Facial winterization!
Another fine winter day for a ride. The temperature as I left the house at 12:40 p.m. was reading steady at 19F. That's well above my "no long rides under 15F" rule, though that had to be confirmed with a call to James:
me: "It is effing cold outside"
James: "You're not wimping out are you?"
me: "I am almost wimping out"
James: "really?"
*moment of silence*
me: "No, I'll be at your house in 10" and I hung up before I could change my mind. Under 20 is still infinitely better than 34 and raining.
It was surely effing cold though. Especially always starting at the top of the hill. I picked up the James at the bottom of the hill and we headed to bakers. When we got there we ran into WVU team member Bob all by his lonesome, but it wasn't long before we ran into the MonBikeClub crew led by Mega-Man Matt Kettering and Gary "Not the ride A-hole" Rodosta. Steve "the animal" Rowand and Josh "Wildebeast" Chapman were there representing 2/3 of team RowMan. RowMan strongman Jeremy was aparrently on girlfriend duty out shoe shopping and could not enjoy the day with the rest of us.
And enjoy it we did. I was again pleased with my decision of two years ago to sell my trainer. Disgusted with riding indoors and inspired by the incredibles, I used the proceeds to buy my super suit. With the always perfect cold weather baselayer, it is always the right thing to wear. Tights, baselayer, jacket, gloves, wintershoes, headband--this what I wear between 10 and 50 degrees and I am always comfortable. Look for reviews on all these items in future posts.
After we found the group, we did a nice few loops on top, then tacked spagetti trail, 7 logs trail, a few others that I still haven't learned the name monbikeclub name of, and finished off with turbo (or do they call it rooster?). After that and some other random loopage, James, Bob, Jake and I headed out over riddle and home for a solid 2:45 of winter fun.
I followed it up with some stretching (back an knees feel good, which is a major improvement over this time last year. Thank you Robbie Acciavatti) and a snack of pbbj (peanut butter, butter, jelley) on a whole wheat english muffin and a chocolate milk and then a hot shower. A+ Thanks to James for not letting me wimp out, and for Tracy last week who "didn't believe that [I] would show up to the ride." Ha, where were you today?
