Why Race? Answer # 2: The Code.
By xcskiworld.com Contributing Editor Andrew Gardner
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I’m writing this on the morning of July 4th. America is expected, today, to be at its most patriotic. We are living now in a politically charged time and I’ll bet there are more than a few folks that are struggling with what it means to be an American. Truth-be-told, I’m not especially fond of the Fourth of July- The Declaration of Independence wasn’t entirely signed until August 2nd and most of us shoot off fireworks (a thousands year old Chinese tradition)- but this year I feel a little different. This year, I’m going to think solely on what it means to be an American Cross Country Skier. This includes among other things, the code.
Recently, I took a road trip to Oregon. The purpose wasn’t ski related though I did end up eventually in Bend, enclave to Nordic racers, bastion of American Cross Country Ski Racing. I was in town long enough to bike ride and find a local farmer’s market when I stopped at a coffee stand with a familiar looking fellow making lattes and mochas.
“Don’t you ski race?” I asked “Your name is Tim, right?”
Bear in mind that I don’t know Tim Woodbury. We didn’t go to the same college and aside from being recognizable faces to each other, we haven’t any other history or background. So it is significant that Tim Woodbury and I exchanged pleasantries and in the course of five minutes he offered me a place to stay, he let me know about a workout happening north of town, and generally embraced what I like to call “the code.”
The code is the unsaid rule of Nordic racing that we try to help each other out, while we simultaneously try to avoid exploiting each other. Think of it as a throwback to a more civilized time, say Medieval England where Chivalric Values ruled the general chaos of life. The Code is just American Nordic values.
A few years ago, on a rollerski in the middle of Upper Michigan, I was approached by a mini-van. I brandished my ski pole expecting the driver to be of the tyrannical variety, bent on killing endurance athletes (we all have these stories). What surprise I had when instead of pinning me under his Goodyear, the driver got out a few meters ahead of me and offered me some water and food. He was a skier on vacation and empathetic to a fellow trainer.
There are efforts in the ski world to raise the consciousness of the average American to Nordic skiing. Witness Zach Simmons efforts on his website fullthrottlexc.com. Witness the growing awareness of just who Kris Freeman is. As of yet, Cross Country Skiing is a hiccup in the greater sporting world, a pastime that gets minimal Olympic coverage and the standard, “Whoa, that sounds hard,” from any typical American content to live in a florescent, climate controlled, low carb, high stress world. We are a subculture. We are, in some ways, a counter culture.
I love the off-season of Nordic season because it affords anticipation for the coming year. Racing potential is something that slips into the abstract world of hope. How will I do? I love the off-season also because there are many times, like those in Bend when as a collective of peoples that like sliding around in spandex, we find our way onto each others couches, eating each others food.
I’ve already spent nearly a week this summer on different couches in different homes. This month of banner waving a patriotic backyard barbecues will entail even more encounters. To be a skier is to revel in a culture. Why Race? Because it affords opportunities to continue living by, “the code.”
Andrew Gardner skis for Fischer skis, Alpina boots, and Swix poles. He is the Nordic program director for the Colorado Rocky Mountain School.
