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It was the shortest day of the year, and maybe the shortest ride of the year as well. It was -7° with 25mph winds making it feel like -35°. I decided to change tires after I was about 90% dressed, so I was cooking by the time I got out the door. I got to the bike path and found it tough going. Parts had been cleared but the highway was plowed afterwards, creating several stretches of hub-deep, thick and choppy snow. Riding downhill in this stuff felt like riding uphill. Then, I'd hit some packed down snow and ice which felt like riding on greased-up rollers. Before too long, being cold was not an issue as I became a rolling Cannondale sauna. Dropping my balaclava below my chin helped cool me down a bit, but it was so cold I could only do that in spurts or my face would start to freeze (literally). I had planned on doing a couple of laps around the park, but the portions near the road were impassable. I was on borrowed time with my lights so I didn't dare ride on the road. I headed for home, back UP the section that was a struggle going down, and around the block to cool down. That's right -- -35° wind chill and I needed to cool down after a 40-minute ride. It was worth it. I got a "thumbs-up" from a hiker and with my red-tinted goggles on, the sunset was awesome. And once again, I successfully avoided the trainer...
Got out for an hour tonight on the singlespeed. It was a balmy zero degrees with a negative 15 wind chill. The homemade pogies aren't sewn yet so I didn't get a chance to test those out. Instead I layered as follows:
Feet: wicking bike socks, wool socks, Lake MTB boots, 5mm neoprene bootiesLegs: fleece long underwear, Cannondale windproof winter tights (old school), Castelli Y-Pro shorts
Core: wicking long-sleeve base, Castelli Zone 2 winter jacket, thermal race jacket
Hands: Gore-Tex mittens, Burton snowboard mittens with fleece liner
Head: Gore-Tex balaclava, Giro snowboard helmet, Smith gogglesI think my clothing outweighed my bike, but even in the driving snow and cold, I was pretty toasty. The snowboard helmet and goggle made a huge difference. Only bad part came when my glasses fogged up inside my goggles. Took the goggles off to get the glasses off and the goggles fogged too. So, I rode with neither -- a little blind and a little painful getting pelted by the frozen snow, Next time I'm wearing contacts.
Went for a night ride without lights last night (still waiting to get my NiteRider's back from the factory). First of all, the only time I was on the street was for about half a block to get to the path, so no need for safety lectures. There was enough ambient light (or light pollution, depending on how you see it) for me to see just fine.
I hit the new section of paved trail through the old Twin Cities Army Ammo Plant and the loop across County I. This would be super boring any other time of year, but when it's single digit air temps with below zero wind chills, it's a nice loop with no traffic that I can spin on the singlespeed. I can do laps to get the miles in without getting more than a mile or so away from home. So, when I get frozen solid I can just bail and go home, instead of being stuck somewhere in BFE with a 45-minute death march to warmth. Plus, being 99% paved path, I don't have to deal with the road salt (which by the looks of things, Ramsey County must have gotten a KILLER deal on this year. I think they began salting the roads back in September).Riding the singlespeed is already pretty quiet and stealthy, doing it after dark with no lights is ninja-like. I rode to within arms length of several deer that were chilling by the side of the path, which was pretty cool. The tires make a sweet, soft crunching sound when they run over snow and then hit blacktop. Other than that, it's quiet. No joggers, dogwalkers or rollerbladers. It's far from a perfect summer day, but it beats the holy hell out riding the trainer. I'm trying to ride outside at least 2-3 days a week this winter. We'll see how it goes. So far so good.
Hit Hillside in Elk River on Sunday with Clayton. Fresh layer of snow and temps in the 20's would provide ideal testing conditions for the Lake Boots. We did two full laps, and I was toasty warm. I only ate it once when I hit a pile of leaves buried in the snow on a fast corner. The bike and the boots faired well. It's amazing how fast the fitness disappears. Lap 1 felt good, but by the end of Lap 2 I was dragging.
Rich and the DirtWirx crew have done a phenomenal job on this trail. It's open 24/7, 365, thanks to their nonstop work. Go check it out.
It got up to the 40's the other day, so everything melted and then froze. I would have been better off with hockey skates than a bike today. Definitely could have used studded tires. Only went down once but man that hurt. Tried out some new "pogies" today. Bought some ATV handlebar mitts at Fleet Farm for $18.99. Wore my lobster mitts underneath and was toasty warm. We'll see how well they do when the mercury drops again (low 20's today, not too bad). Anyhoo...I managed to slide around for about an hour and 20 minutes or so. Sketchy, but good to be outside.
