If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Snowless in the Netherlands : off-road rollerski's?
Hi all,
I'm new to newsgroups, tried searching this group for info but nothing came up for me. I'm J, 29, from the Netherlands. The snow my coastal region gets, comes 2-3 times a year, most often under 3" of it, and typically takes shorter than 24 hours to melt away. Hoping to become a skate-skier and find some cheap starter gear soon. when I get confident I won't look like a fool in the snow, I'll just book a vacation a week before a race, train a lot, and try the race. I'll never know unless I try... Being a mountainbike racer with some stupid summer asthma I picked up a few year back, my urge to try XC Ski racing some day has fueled even more. In winter time my lungs are just SO strong. However I don't come from a wintersports family, just a couple acquaintances go snowboarding once a year in the Alps. A couple years back I did one evening of indoor snowboarding, it was fun, but not my thing. Never tried ski's, too scared. I once obtained a pair of Crosskates (www.crosskate.com), with the intention to help them find a good distributor. Unfortunately they seem to have gone out of business before I got anywhere with that. Recently I've found the balls to actually do a more serious effort (longer round around the block) on them. It's very hard for me, I hardly move forward, but when I do something right, it's instantly rewarded. Right now I top out at around 10mph, but I feel I can improve with this. I know about the existence of rollerski's, have researched some, but that's about it. They seem to demand really perfect asphalt and technique. Competition average speeds are so high, it makes me wonder if they shouldn't just leaves the poles and use the things like inline skates. Although they seem to mimic snow speeds much better, my Crosskates are really heavy, and I may not be strong and skilled enough to use them offroad too soon, so looking for ways to make them a tad quicker/easier to live with. My real question is : who's using these, or something similar? Are they a good preparation for my body and technique before I some day find myself in Germany on a Langlauf camp? Are there any websites to bug for specific tips and info? I'd like to find faster (road)tires for my Crosskates, and they went bust just before they started offering them. I'm now using rubber "asphalt" tips on my poles, but on anything less that perfectly dry rough asphalt they slip out with the walking speeds I'm currently reaching. Before I had the standard Swix triangular tips, but those just seemed to skid off the surface. Just me going too slow? And what would be good off-road pole tips? The local outdoor shop sold me the Asphalt ones as they didn't know about Crosskates whatsoever. I do keep it to pavement for now. Thanks a lot for your help pointing me to good off-road rollerski resources or special off-road ski tricks. Happy trails! (don't ever take snow for granted) J |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Did you search via google groups, advanced search? There's been a lot
of information, experience and opinions about rollerskis over the years. Also check out www.xcskiworld.com, altho the product info is U.S. centered. If there are no resources in the Netherlands, you might try Germany or France. There are some brand that are different. Perhaps Laurent has some ideas. Generally, you don't need perfect pavement. Look at mixed carbon fiber poles that are middle of the line or better (light) with good straps and get rollerski ferrules instead of those rubber walking dealies. If you can find someone to take lessons from or good videos, that will speed up the learning curve. Gene "Jan Gerrit Klok" wrote: Hi all, I'm new to newsgroups, tried searching this group for info but nothing came up for me. I'm J, 29, from the Netherlands. The snow my coastal region gets, comes 2-3 times a year, most often under 3" of it, and typically takes shorter than 24 hours to melt away. Hoping to become a skate-skier and find some cheap starter gear soon. when I get confident I won't look like a fool in the snow, I'll just book a vacation a week before a race, train a lot, and try the race. I'll never know unless I try... Being a mountainbike racer with some stupid summer asthma I picked up a few year back, my urge to try XC Ski racing some day has fueled even more. In winter time my lungs are just SO strong. However I don't come from a wintersports family, just a couple acquaintances go snowboarding once a year in the Alps. A couple years back I did one evening of indoor snowboarding, it was fun, but not my thing. Never tried ski's, too scared. I once obtained a pair of Crosskates (www.crosskate.com), with the intention to help them find a good distributor. Unfortunately they seem to have gone out of business before I got anywhere with that. Recently I've found the balls to actually do a more serious effort (longer round around the block) on them. It's very hard for me, I hardly move forward, but when I do something right, it's instantly rewarded. Right now I top out at around 10mph, but I feel I can improve with this. I know about the existence of rollerski's, have researched some, but that's about it. They seem to demand really perfect asphalt and technique. Competition average speeds are so high, it makes me wonder if they shouldn't just leaves the poles and use the things like inline skates. Although they seem to mimic snow speeds much better, my Crosskates are really heavy, and I may not be strong and skilled enough to use them offroad too soon, so looking for ways to make them a tad quicker/easier to live with. My real question is : who's using these, or something similar? Are they a good preparation for my body and technique before I some day find myself in Germany on a Langlauf camp? Are there any websites to bug for specific tips and info? I'd like to find faster (road)tires for my Crosskates, and they went bust just before they started offering them. I'm now using rubber "asphalt" tips on my poles, but on anything less that perfectly dry rough asphalt they slip out with the walking speeds I'm currently reaching. Before I had the standard Swix triangular tips, but those just seemed to skid off the surface. Just me going too slow? And what would be good off-road pole tips? The local outdoor shop sold me the Asphalt ones as they didn't know about Crosskates whatsoever. I do keep it to pavement for now. Thanks a lot for your help pointing me to good off-road rollerski resources or special off-road ski tricks. Happy trails! (don't ever take snow for granted) J |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Hi Jan,
I am a British XC skier, in a part of the country which doesn't get much snow :-( I know there are some groups of XC skiers in the Netherlands. I don't have contact details but if you try your National Ski Association , they should be able to put you in touch with local groups and teaching. I can't advise about roller-ski-ing much, as I don't do it anymore. However, I do suggest you get some lessons before you try to do much by yourself. You are likely to pick up habits which will spoil your snow-ski-ing, if you don't learn to do it the right way from the start. I know the London Region Nordic ski club holds regular roller-ski events and there are several Netherlanders who attend. However, unless you are in London anyway, you are probably better off spending your money on finding some snow! This page is made by a roller-ski instructor in London and you will find some helpful links there. http://www.rollerski.co.uk/links.html |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Thanks for the responses so far!
