My last trip up to Virginia Meissner included a serious flail sesh thanks to the condition of the snow/ice (and of course my limited skill set). It had been a week since I had been up to the trail system and the conditions at the time were super sketch and ended up putting me on me arse about 4 times (all on the downhills due to lack of control on that there ice stuff).
With a bruised ego, we went back up to Meissner after work on Wed for a shot at redemption.
The snow was in pretty good condition (especially compared to my prior fall sesh) and in the back of my mind was the elusive ultimate goal of doing that tangent loop without stopping.
The first 3-5 minutes on skate skis always seems to be like it is the first time on those darn things. Soon enough, the cadence came back...and it was just in time for the grunt of a climb over to Wanoga. About 1/2 way through the hill I realized there was a shot at clearing the hill without having to stop and keep my lungs from bursting. I tried to manage my red line and somehow managed to clean those sections until we hit the flatter sections again...next up was the last push up the hill to Wanogo...push skate push skate push skate...the top of the hill was in sight and the possibility was there. Soon enough we were heading downhill and cruising again. As a newbie, the downhill is perhaps more stressful and straining than going uphill. The modified snow plow somehow seems to put a lot of strain on the legs so resting on the downhills is still eluding me.
Fast forward a few minutes and we were on the home stretch! The non-stop lap was in reach! only 1 long downhill to go and another climb and the home stretch would reveal itself....just for some spice, the backside downhill was icy! I was now thinking that not only did I want my non-stop lap but I was going to be a tad greedy and shoot for a no-fall lap too! Don't jinx it....
I somehow survived the ice on the downhill and started to realize the last uphill was icy and it was time to just keep moving. At this point the wifer had skated off into the distance and it was me, myself, and I against my newbie goal. It was just one more little flat push and the goal was met!
It was my perfect skate...a cheap thrill, a low bar goal, but hey, small steps......
The little pleasures in life are what get you through the day to day silliness and this non-stop lap gave me some satisfaction. The best part....not only was it a non-stop lap, but it was a sub fiddy minute lap on Tangent to boot! ohh yeah....let the flailing continue! yeehaa.
Next up...time to explore the other trails in that system...being consumed by survival on these little skis has had me focused on one loop - time to esssssplore some other goods there.
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