First 99 Gear Review - Cross-training

In this episode of the First 99 Gear Review, I sit down again with our very own Greg Larkin for Part 2 of his Winter Off-Season Cross Training Plan. During Part 1 we dug into Greg’s indoor workouts including rowing on the Concept2 and Zwift virtual bike racing on his smart trainer. In Part 2 we head to the White Wonderland for some full body winter cross training activities.

As mentioned in the last episode Greg was born in Upstate NY and moved to New Hampshire as a kid. Snow sports go back many generations in the Larkin Family tree with both his grandfathers being avid snowshoers with Forlorn Hope style snowshoes.

Greg was always a bike race at heart, but he learned at a young age the value of off-season cross training. It started one Christmas when his parents bought the entire family cross country (XC) snow skis. Greg and his family lived in rural New Hampshire. He and his dad would go out for long XC ski day trips in the nearby town forest. This is when he first learned of the BONK. Cycling is very leg-centric but XC skiing is a full body workout (legs, core, back, and arms).

New Hampshire terrain is much different than here in CA. Up in the White Mountains the peaks are much lower in elevation, 4k to 6k feet with plenty of rolling hills in the 1K to 2K feet elevation range. You do not have to worry about altitude acclimation; it’s the extreme temperatures of 10 degrees below zero that will take you out.

Greg’s early skis were much different than what he rides today. His first set of classical XC skis were 210cm long, waxless, with fish scales, and 3-pin bindings. The fish scales allow you to move the ski forwards but not backwards. Clothing was also challenging as Gore Tex and waterproof outer shells had not been invented yet. People wore lots of wool, Lycra body suits, multiple layers, wind briefs, long-johns, even fleece booties to cover their ski boots. Now we have many more options but layering is still the key.

Tune in the episode to hear all of that and more!

Lost Ski Areas: http://www.nelsap.org/nh/nh.html

Wikipedia Ski Bindings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ski_binding

Cross Country Skiing Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cross-country_skiing#Skate_skiing

Auburn Ski Club: https://www.asctrainingcenter.org/

Tahoe Donner: https://www.tahoedonner.com/amenities/amenities/cross-country/

Royal Gorge: https://www.royalgorge.com/home

Tahoe Cross Country: https://www.tahoexc.org/

Tahoe Cross Country Ski Swap: https://www.tahoexc.org/ski-swap

CSUS Ski Swap: https://sacstateskiswap.weebly.com/

Alpenglow Sports: https://www.alpenglowsports.com/

Pacos Truckee: https://www.pacostruckee.com/
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Your hosts: Greg Larkin / Mike Turner / Jessica Harris

Artwork/logo by Krista Cavender: https://www.kcavenderdesign.com/ | IG: https://www.instagram.com/kristacavender/

Intro/outro music: Joseph McDade - Elevation: Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/themile99interview)