Brrrrrrrr

Where the hell were all those songs when I needed them????? I have learned an interesting thing about where I live. you can't always believe what you see and need to look for every sign on what it's really like outside . I saw a sign and didn't take it to heart.

I flipped my weekend workouts and opted to play in the hills on what looked like the perfect day for it. 3 bottles, cell phone, my Ipod on that shuffle play list and I was off. They had predicted close to zero today so I dressed in prep for that, warm enough to stay out in below freezing but not to warm that I would melt if the weather man was right. It took less than 10 minutes for me to realize how strong the wind was. Oh yes it was a head wind. Pulled that liner glove out of the pockets and added on another layer.

After a nice warm up into the cold wind I knew I turned right and headed up the Vasey line to start the first of many long grindy climbs. I kept the route for the day pretty simple with lots of bail out spots in case my body said get off the bike you are not fully recovered yet. In the end it wasn't my stomach that yelled at me.

The route I took would give me 6 really good 4-5 minute long climbs along with a few shorter rollers. Hit the top of the first climb and I was feeling happy, legs felt strong. Went ripping down the other side and the body screamed "Holy shit that's cold, don't do that again" Of course I did. Up and down for the next hour I started to find my feet were starting to not like me. At the hour ten mark I happened to be at the Waverly lights and turned right and spun over to the coffee shop. A small coffee and 10 minutes of shoes off seemed to get things to a deal able level. For now.

Back to the ups and downs. My legs continued to surprise me. Stayed aerobic on every climb, barely but I was there. Started on my return which meant that slight to the side tail wind turned into a slight to the front head head wind. It was a different type of ride, it was a ride when I was happy to be going uphill, out of the wind.

My ride had optional bail out routes and it also had optional add ons with more climbing. As I rolled past the 2 hour mark I knew I wouldn't be adding anything on and where I was I may as well stick to the the out and back I was currently on. My feet were starting to get mad at me. The top of these hills were big field sections.

On every decent I started to calculate what may be better, get to the bottom really fast or brake the whole way. I love speed but here is the equation. These are hills that I have hit in excess of 75 km/h on with one seeing 90. So bring in the wind chill factor. If I tuck I'll get to the bottom in 30 seconds doing 60-70 km/h or do I drag it out to 2 minutes doing 30-40km/h. When the cold has sunk in it's kinda like asking yourself do I want to cut my foot of quickly with a chainsaw or slowly with a butter knife?

I ended up cutting the outdoor section a little short rolling into my house at just over two and a half hours. There was no cool down coming into town, I hammered up the hill heading home. The door flew open and I raced to get out of my frozen shoes and get the blood into the feet. My heart rate was staying high enough that it could be called training. Have you every tried to get out of 3 layers of clothing quickly? It is training.

Grabbed my road shoes and jumped on the trainer which is all set up in the sun room ready to go at any given time. Yes the warm, sunny sun room that is out of the wind. Did the last of the time here with just over 3 hours of leg movement. It was a reminder that that little thermometer lies sometimes and never adds wind chill.

I was disappointed, not one of those songs that helps me played in that 3 hours. HMMM, maybe I need to put some structure in the play list!!! Naw, what fun would that be. Time to play with the Molly Monster before the rain sets in.



What will I do today??