Too Few Layers For Warmth, Too Many For Comfort
So my plan today was to ride 40 miles. With the weather forecast sunny with light winds, it finally looked like I’d get to go outside and play. The initial idea was to ride south west towards Consett and into the wind, and then get an easy ride home. But out walking Huge Dalmatian, it seemed that the wind was from the North West, so I settled on visiting Morpeth.
The trouble is that I hadn’t taken account of either the temperature, or that unwritten rule of wind direction. I was wearing a pair of bib shorts with some fleecy-lined tights over the top, a thermal base-layer above, and a short-sleeved jersey as a wind-stopper. Oh, and a pair of lightweight gloves.
By the time I got to Ashington & stopped for lunch (hmmmm - pastie from Tynemouth Farmers’ Market), I was properly cold, and decided that there was no point being a damned fool about it - I might as well head home.
Within a couple of miles, I realised that I was cycling into a freezing headwind and sweating. Time to stop to put my raincoat on, if only to cut down on
that windchill. By this point my Raynaud ’s had cut in, and my fingertips were both numb with the cold and painful - the sort of pain that’s generally associated with accidents with mangles.
Then finally, the other affect of cold cut in too. I’d drunk about a litre of fluids on the ride, as well as doing a really good job of hydrating before, and I really needed to go . The trouble was, I was in a built-up, populated area, was wearing those bib shorts under the few layers I had on, and was in no mood to ruin Byron’s Brooks saddle by soaking it in warm electrolytes.
The only option was to do those last ten miles at Warp Factor Nine - quite an achievement considering I was riding with my legs crossed!
And, looking on the bright side, I might not have gone the distance I intended, but working hard for the last third goes some way to making up for that. Probably.
Workout:
- Type: Cycle
- Date: 01/17/2010
- Time: 12:32:31
- Total Time: 1:49:00.00
- Calories: 1592
- Distance: 29 miles
- Average Speed: 15.96 mph
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Well done at least for getting out there today. Hope the snow has melted your way and it wasn’t too icy.
A base and short sleeved jersey in January? I’m astounded that you got as far as you did but then, they do breed them tough up north. I’m currently needing a long sleeved merino wool base under a winter training jacket before even thinking about opening the front door.
It was somewhere between a miscalculation and an amateur night mistake!
The lesson has been well learnt, and I’ll be trying on a windstopper top today, and in future when it’s this cold, wearing my extra cosy skiing mittens (which have seperate fleece liners, and pouches for chemical heaters).
Getting it right when its cold out can such a pain, especially on the bike. Glad you made it back alive and didn’t become a statistic.