Photo US Nationals Rumford ME (Ian Harvey TOKO US)
Photo US Nationals Rumford ME (Ian Harvey TOKO US)
Going back to 2007 Lake Placid Loppet weather sub zero warming to 25 by finish of the race. First time I used HF Blue with JS rotocorked. Also did Chambo’s Rotocorked skis in Biathlon waxing building around 7 am. Skis were awesome start to finish and surprisingly enough result was the W by a margin over Chambo Justin Freeman and Eli Enman. Not what was expected for the first half of the race. Was ecstatic just to be skiing in their company.
Now 2011 got there unfortunately in standard fashion 01:30 Saturday am Feb 5th with Wife and 5 kids( 1 transplant) in tow. Some unnamed Jacked Up Old Idiot killed the battery while waiting for kids to to finish High School XC Ski practice in front of the high school adding two car changes( thats a whole other story cannot thank my friends enough for stepping up to the plate and hitting a home run for us,besides enduring me over the years) adding up to a three hour delay to the departure from the greater Rochester area.
Weather was predicted to be low around zero warming up to 25 by finish of race. Ski’s were waxed and scraped with HF Blue and fine grinds. ( I was responsible for Wife’s skiis also. Note to self and others: Don’t mess up your wifes skis. )
Woke up at 6 am temperature 5deg F rotocorked JS Blue on both pairs, Sky was blue.. Arrived at Van Hovenburgh 9am for a 10am start sunny sky was robin egg blue, and oh so WARM.. Oh Noooo!!! It was in the 20’s and getting warmer.
No other options but to race on prepared skis. So warm that long underwear top and hat was shed.
Actually not too worried, (although could have done better with HF red and JS Red with a touch more structure). I was tranquil it was what it was and HF Blue with JS Blue cover has a huge range and was confident it work superbly. Wife did not know of my angst luckily!!!
After action report my skis were good and won by large margin.. More importantly my Wife who does not train that much and had to be forced to the line since she was surprisingly tired, felt unprepared, and I had entered the previous day. She won the 25km skate race and reported that her skis were awesome, amazing and that she felt sorry for all the men around her, because there skis were slow compared to hers.
At the start I was waiting for AJ and the Wynnster?? Maybe even Steve Cyr.
Conclusion HF Blue w JS blue is my go to wax combination.
