Winter Riding/Commuting....

So, at the last full moon I ducked out for a ride with a friend. We had scheduled a group ride, but no one else showed. I guess sometimes I'm sick and stubborn that way...glad to have at least one friend who is as well!

No pictures because the camera froze! We went out for about an hour and a half of sand draws and de-facto singletrack in about an inch and a half of snow. Temperatures started at about 13 degrees and were 9 degrees at the car when we were done. I wore the following:

Pearl Izumi Polarfleece bibs
Craft shell pants
Two pair of socks
Winter MTB shoes
Neoprene shoe covers
Craft l/s baselayer
Thermal Jersey
Balaclava
Endura lobster gloves

The only problem that I had was fogging glasses and cold toes. Otherwise fairly comfortable. I still haven't figured out the glasses fogging, but I think that the cold toes come from 1. too cold temperatures to be in cycling shoes (winter or not), 2. too small shoes, 3. too many socks. The reduced circulation didn't give my toes much of a chance off the bat. Next time I'll go with one pair of socks and try a tip I learned involving heat packs in my shoe covers.

Next full moon opportunity is coming up around the 31st. We'll see if I head out or not.

I also made quite a push on commuting to work by bike. Actually I made it over 20 days in a row riding to work. Coldest temperature was -5 one morning and it was never a particularly warm stretch. I rode my Performance fixie road bike before it started snowing and my 1x Rig once the snow fell. Deepest snow ridden in was around 10 inches!

I really enjoy riding in the elements. Assuming I can figure out the feet....and something to keep the fogging down, I look forward to the rest of the winter season. Once it starts staying light later, and is more predictable from a weather perspective, I'll start bringing the stuff to work I need to bust out some training rides after school.

I'll look to post a year in review cycling blog in the next day or two. Talk about where I've been and what I've learned in the past year on the bike. Maybe I'll include a picture or two.

Blogggggggin

I suppose that it must be official that I suck at Blogging! Based my reading of other cyberfriend sites, I am not alone. Oh well....maybe I'll get back on the wagon.

Two big milestones this last week. Thursday night was the coldest that I've ever gone on a bike ride. It was a night ride with Ken in and near Arnold Gulch. Only about an hour and a half, but my toes were very cold afterwards! Start temperature of 13 degrees and finish temperature of 9 degrees! The record didn't last long....

The next day on my commute into work, it was -2 degrees. Luckily its only about a 10 minute ride into work, but it was very cold...especially on the forehead.

Anyway, there you go....an update. Maybe later this weekend I'll post a 2009 riding summary with a couple of pictures.

out.