Skip to main content

Skiing the W&OD




Dressed for cold, windy weather
Yes, today was one of those occasional days (maybe once every other year) when there's enough snow to ski the W&OD trail. We just got about four inches of snow (the forecast was 6-10), which is about the bare minimum to ski. It was also enough to close the Federal government yesterday and give us a telework option today. I would have gone out and skied first thing this morning but it was a soul-cleansing five degrees with wind gusts to 40 MPH when I got up. I went outside at 6 AM and shoveled the walk but had to retreat indoors pretty quickly. By 11 AM it had warmed up to a fun-loving 16 degrees, was sunny and the wind had dropped off somewhat, and so I bundled up and headed for the trail.

I drove the couple of blocks down to the park, where I strapped on my skis. The field at Madison Manor Park was nearly pristine, but the W&OD itself was a mess of tracks and footprints. Biking in foul weather has become a thing these days and so it was no surprise to see a number of bicycle tracks through the snow. I don't know for certain but it wouldn't surprise me if some of those tracks belonged to Cyndi and my neighbor Steve C. Still, particularly by sticking by the sides of the trail I found plenty of snow to ski in, except for under the dreaded overpasses.

Not pristine, but definitely skiable
 My cross-country skis are older than my record player. They're older than my VCR and my cassette player too (yes, I own all these things). As a result I'm not too worried about them when I have to gingerly pick my way across the bare patches of pavement where the W&OD trail passes under roads, such as Patrick Henry Drive. Yes, when I do that I'm probably wearing what little is left of the "fish scales" off the bottom and every time I plant a pole it hits the pavement underneath the snow, further dulling its point - but any use I get out of my Carter-era equipment at this point is gravy.


When there's four inches of snow on the ground you ski because you want to ski, not because you have to. Of the three people I saw out on the trail, two were running and one was walking - and none of them were having trouble negotiating the terrain.

I skied as far as Wilson Boulevard and then turned around (I was time limited because I really was trying to keep my outing to lunch break length). Outbound I felt perfectly dressed in layers consisting of a t-shirt, thermal waffle shirt, wool sweater and fleece jacket. My hands were a little cold (despite ski gloves and liners) but I was otherwise comfy. I should mention that I was also wearing a face mask and a silk neck gaiter (inherited from my father-in-law) pulled up over my face. On the way back I was skiing into the wind and every gust went right through me. I found myself wishing I had included more of a wind blocker layer. It was pretty chilly going and I was happy when I got back to the car.

I wore my heart rate monitor and discovered when I got back that I had been clocking a very steady 125 BPM heart rate except when I stopped. That's lower than what I register when running, but much more steady. Interesting.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Apostle Islands: Gordon Lightfoot Warned Us

This entry is part of my write-up of a September 2024 trip to The Apostle Islands. The story begins  here . Thursday 9/5 Thursday morning we drove the roughly 20 minutes to our launch point at Little Sand Bay in The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Upon our arrival we were met by Ranger Angel (it makes sense that the Apostles have a guardian Angel, right?), who directed us as to where to launch, checked our permits, gave us useful information about the weather, and told us how to describe our location ifwe needed to call 911 (!). She also gave us a once-over and declared that we appeared to be "shipshape". It is not her responsibility to evaluate people's ability to paddle in the open waters of Lake Superior, but by her own admission if she detects that people don't have the appropriate skills or preparation, she'll gently steer them to safer courses of action.   Loading the kayaks at Little Sand Bay Many people are familiar with Gordon Lightfoot's song The...
Post a Comment
Read more

Visiting Charles in Upstate New York

Looking back, growing up I was friends with a lot of the weird kids. It makes me think - maybe I was a weird kid too? Let's table that line of thought for now, but along those lines, let me tell you about my friend Charles, who was a textbook example of ADHD before ADHD was even in the textbook.  For the record, ADHD was added to the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders (DSM) in 1968. Coincidentally, that's the same year Charles and I met, and yes, he's an ADHD dude. A smart kid, he nonetheless never paid attention in class and typically spent class reading a comic book he had hidden inside whatever book we were supposed to be reading - when he even bothered to sit in his seat and pretend to pay attention. During our college years Charles attended something of a party school, where he focused more on party than school. As a live-at-home commuter student, I loved that I could visit Charles and get a taste of the ov...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Guilty Pleasure

I have to admit that I feel guilty doing it. It's just not something that people like me do. In fact, I have spent years looking down on people who do it. I'm talking about powersports. Activities which involve using a motor to have fun. I have always been a people-powered person. On the water I scowl at jet skiers and water ski boats. On the cross-country ski trails I shake my head at people who ruin the pristine winter wilderness with snowmobiles. Being something of a car guy, I go a little easier on the pleasures of motorized vehicles on land. I don't expect car owner to be a super-miler in a Prius, but I also give a pretty wide berth to ATVs and dirt bikes. But now I'm motorcycling. Over the summer I fulfilled a "bucket list" item by learning to ride a motorcycle (Valerie took the class too). For the last month or so I've been tooling around on a borrowed Kawasaki Vulcan cruiser, and I must say I'm enjoying it. Riding a motorcycle is ridiculous...
Post a Comment
Read more