I'm an ex-Nordic racer... but you haven't mentioned how much more tiring the skating technique is over the classic- even less glide, but more power. I could hit speeds of 24+km on the flats, which is only okay (I think Olympians can get 30+km). I gave it up after one of my skis broke, because I wasn't doing too well anyways, and I was too cheap to buy some new skis.

On the other hand, Nordic is a lot cheaper than cycling- a nice race setup costs about $600, compared to the $1500+ of a raceable bike.