Spinistry Post Ride Write up

I am notorious for not realizing my bounderies. 

My brain still thinks my body can do things, it did, even 6 months ago.

My last entry was prepping for this bike race (which i didn't race, but in hindsight, maybe i should have).

There are a few golden rules when you strike out on an endurance ride.  
The most important, is don't try out new gear when you're far from your home.
Well, when you going to try it?
I guess my answer should have been, "i'll only ride 30 miles, instead of 50"...
but we go back to me not knowing my bounderies.

A friend had posted her cold weather gear, and doubting in my own skills, since it's been a while i cold rode, I quickly got online and Ebay'ed some stuff.

Here is what I discovered:

I got a Castelli skull cap to go under my helmet. 
Bad move.  IT was too big and funnelled cold air right past my frozen ears.
I will return to using the padded winter lining for my Giro helmet, and ear headband. 
The benefit of this, is that you can pull it down when riding if you get too hot.
OR...i should have gone with a full winter cap i knew that would fit.
First lesson learned.

Gloves. I can never get this right. I take that back. From just chilly weather, I do have it down. My biggest beef with big heavy gloves is that my hands get too hot. For some reason, while my hand are too hot, i shut down. I discovered that wearing the the smallest but well fitting fingerless gloves, with a thin glove lining OVER them, works so well. When your bod heats up, you can yank off the liners and stuff them in your pocket.  This a wonderful solution if the temp is 55-70.
Out in the fields past Denton, the temp was 27F, and a touch windy. Let's face it, it's always windy outside the city.  I had these norweigen heavy gloves that someone sold me at a CX race.  They are probably really good around 60F, but there are NOT good at 50F overcast and wet, nor are they good at 27 and brisk.  So, my fingertips froze.

As for the hot hands i stuff in the back of them. Big Fail.  It turns out, hot hands are wonderful for standing around, but air over them leaches all the heat. Useless.  

Digging around my winter gear, i found some lobster gloves.  I will try those next time. They have the lobster covers that can be pulled back if you hands get hot.  Next time.

So speaking of hot hands, i placed the flat feet type in my shoes. Another fail. Wind over hothands tech is useless.  

While on the topic of my bike shoes...i tried Belgian Booties.  I believe i had half the equation here.  I can't wear wool, of any kind. Even the smart wool. I am really allergic to it.  I have to find other solutions. I should have gone with the heavy winter wind block shoe covers. Instead, i go with over socks.  I swear i was wearing air conditioners on my feet. Needless to say, my feet froze.  

What didn't fail? 5 layers of clothes on my torso.  Not counting my sport's top, i had one a shot sleeve base layer, SS jersey, a SS Rabba Castelli jersey, a LS Rabba Castelli Jersey, AND a Mirage team wind vest. That was important, as I'm on team and have to represent.

Finally, i had on full, winter, fleece lined tights.  All of this weighed me down.
I'm not a fan of winter.  As the day warmed up, i felt better. 

Now the rub, and i mean rub.  For some reason, the way my CX bike is setup for those clothes, my chamois rubbed me in all the wrong places. By the time i got to about 30 miles, i was in so much saddle rub pain that i had to stand up a lot.

Around mile 6, i noticed that my Garmin was not showing me the route. I stopped the computer and restarted it.  Then i forgot.  I really thought I couldn't take the pain anymore, and my computer said 16 miles. I had an internal melt down.  My boyfriend then informed me we were at mile 32, and suddenly my spirits were elevated. Thank the maker.

The last 20 miles were pretty brutal. Gravel grinding is funny, especially if you haven't ridden it in a while.  It can be pretty intimidating, with all that gear, trying to shift, stay upright, not crash, avoid huge road hazards, etc.  However, by mile 25, you relax your grip and let her buck.  Going downhill fast with ruts and pot holes isn't my gig.  My eyes would water because of the cold wind.  The baraclava around my neck did wonders to cover my face at times, but i still had a good amount of windburn and chafing.

If it hadn't been for my boyfriend, encouraging me, and letting me whine when i felt scared or horrible, I would probably still be riding around the farms.  

The upside, is that i was so worn out, that I felt great. I know that sounds weird, but depleting the body means one thing. FOOD.  FOOD, glorious, Food!

Don't break your golden rules, and if you do, keep the miles low.

I hear this weekend is going to be 70F.  I can't relate how happy i am about that!!!

Clear Skies!