What a day….What a ride.  Got out on the bike around 12:30, with the temps hovering around 32 degrees.  The goal was simple.  Get 50 miles.  Easiest way to do that for me is to do an out and back, so that is what I did.  I grabbed the fixed gear and went out a little more than 25 miles (that way, in case something weird happens, I get at least 50), turned around and came back home.  With the out and back, the beautiful thing is that I can’t shortcut myself.  I go out, I have to come back.  So 3 hours and 51 miles later, I walked back into my house with the temps hovering in the high 20s.  Gosh it feels good to be out on a bike..

Some pros and cons of riding in that cold weather.  First the cons.
1) It is cold out….I guess I really don’t have to go any further than that.
2) You need to put on like 10 layers of clothes to stay warm.
3) Water bottles freeze up.
4) Warm showers never felt so good.

The Pros:
1) I like the way people look at you when they see you riding.  Usually just a stare of amazement.  Same when I tell people I did 50 miles today.
2) Well I am not inside on the trainer.  That might be the best part of it
3) I know that in a race, if conditions get bad, I have the training to carry me through it.  I don’t think there will be a single race I do where the ground is snow covered and I am riding in 30 degree weather.
4) I now know that nuun flavored slushies taste damn good (refer back to cons #3).

As  you can tell, the pros FAR out weigh the cons.

Tomorrow is a snow race at one of the local ski areas. I was thinking about loading a backpack up with some goodies and head on over to it via the fixed gear.  No sir, I do not want to race in it, but I think it would be a good time to check it out.