A New Spring, Well Sort Of...

So the spring classics have started and we are all well into our own spring training. Unless, you live in the Northwoods and you still have two feet of snow on the ground. We have have fewer than 5 days above freezing so far this year and had the coldest winter on record and were very close to a record for snow fall. Needless to say, my bike and I didn't venture outside much. I have spent more days on a trainer than I care to remember. I did have a discovery that made these days a bit more bearable.

The Sufferfest training videos provided me some direction, motivation, entertainment, and most of all accountability.  There is no try, is one of my favorites but you can't go wrong with any of them. I realize now that I am back outside on my bike how much I accomplished over the winter months. Usually the winter is trying not to lose much strength, but this winter I feel like I made some gains. The best part about The Sufferfest is the amount of interaction the staff has with it's customers. I have posted on twitter about my workouts and will receive some sort of acknowledgement from someone at Sufferfest within a day. This is a great investment for any time of the year.

Enough of the shameless promotion. I always find it a bit funny to ride by snowmobilers and ice fishermen. I am wearing some level of spandex and form fitting outerwear while they are bundled up for Arctic temperatures. I wonder if they judge me the way I judge them. I can just hear them saying to one another how crazy I am for cycling, wearing spandex, or just being me. I really wish they would be thinking what a beast, I can't believe he is out in this pushing himself. I am sure they hardly notice me and if they do they probably just think I am nuts. I know I am thinking that I am glad I am on my bike rather than sitting on the ice or sledding between bars.

Well.. I have been rambling as usual but here is my final thought for the day. I hope I don't get on the wrong side of the hooligans who shot up this sign.

Snow

We got our first snow today (pic is just the beginning)...and I am not impressed.

It was cold this morning as we headed out for what we planned to be a century ride, a bit over 32 degrees. The temperature rose slightly throughout the day, getting near 40 but after we stopped for some lunch it began to drop back down. We knew that the forecast was telling us that around three the rain might start and it began just before that and we were still about an hour out. With the rain beginning and the temp back at 34 degrees we started pushing harder to keep warm and make it back to our cars. We made it, we were wet, cold and as I always am after a big ride, hungry.

Shortly after I started towards home in my car the rain began to turn to snow and that trend continued for the rest of the night. We now have a thin layer outside.

This snow will not stick as the ground has yet to freeze but it means three things to me...

First, It is going to get a whole lot harder to ride my bike. It will take me five times longer to get dressed for a ride and I will have to thoroughly clean my bike after nearly every ride. The worst part is there will be fewer days that are safe to ride.

Second, ski season is nearly upon us. I am a pair of XC ski boots away to having a full set. My wife found a set of skis that were my size and were in reasonable shape at a local Goodwill and the other day we acquired some poles. This means I am getting close. While the Midwest is well known for being flat there are a few hills here in Wisconsin and in the U.P. that are reasonable to slide down on skis. Most of them even have chair lifts and ski patrols. As I do not have the funds to fly/drive to Colorado, this will due for now.

Third, it is cold. Everything you do in your daily life requires more planning. Driving to work means you need to let your car run for five minutes before you can leave. If it snowed the night before, well...everything needs to be shoveled or cleaned off. Any roads other than the main highways are left slightly covered and this makes traveling them both more fun and more time consuming.

Thanks for bearing with my slight rant about winter but the first snow is always a bit jarring. It means that winter is really around the corner and there is nothing you or I can do about it. The only way to defeat winter is by finding someway to enjoy it.

I will say, had we ended our ride in the snow rather than the freezing rain, I would have felt about two times as sweet.

Fender Season

The days of beautiful, sunny, dry, and warm are behind us, at least for us in the northern parts of the country. I know there are many places that have to deal with rainy weather on a year round basis and still have strong cycling communities (Seattle and London), but here in the woods our summers are mostly dry and then fall through spring we see quite a bit more precipitation. Last fall I purchased fenders in the attempt to keep cleaning time down.

I used to avoid wet rides but as I fell deeper into cycling, I cared less about the weather.  A lot of this transition was finding the proper clothing, see my post on winter gear.  I owe the inspiration to ride no matter the weather to retired pro Robbie Ventura.  I made a comment about the challenge of riding in Chicago while I was working for Vision Quest Coaching and he said something along the lines of, year round riding is all about having the correct clothing. I got to a point where I was personally comfortable in about any temperature, I am sure there are some pieces that I can add to my gear but I am content with what I have.

Now my bike is another story.  I was getting fed up with cleaning my bike for an hour after an hour long ride.  If you ride in the rain or snow getting your bike dirty is inevitable, but there are ways to keep that to a minimum.  There are always special articles on how the pro mechanics prep the bikes but the reality is they have the ability to wash the bikes after any race in sub ideal weather.

