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I did one ski race this year. The last one!
Last weekend was the Michigan Cup Relay race for all the teams, so I went up and joined in the fun.
It’s a great mellow event, usually with fast corn snow and sunshine and an apres-ski party on the patio at Bob Frye’s XC HQ in Roscommon. This year was as good as any!
This year I went even more retro with the outfit. Yeah, I know my retro apparel is probably getting old but I like it!
Next time maybe I’ll just wear jeans and a flannel shirt. I mean, why fuss?
I suppose my message is that anything can work for a fun ski race. You don’t have to “invest” in a skin-tight suit that might not flatter you anyway. You’d want to dress more sensibly for a ski marathon—a couple layers of thin wool would be just fine for anyone. Or you can go for the sports wear. For the front-runners the tight stuff does cut wind drag, but for everyone else? I do note that wool is 30% MORE ABSORBENT than any of that other fancy “wicking” polywear. And it NEVER stinks! So I like standing up for wool!
And at the Relays it was ALL WOOL for me!
A sports clothes maker would be SMART to come out with a line of BRIGHTLY colored thin outdoor wear, I think!
Ya know, the Relays were fun, but I have to say that it mighta been nicer to just have a big loppet day party on the trail. Since I’m a bit mental about the whole thing I’m almost inclined to say that a race *can* be a good way to wreck a nice ski day. I didn’t warm up enough for the 8k mad dash—I warmed up OK but not enough—so that at my usual 110% effort level I was really suffering. I had a whole year of skiing pent up for one short blast and I kinda overdid it. Then came the patio picnic and I never did get out for a lovely long cruise in the sunshine and corn. I missed out. I think that a good ski is the main thing, if you don’t get up north much, or outdoors much—so one has to watch how you handle a race—to not let it take over your day.
But I sure did blast along! My skis were rockets. Half of the race was darn fun. There was a long, twisting downhill that you could just fly on, cutting the trees close—zoom!
Retro Wool Zoom!
Zoom Retro Wool!
