Slow and Hard

Now that I have your attention - get your minds out of the gutter!! That would be my description of my ride at Brighton this morning. It was actually a lot of fun given the 17 degree temperature and blustery winds. There was about 1-2 inches of snow on the trail with very little underlying ice. It was completely rideable and I only missed a couple of small climbs where I couldn't carry any momentum into the hill. The downside of it was the constant work - no recovery whatsoever. Even slight downhills required pedaling. I ended up doing the Torn Shirt Loop twice and the Murray once. It took me almost 3 hours. My original plan was to try out a couple of different tire combinations, but once I saw the snow, I threw that idea out and just rode. I didn't think the feedback was going to be all that useful in the tire department.

I think I am having circulation problems in my hands and feet. They seem to be getting very cold more easily than I remember in the past. Even had trouble with warmers in place today.

Some day I will find people who are willing to ride with me on days like today. As Robert suggested, might be time to start a winter riding series. Maybe make it a competition - points awarded for miles, quality of miles (more points for trail rides than road rides), bonuses awarded for temperature extremes, ... I am open to suggestions.

Tough - Not so Much

I like to think I am a reasonably tough rider. Able to get through 100 mile mtb races, etc. Lately I have been thinking I can hang with Danielle and Robert in the toughness department. This is my list of why I think I can at least lube their chains for them while they are getting ready for one of their marathon rides:

3.5 hours by myself in the rain/freezing rain
3 hours on wet roads on a windy 40 degree day
3.5 hours on a sub-30 degree day

But somehow none of that compares to riding in my basement. I have the hardest time doing workouts on the computrainer in my basement. I am only capable of at most 2 hours. And for that to happen, I have to really not pay attention to the time. I have learned that action and comedy movies are the best. I tried a 'chick' flick on Tuesday and it was a disaster. I have a problem in my house in that most of the movies we own are chick flicks. Might have something to do with the fact I am the only male mammal in a house of seven. Maybe I need to get some race dvd's or something.

Anybody have any suggestions to work on my mental focus?

Not feeling so creative in the blog department - duh.