Why don’t MTBers go XC skiing?
Mt-biking boomed out the number of people on trails in the summer. In snowcountry, has it also resulted in a boom of people hitting the trails in the winter on XC skis? Not that I’ve seen.
If they’re not skiing, what are they doing? Most bikers aren’t into DH so they can’t all be yo-yo snowboarding. And relative to the commonness of frozen trails and fields, alpine areas are as scarce as hen’s teeth. Is it TV? Say it ain’t so!
Do yourself a favor and if you live in a snowy area, make sure you’re on the trails all winter, too—the XC ski way!
Mike Walden, our tough old roadie coach of the Detroit Wolverines, used to make sure everyone was on the trails doing XC races all winter. The quiet superglide of XC boosted our roadweary souls and our camaraderie…and our fitness.
XC skiing is LOTS more like mtb action than it is like road, so I’d figure that mtber’s would be into it in droves. But where are they?
I know of a dozen gungho XC mtb shredsters in our area. We have a dozen great areas for XC. No trail closures to worry about either! But I’ve never seen any of them out in the snow. I did see one guy on a full-sus rig trying to ride a local deepsnow ski trail. He thought it was cute wrecking the ski tracks. I didn’t mention that he’d have better luck running 20psi than on his rockhard tires which were knifing in and throwing him all over. I don’t think he made it far. If he was on skis, he could’ve had 20 miles of perfect trail at his disposal that day. So what’s up?
Only the Birkie/Chequemagon scene seems wised up to this super crossover action. I’m sure there are other exceptions. Some of my XC ski buddies rule in mtb racing, but I just haven’t seen it go the other way around yet in this area.
I tell ya, it’s great fun to come into a new sport and give it a good shaking up! If mtber’s showed up on ski trails in any numbers, they’d really make a dent. And their riding would go much nicer in the summer due to the extra fitness.
Your trails don’t go away when it snows. They just freshen up, clean up and change their face. They’re waiting for you to lay some all-body total-dyno workout joy-tours on them. Superquiet, superfast, no mechanicals. More versatile than ‘cross: as long as you have snow the whole landscape is yours, lakes included! Dudes, if you’re not out there, you’re missing out bigtime, is all I have to say.
XC ski has always been there, but it’s still waiting to be your next big thing.
New ski setups can be had for the price of a wheelset, and they last lots longer. Used stuff is plentiful and cheap. Whatcha waiting for?
