Nordic skiing, part 2

Today we had good reminders of the third and fourth rules of cross-country skiing.

The third rule is temperature — you want it juuuuust right. If it’s too warm, you’ll slog along. Today, the forecast called for temps in the 20s (fine) with wind chills of -15F (not fine).

We are generally not wussies. A few weeks ago we were watching the evening news and learned they’d had 80 mph winds at Eldora ski resort during the day. Guess where we’d been that morning and afternoon?

Then again, lots of people ski at Eldora in lousy conditions. It’s notoriously windy up there, but it’s the local hill, so Boulderites crowd in despite the gales.

Okay, so we’re not wussies, but we’re not crazy, either. Call it the middle way. So -15? Well, that kind of wind chill brings me to the fourth rule of XC skiing:

If necessary, bail. Then eat.

This is a good rule for many activities, and the second part of Rule #4 is enjoyable and easy to follow. Jeremy and I chose to observe Rule #4 at the Dushanbe Tea House. I highly recommend it as a place to drown the sorrows of bailing. When we bail from trails in the national park, we like to partake in the fourth rule at Kind Coffee in Estes Park (past the Starbucks, no whip double organic tree hugger mochas). We don’t bail often, but that espresso in a recycled cup sure does ease the humilation.