Callaghan Valley Training
· Nov 11, 08:53 PM
As a public service announcement I’d like to offer some advice for racing at the Callaghan Valley aka the site of the cross country events at the 2010 Winter Olympics. These non-scientific recommendations are based on my memory of my week up there last March, so they might be relevant, but they’re just as likely to be way off the mark.
Be prepared with rain gear, snow gear, visors, glasses and hairies. You’ll also want to be prepared for lousy track conditions (I guess it’s not really feasible to groom falling snow and rain during a race). Fortunately, I’ve been able to prepare for such hardships by skiing at Mt. Bachelor the last two days.
Yesterday Marshall and I went for a “classic” ski. Now, I have a pair of classic rock skis that are rocked enough that they are essentially full length hairies. I left them at home because the Bachelor weather sensors were indicating temps in the mid-20s and no new precip. We were wondering if we were going to be okay without klister. If only we’d needed klister. We were, of course, treated to falling snow at what I would guess was 31.8 degrees. At the highest points of the Bachelor trails Rot Extra worked … sort-of. Everywhere else it was double poling or skating (it’s early season).
Today was even better. J.D. arranged for the Elk Lake groomer to get Century nice for us to skate on. I assume he did this, but it was hard to tell because he groomed last night and there were four inches of fresh cement on top of everything by the time we got out there to ski. The mixed snow/sleet mixed changed over to rain after about half an hour of skiing. From that point on all I could think about was how similar today was to the 15k free at Canadian Nationals last spring and how generally miserable it was. I managed to ski for an hour and a quarter because I told myself I was training for Callaghan. It was a long 1:15.
It looks like we’re in for a few days of rain, so it’s hard to know if Friday’s TT will be on snow or pavement. Let’s hope for snow!
Happy early Birthday Dad!
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Brayt, I would add some Dr. Scholl’s foot powder to the list. Or at least boot dryers…. I haven’t been anywhere where it rains enough that I have been afraid of getting trench foot. Squamish seems to make November in Hanover quite pleasant and dry.
— Pat Nov 13, 02:32 PM #
Stop whining Pat, or we’re sending you back to the batcave.
— Zach Nov 14, 07:51 AM #
Zach, it is actually quite dry in the cave on account of the exhaust fan. Concrete appears to be more effective repellent than the gore-tex in my rain jacket. Not so good for mobility though
— Pat Nov 14, 02:08 PM #