By Rich Palzewic
Sports Editor
I first strapped on cross-country skis for real in 1997.
To give me the motivation to stay in shape in the winter for my summer biking, I approached one of the teachers at the middle school where I taught in Rhinelander, Wayne Fish, who I knew was big into the sport.
He had done countless American Birkebeiner ski races and was well-known in the community for being meticulous about his equipment, training and waxing.
About $800 later, I had bought top-of-the-line skis, poles, bindings and some of the best wax money could buy from Wayne.
I quickly found out money couldn’t buy me technique.
In fall 1997, I signed up for the Birkie, North America’s largest cross-country ski event, having never skied before.
Wayne told me it was a good way to force myself to learn technique and get in good shape.
If I recall, the race back then was approximately 55 kilometers or about 34 miles.
I had heard horror stories about the crashes and hills on the demanding course in northern Wisconsin, so I knew I had my work cut out for me.
When I signed up, I was placed in the 11th wave.
That meant thousands of skiers would go off before me and destroy the course – I wasn’t looking forward to that.
I figured I had to pay my dues and move my way up, but I read the fine print about the race and saw if I did a Birkie qualifying race, I could potentially move up to wave five.
That was my ticket, so I registered for the Badger State Games in late January 1998, about a month before my first Birkie.
The technique I was attempting to learn was called skating.
It’s similar to rollerblading or ice skating, but instead, you have a pair of skis strapped to your boots.
It’s tough to coordinate your arm movements along with your legs, but it’s a great, full-body workout.
I recall how difficult it was for me to learn – flaying and gasping for breath as I worked my way up and over the hills of the Washburn Ski Trails in Rhinelander.
Gradually, I got better and considered myself an average skier.
The Badger State Games event in Wausau was 43 kilometers.
I was doing great until about the 30-kilometer mark when I started to see black spots on the course in front of me and began to feel weird.
In layman’s terms, I was bonking – completely running out of energy.
I remember stopping in the middle of the course and leaning on my poles and vomiting.
All I could think about was, “There goes my fifth wave in the Birkie.”
I somehow managed to pull myself together and make it to the start/finish area and devoured about 10 donut balls, giving me the quick energy I needed to finish the race.
My time at the Badger State Games was good enough to move me up to the fifth wave in 1998.
The hills were terrible like I had been told, but I don’t remember much about that first race.
Eventually, in 2002 as a 29-year old, I started in the second wave and finished 379th, which qualified me for the first wave the next year.
It had always been a goal of mine to ski in the first wave, and now my dreams were becoming reality.
Sadly, I never skied the Birkie again.
I began coaching the high school ski team in Rhinelander later that year, and my time to ski long distances ended.
Every year since the winter of 1997, I’ve hit the ski trails, but this year, my streak ended.
For the first time in 24 years, I didn’t strap on a pair of cross-country skis.
It wasn’t a great winter for area trails, but I should have and could have gotten out.
We had a warm start to the winter, and then the bitter cold hit.
By the time I thought about getting out, we went through a warm spell, and it was over.
I’m sad I didn’t ski, but I’m looking forward to starting a new streak next year.