Frigid

The temperature dropped to about 6 degrees (F) last night, and it’s not going to get any higher than the teens today.  I decided that it would be a great day to go for a training ride not in spite of but because of the frigidity, as it would be a good way to convince myself that I have what it takes to suffer on the bike.

When I left the house it was about 10, with the sun shining brightly and the wind blowing briskly.  If it had been 60 degrees warmer, it would have been an ideal day for a ride.  As it was, it was an ideal day for a ride if you are at least a little bit masochistic.  I wore 2 base layers (one long sleeved, one short), a jersey, arm warmers, my new Pearl Izumi jacket, compression shorts, cycling shorts, knee warmers, heavy bib tights, two pairs of socks, liner gloves, my new Pearl Izumi AmFib gloves, chemical toe warmers, and neoprene shoe covers.  It took me over 20 minutes to get dressed, and I worked up a sweat putting everything on.

Once out on the road, I felt fine, if a little bit like the Michelin man.  One of the benefits of winter training is that once spring arrives, I can shed ten pounds just by not wearing all of the cold weather gear.

I did encounter one problem.  I was wearing a neoprene face mask to keep my face from getting frostbite (at 20 mph, the wind chill was -9), and it worked well but for one thing.  It has little holes at the mouth to make it easier to breathe, but the volume of air I required was too much for those little holes, and then my condensed breath made the holes even smaller, so soon I felt like I was going to suffocate.  It was a very unpleasant feeling, so I took the face mask off until I could feel my cheeks start to tingle with incipient frost nip.  I’ll have to cut a breathing hole so I don’t pass out and collapse at the side of the road.

Bike Snob, down in the City, has some much more hilarious thoughts on winter riding, over here.  Check him out.