Chicago’s temperature index is staying comfortably below freezing now, in fact, most days this week we were below zero with windchill. I haven’t yet committed to the adjustment for riding my bike to work in the mornings, but I think I’ll start with that again next week. My plan for that is to basically dress like I’m going snowboarding – pants, first layers, gloves, coat, helmet and goggles – but tape up my pants. I’ll be sure to include my gator as well as that early morning air can sting to hell when we get down in the single and double digits.
But biking winter is a peripheral joy for me, one that I take and leave based on need more than pleasure. I much prefer to stick with seasonal activities requiring gear that is elegantly prepped for the conditions, not simply coerced into function. And, to my mind, there’s no low buy-in winter activity in the midwest quite as enjoyable as cross country skiing.
I fought XC skiing for years, assuming it was as dull as the people I knew who did it. I could never figure out where the enjoyment came from and was always trying to figure out where they were hiding the hill. But something switched in my aging brain last year and I decided to try it again as I wrestled to discover more ways I could interact with winter and snow beyond snowboarding. Much to my surprise I fell in love with cross country skiing. There’s a low learning curve, it’s totally accessible and it gives me a new reason to find desolate paths in and outside the Chicago area. It offers me the kind of satisfied solitude I have found myself longing for more and more as I get older.
Fortunately, my XC skis don’t require waxing. They’ve got fish scales on them and require almost zero maintenance. Matt, on the other hand, picked up a real nice pair of XC Skis on the cheap from Craigs list last year, nice enough that they require a steady waxing. We’re getting together tomorrow to prep his skis for the weekend, so here’s a video to help get my brain running around this process properly again.