked back the final time up Coey Hill. Dammit, there's that guy again! I thought I lost him for good, but apparently he was just yo-yo'ing the entire time. This made me work a little bit more than I would have liked, but I knew I skied conservatively enough to respond to whatever he had left. I was not going to get beaten by some old guy...

I turned the screw, flailed and stomped the snow, and opened up the gap- enough that I could fall on the final descent and still hold on for the finish. As it turned out, this was unnecessary and I thankfully managed to stay upright through the rutted, slushy S-turn. My stalker later remarked that he was hoping I'd eat it on the hill and he could make the pass. You'd think he had skied against me before...

Like that, I had skied 30k. Sure felt shorter than I would have expected, given how my 53k race had felt last year. Also, a nice side effect of being in training for cycling was that my legs never felt stressed. Pretty awesome.

Ok, now I swear it's only bike racing from here on in...no more skiing until at least November, unfortunately.