This past week I cross country skied almost every day. Cross country skiing is a great winter sport that is fun to do and can be done in many different places. Cross country skiing is also a great way to get cardio exercise. I cross country ski in the classic style. This makes it easier to ski in tight trails when there is not much space. During this past week I have skied on an open field, trails in the woods, snow-covered sidewalks, and on a road that was covered in about an inch and a half of snow. None of the places I have skied have been groomed and I had a good time every time I skied. Almost every time I skied there were different snow conditions and different weather. I skied on hard snow and soft snow and when it was snowing, sunny, and cloudy. This shows the versatility of cross country skiing. You can cross country ski in most weather and most snow conditions. There are two different kinds of skiing. These two kinds are skate and classic. Skate is when you are moving your feet in a pattern similar to ice skating. Classic is when you slide your feet in a parallel pattern. Classic is better for backcountry skiing. Skate is better for skiing on groomed trails. All in all, cross country skiing is a great reason to be outside and is a great workout.
In 1869, Eugène Meyer of Paris invented the high-wheeler (aka. the "penny farthing") and the wire-spoke tension wheel. This was one of the earliest predecessors to the modern bicycle. With front wheels up to 60 inches in diameter and a direct drive system, they were hard to mount and painful to crash because of the height and hard to ride because of the high center of gravity. Despite all that, the penny farthing took off in popularity. Next came the manufacturing of a rear-wheel, chain-drive bicycle with similarly sized wheels and pneumatic tires. These inventions made the bike even more popular because the idea of riding a bicycle with symmetrical wheels wrapped in tires filled with air was a lot more fun than bouncing around high above the street on solid tires. An effect of the huge popularity of bicycles was that cities and municipalities began paving roads to accommodate the flood of cyclists. That's right. Roads were built for bikes. Remember th...
I tried cross country skiing once, and thought it dreadfully dull at most bits, and terrifying at others. Maybe I will give it another try! Thank you for this good post.
ReplyDeleteCross Country skiing is really hard, or I'm just not that good at it at all. I've been skiing (alpine style amen) for my whole life, so CC skiing is something very foreign to me...
ReplyDeleteCross Country skiing is so fun, if you ever get a chance you should try skate skiing.
ReplyDeleteCool! Are you on the team?
ReplyDeleteWow thats awesome! I love nordic skiing!
ReplyDelete