Originally Posted by
IBOHUNT
I was fortunate enough to get to ride with the FASTER Race team based out of Scottsdale a couple of years ago. Even though it was December it was a joy to ride in 70 degree weather knowing it was snowing back home. Not so joyous was being out of shape and hearing... 'when we turn the next corner we will be ratcheting it up'... Killin me Smalls, killin me.
Yeah, sounds like I woulda been dropped pretty early.
So check this out. I'm sitting here reading this, and waiting to go on a bike ride. We're supposed to have a high temp today of 74 degrees, but it won't hit that till mid afternoon. Meanwhile it was in the low 40s last night until just after the sun came up. We've got such large temperature swings during the winter here that it's already jumped around 10 degrees since the sun rose two hours ago until now, and it's currently 52. If I wait another hour to start my ride it'll be around 60.
Thing is, I've got a thicker pair of long-legged/long-armed cycling garb that can take me down into the 40s, and a lighter pair of long-legged/long-armed garb that is good for upper 50s to 60s, and short-sleeved/short-legged garb for high 60s on up to over 100. If I started my ride at the crack of dawn this morning I'd have had to have bundled up pretty heavily, and if the ride were long enough I'd be roasting by the end of it. I figure if I start my ride at 11 AM this morning I can wear my light long-sleeved stuff and be OK.
Thank goodness I'm off this week. Unfortunately I caught a mild flu at a family event last weekend, so two days ago I had a lame, weak ride as the sickness built up. I was sick as a dog that night, and I will still sick as a dog all day yesterday, so I missed a whole day. With the Festive 500 running currently on Strava, missing that day hurt me badly. I've slept as much as I could, and just stayed all bundled up and tried to just sweat it out. I felt much better this morning, so I think today is a GO. Just waiting for the temps to stabilize enough that I can pick one cycling outfit that won't leave me either too cold or too hot through a good 3-hour ride.