2/06/2005 -- Tough as Nails
Today the plan was for my crew chief, Ben, and I to meet up around 9:00 and ride out to May Valley and back adding in a few extra miles as we saw fit. The route is one of our real staple routes, maybe a little longer but nothing really too out of the ordinary. The ride out to May Valley went very smooth, the weather was overcast, and the road was damp from the previous day, but it wasn't raining yet. It was on the cool side, but nothing that full Amifib gloves, arm-warmers, Assos bib tights, a polypropylene shirt and hat, booties, and wool socks, couldn't handle.
Well, after ~30 miles or so it started to rain. Now, yes I live in Seattle, and yes it does rain alot, but in Seattle most of the time when it does rain its warm and the rain is more of a misty rain. It will mist all day some times, you never really get all that wet and while the bike gets fairly worked over from the road grime their aren't large puddles / lakes to deal with. On the off chance it does actually rain hard, it will rain hard for a short time before tapering off. Well today things were different. It was cold and the rain just dumped, the last 40+ miles back to the lake and up around the north end, were more of a adventure, then a typical training ride.
At first it wasn't too bad, the clothes were staying moderately dry, but at some point the gloves and booties, reached there threshold levels and just seemed to welcome in the outside elements. Glued to our aero bars we worked our way up the lake. The fingers and toes seemed to disappear, and the hands a feet felt more like single points of contact. With the chill of every decent, the descents became a dreaded obstacles and the climb seemed all to short. On the final major climb Ben, said, "Kenneth, its riding days like today that make us tough as nails.". Which I think summed up the ride nicely. After the final decent, we hammered back up the flat Burk, trying to get back ASAP. Coming back I was so cold, I had to fight to get my heart rate over 120 BPM.
Ride Stats: Some where in the 5-6 hours, Average Speed: ~17.2 mph (As measured on Bens Computer)
Weather: Heavy rain and very cold.
Gear that worked: Assos Bib Tights! I love these things. My legs stayed dry and warm given the conditions and thickness of the tights.
Gear that didn't work: With heavy rain my Amifib gloves became sponges. Yes, my fingers were warmer with them on. But they are hardly water repellant at all. Right after finishing the ride, I pulled my fingers out of my gloves to retrieve my apartment keys. only to find water gushing out, with out even squeezing the gloves at all!
Food: I started the day, with one bottle of Perpetuem, and one bottle of Heed. With the cold weather, I wish I'd packed two bottles of the Perpetuem. I'd eaten a fairly large breakfast, but with the cold weather, I just couldn't seem to eat enough calories.
Recovery: On getting back home, I ripped of my wet cycling gear, turned the shower on, downed my whey and TR, and hopped in the shower attempting to revive my frozen extremities.
Well, after ~30 miles or so it started to rain. Now, yes I live in Seattle, and yes it does rain alot, but in Seattle most of the time when it does rain its warm and the rain is more of a misty rain. It will mist all day some times, you never really get all that wet and while the bike gets fairly worked over from the road grime their aren't large puddles / lakes to deal with. On the off chance it does actually rain hard, it will rain hard for a short time before tapering off. Well today things were different. It was cold and the rain just dumped, the last 40+ miles back to the lake and up around the north end, were more of a adventure, then a typical training ride.
At first it wasn't too bad, the clothes were staying moderately dry, but at some point the gloves and booties, reached there threshold levels and just seemed to welcome in the outside elements. Glued to our aero bars we worked our way up the lake. The fingers and toes seemed to disappear, and the hands a feet felt more like single points of contact. With the chill of every decent, the descents became a dreaded obstacles and the climb seemed all to short. On the final major climb Ben, said, "Kenneth, its riding days like today that make us tough as nails.". Which I think summed up the ride nicely. After the final decent, we hammered back up the flat Burk, trying to get back ASAP. Coming back I was so cold, I had to fight to get my heart rate over 120 BPM.
Ride Stats: Some where in the 5-6 hours, Average Speed: ~17.2 mph (As measured on Bens Computer)
Weather: Heavy rain and very cold.
Gear that worked: Assos Bib Tights! I love these things. My legs stayed dry and warm given the conditions and thickness of the tights.
Gear that didn't work: With heavy rain my Amifib gloves became sponges. Yes, my fingers were warmer with them on. But they are hardly water repellant at all. Right after finishing the ride, I pulled my fingers out of my gloves to retrieve my apartment keys. only to find water gushing out, with out even squeezing the gloves at all!
Food: I started the day, with one bottle of Perpetuem, and one bottle of Heed. With the cold weather, I wish I'd packed two bottles of the Perpetuem. I'd eaten a fairly large breakfast, but with the cold weather, I just couldn't seem to eat enough calories.
Recovery: On getting back home, I ripped of my wet cycling gear, turned the shower on, downed my whey and TR, and hopped in the shower attempting to revive my frozen extremities.
Labels: Training
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