My solution was a set of CRUD Roadracer MK2 fenders. The piece that appealed the most to me was that they were super light and provided full coverage.  As I only have my one bike I wanted sleek close fitting fender and The Roadracers met my expectations.  They do feel a bit flimsy out of the box and take a bit of getting set up but once they are on you barely notice them.  I felt a lot better riding in the rain and snow knowing that I was not spraying my drive train with grimy water.  I also spared myself and anyone I was riding with from a black shower.

This is a hard time of year for me.  Most of the activities I enjoy require good weather but I enjoy riding too much to let the weather be in complete control.  I feel like I now have the option to set up my rollers for an easy spin or get out and enjoy some fresh air.

As always, get out on your bike and spend a little more time in the big ring.

Riding Year Round, in the Cold

So... my last post was wishful thinking.  It is time to embrace the coming seasons.  It really is beautiful even though in my weaker moments I long to be back in California.  Riding up here goes from winding roads weaving between lakes to falling red, orange, and brown leaves to peaceful muffled snow lined roads.  The roads are perfect for a road bike.  The cold is coming no matter what I do.

Yesterday's ride to and from work was the first time I could sense fall in the air.  The chilly temps and the constant wind gave me a taste of the things to come.  Blustery fall and winter rides are more about getting out and turning the pedals over than improving speed and distance.  These rides are a grind.  While it can be challenging, it is important to get out and push.  This is where the base fitness and mental strength begins for the next summer.  My goal is to ride year round no matter what.  I can have some great rides on my rollers but the basement can get rather boring.  On my rollers I watch Breaking Away, American Flyers, or some archived race footage and  I need to get outside.

                 

The key to success in the cooler climates is the proper clothing.  This can be a challenge as there is no one size fits all solution.  Every cyclist has a different heat production/loss.  We all need to find what works through trial and error.  I thought I would share what I have found and I have been on some pretty cold bike rides.

I realized pretty quickly that my feet and hands are my weak points, as long as they have enough coverage I will be okay.  To accomplish this for my hands, I began using lobster mitts.  My hands nearly sweat at five degrees.  I don't have to worry about cold hands anymore.  The split mitt takes a ride or two to get comfortable with but once that is done they are easy to ride with.  Now, protecting my feet are my Garneau shoe covers.  These are great, they are lightweight, keep the wind off and are mostly water resistant.  All good except that they need to go on before my shoes.  This is a huge pain if you want to take them off  in the middle of a ride.  My next pair of shoe covers will be ones that close in the back.

My head and face just need to be protected from the wind and do not need a whole lot of insulation.  Enter my Gore Bike Wear hat and mask.  The hat is more than enough to keep my head toasty down to the coldest rides I have done.  The mask took a little bit of adjustment.  I had to figure out what temp it worked best.  The best feature is that it can be quickly removed and replace while on the bike.  The only downside is it has a tendency to slip down a bit.  I will experiment with a Buff gaiter this fall and get back to you.

As for tights, there are so many options out there.  It is impossible to determine which ones work by looking at a picture online,(that is all I have in the woods) you really need to try them out.  Last winter my wife got me some Pearl Izumi AmFIB Bib-Tights  and they were key to getting out in all temperatures and conditions.  The ones with no chamois allow me to ride in the bibs I am already comfortable in.  If I needed a bit extra warmth for my joints, I could layer them with my knee warmers.  The AmFib tights have a softshell front to protect from the wind and water and fleece lined lycra on the back to keep warmth in while maintaining mobility.  The AmFIB paired with the Pearl Izumi Pro Softshell and five degrees is no problem to ride in.

Now the downside of winter riding is getting all of these layers on.  Generally, if it takes more than five minutes to get ready for a ride you are doing it wrong.  In the winter replace five with fifteen and you are about right.  It is definitely much easier to ride in the basement in cycling shorts but there is nothing that beats being out on the road.  It would be easy to ride in sunny moderate climate all year but when the weather is rough it shows a deeper beauty that you will never find in the perfect weather.  So lets put on some Justin Timberlake and get suited up.

Winter...Stay Away

The weather is cooling off and the days are getting shorter up near Canada (so we are not that far north but still).  Days that once started at 5:15 am and ended at 9:30 pm are now becoming dark at 7:15 pm.  It feels like they are getting shorter five minutes earlier each day.  I say this because finding time to get in a meaningful ride is becoming more a challenge.  This is the time of year I start trying to figure out what winter training will look like.  I see my rollers and I dread the long dark winter.  Last winter I invested in clothing that will allow me to ride even when it is a balmy 5 degrees.  Last winter I was able to get outside four times but the rides were slow and short.  After one ride I had a six inch icicle hanging from my bottom bracket and my rear derailleur froze up.

Even with my fenders I still had to take my bike apart and clean it in my basement after almost every ride.  One hour of riding equals two hours of cleaning, argh.  That is not my idea of a good ride to work ratio.  The worst part is I am still fighting the damage done last winter.  Dealing with a long winter is part of life up here.  Well it is still a ways off and midday or low light rides might be the norm for a little while yet. Even though it seems like winter is right around the corner I need to focus on the great days that still exist this year.