I was up til 3am last night reading all about technique on Ken's website, awesome stuff! Most of it seems to translate decently to my crosskates. I know I'm doing things totally wrong. I don't know what it is about rollerski's, there's even a semi-local club into that, but the insane speeds don't appeal to me too much. I stayed in mountainbiking because I did't like the high-speed road-cycling crashes. Yes I do now "train" on asphalts, but most of the time in protective MTB-downhill gear :-) I think I'll be satisfied if I can use these Crosskates or a similar product which may prove more practical, as long as I average better speed than when running. I'm not there yet though, not by far. Totally undevelopped specific muscles after years of mostly mountainbiking, few else. The rollerski clubs do seem great to get tuition when in the snow, in my own language, and maybe join their ski camps. If I ever get to a level that satisfies me (national top level is my aim, maybe big televised snow races, I know, stupid), I'm not sure Rollerskiing is my thing. Those speeds...I really wonder why I wouldn't just pick speedskating and do skeelering all year long, just no poles. Probably easier to learn also, especially after reading on Ken's site how much goes into a bit of forward motion. But this snow thing...it's not over-the-top scary like snowboarding and alpine skiing, addresses my genenic ability to produce lots of power during anything over 5minutes, and my fellow countrymen seem unable to act at international level. Why would we win "all" speedskating and send zero XC Skiers to the Olympics? XC skating seems to also ask for a variety of other sports to keep fitness up, a perfect reason to improve my running and swimming game, both about muscle coordination. I'm starting some run-bike-runs now also, with XC Ski maybe even winter triathlons become an option. The pole tips that nordic walkers use, I'm going to destroy those crosskating over (snowless) fireroads, right? Maybe if I'm going to buy ski's some day anyway, with those boots bought I might as well get rollerski frames to use them on. I dunno, the speeds freak me out. I like my bikes better for that, and am not 18 anymore, hope to stay in one piece... Thanks for any other ideas/tips, J "Alex" schreef in bericht ups.com... Hi Jan, I am a British XC skier, in a part of the country which doesn't get much snow :-( I know there are some groups of XC skiers in the Netherlands. I don't have contact details but if you try your National Ski Association , they should be able to put you in touch with local groups and teaching. I can't advise about roller-ski-ing much, as I don't do it anymore. However, I do suggest you get some lessons before you try to do much by yourself. You are likely to pick up habits which will spoil your snow-ski-ing, if you don't learn to do it the right way from the start. I know the London Region Nordic ski club holds regular roller-ski events and there are several Netherlanders who attend. However, unless you are in London anyway, you are probably better off spending your money on finding some snow! This page is made by a roller-ski instructor in London and you will find some helpful links there. http://www.rollerski.co.uk/links.html |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Trapp plans housing development, road across XC trails in Stowe, Vermont | Lew Lasher | Nordic Skiing | 18 | July 5th 04 07:55 PM |
DIY Rollerskis from NordicPro website | Jeff Potter | Nordic Skiing | 18 | March 26th 04 02:04 PM |
link: colorado road conditions | Monique Y. Herman | Alpine Skiing (moderated) | 1 | January 5th 04 03:26 AM |
Four wheel rollerskis | PBDoyle | Nordic Skiing | 2 | September 26th 03 02:47 AM |
QUESTIONS ABOUT ROLLERSKIS AND POLES | Nathan Schultz | Nordic Skiing | 14 | August 3rd 03 06:43 PM |