I think, Dear Reader, that I've lost my mind. I went for a bike ride this weekend in 48 degree weather. It was a beautiful day, but coooooold. Fortunately, the guy I normally ride with gave me some hand-me-downs of leg warmers (think neoprene thigh highs) and arm warmers. I wore the leg and arm warmers, my cycling bibs, a pair of neoprene tights, a long sleeved jersey, my regular cycling gloves under a pair of winter cycling gloves, and a windproof vest. And I was still a bit cold in spots, like my toes.
The good news is that I rode a little over 15 miles with a 12.6 mph average. It's not great, but it's good for the first ride of the year. I'm only 985 miles from my 1,000 mile goal for 2007. My legs were achy later in the evening, but two Tylenol took care of that.
The other good news is that I finally feel like I'm riding MY bike, not some bike I bought. This might (or might not) sound strange, but it's true. I got on the bike, clipped in my shoes, and went. No worrying about position or equipment or saddle height...just simple pedaling. It was a pretty cool feeling and it felt great to be "comfortable" on the bike.
Anyway...the first long ride of the year is the 62 mile option in the Natchez Trace Century this April. I'll keep you posted.
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Yeah, 48 degrees is a bit too cold for bike riding.
However, up here in the northeast it is about 9 degrees today, so 48 is like a heat wave.
Posted at February 6, 2007 08:13 AM