The Inuit Have 30 Different Words for ‘Snow’

or so the urban myth goes . . . and today, I think I’ve experienced about seven of them!:

• The snow that falls in relatively warm air as sleet, and then freezes to knobbly ice when it hits the really cold road
• The snow that falls on top of that, but only in the lightest of dusting, as an almost perfectly dry powder
• The snow that falls in big flakes almost as soon as you leave home on your bike, sticking to your eyelashes so that you can’t see
• The snow that turns to dirty cold mist as cars and lorries roll over it as they pass you
• The snow that falls in tiny light balls, like the polystyrene (styrafoam) filling for bean bags. It gets stuck in the vents for your helmet, and is so nice & cool as it melts
• The snow is bordering on being hail, and bounces off the road only to lodge into the tongue / laces of your shoes
• The snow that’s frozen hard, and tries to blow in your face, and makes you glad your helmet has a visor, even though keeping the snow out of your face with this makes it hard to see the traffic signals!

But, do you know what? This ISN’T a post to winge and whine about how tough it is cycling in winter.

It’s just GREAT cycling out in the winter, and I’m loving every minute of it!

I’ve taken heed of takemyhand’s and Solo’s advice about taking more notice of WHEN I eat, and actually remembered to put some gas in the tank BEFORE I set off this morning. It was kinda hard - normally I’m just so excted to be up and out of bed that I just head straight out the door (much to the horror of my wife, who is a night owl - not a morning person!).

But this morning, I gave myself 25 minutes for some juice, coffee (I know - it doesn’t help in the long run), and a bowl of my favourite get-up-and-go: Porridge made with semi-skimmed milk, with a banana chopped into it and a big dollop of peanut butter (crunchy, of course). And I’ve packed a pint and a half of my funky rehydration mix - like RegiVizz who also blogs RunHappy, I think I sometimes spend a lot of my time skirting on the edge of dehydration.

Just for the record, my funky rehydration mix is . . . a splash of ginger cordial, about 150 ml of grapefruit juice, the same of pineapple or orange juice, and then top up with water to about 750 ml ( 1.5 pints-ish). In hot weather or for spin classes, I add a little salt to this - just enough so that I can taste it. I’m wondering about using a mix of regular and low sodium salt (presumably potassium chloride-based?), but this needs some more research!

Filed under: Cycling, Fitness, Nutrition