Having missed my qualifing ride with my team mates in October due to a bad case of Lyme's desease (a tick born infection that messes with everything)I had to complete my ride by myself. The the Doctor cleared me to ride again, (I did not give him any specifics of what starting riding would intale!), so I planned the next weekend to ride. With so much going on with my family and church during Christmas time, I had to fit the rides around pre-planned activities which ment doing much of my ride in the dark.
Friday night brought a little snow and then rain. Saturday morning brough a frozen winter mess. I left the house at 4 am and stuck to the middle of the roads when possible. The roads were sanded which was not to bad. The only trouble was if an occasional car passed and I had to move over to the frozen shoulder! God was looking out for me and I finished my first 30 km loop in the dark without going down. I de-thawed in front of the wood stove, had breakfast and went out for another loop.
The second 30 km loop was in daylight which was much harder then in the dark bacause I was actually able to see the real road conditions which were much worse then I had realized. The traffic was also a little crazy with the Christmas shoppers out in full force! My pictures are not very impressive because I took most of them myself.
The final ride of the day was just a quick 8 km which my son kindly rode with me and got a few pictures.
Secret of the Day- dump the bike shorts and use a well padded seat and compression (Spandex) shorts without a chamios, much, much better!
12/09/2007
212
Sunday had a full slate of events planned so I started my ride at 3 am. The morning was just as cold as Saturday, but the roads were not as icy. I rode the 30 km loop again which seemed to go well. I made 3 stops instead of 1 and and finished the loop at 5:30 am. After warming up I went back out and did my favorite 16 km loop that goes by the ocean. I managed to find a few fishermen that took my picture. That loop has a 1 km climb that is brutal after a long morning of riding.
I was not able to get back on untill 7 pm that night. By that time it was sleeting and I did another 16 kw loop in the dark with light snow changing into rain. Not at all the weekend of leisure UNI riding but very satisfying to be done!
Secret of Day 2- Use chemical hand and toe warmers tuffed in your gloves and riding shoes. Made for a much more comfortable cold weather ride!