NUMB 3rs

It's finally that time of year, the time when I struggle to go outside and ride or force myself onto the trainer. Mother Nature seems to finally be getting around to punishing us with some cold weather which is looking to get even colder here in the next week or so.

Saturday I went to listen to Hunter Allen present on training with power. I was impressed with the amount of knowledge he possesses and not just theoretical but practical. If I had the money for a coach I think he would be my first choice, but since I don't I have to settle for trying to decipher my own power files. What was also good was that he can take the science (complex math basically) and break it down into something a cyclist can understand. If it were Coogan lecturing I probably would have felt like Rob Morrow on Numb3rs trying to understand his genius brother explain how a math equation can solve a crime spree. Just give it to me straight doc, I'm a bit slow on the uptake.

Sunday I decided the trainer just wasn't going to cut it and that it WOULD get above freezing outside. I doubt it ever did and even so, the wind took any chance of it actually feeling that way out of the question. To prepare myself for the ride I prep'ed my usual high calorie breakfast, chocolate chip pancakes, here you go Nystrom, these pics are for you. About 2 1/2 hours into the ride I wish I went with the extra calorie version and added Nutella.


Oh, yeah. King syrup is the key. Aunt Jemima may have the pancakes but her syrup is just too watery.










Don't be afraid, they'll burn off after 3 hours of just trying to stay warm in this weather, not just from riding.


So let's just say it was cold, fortunately I took a backup set of gloves because 45 minutes into the ride I couldn't feel my hands. At about 2 hours, I tried to pull my fingers out of my glove using my teeth and couldn't figure out why my fingers wouldn't slip out. I finally realized as I was biting the tip of a glove finger my teeth weren't clenched together and that my finger must be in between them and that's why when I tugged the glove didn't come off. That was fun.

The worst part of the ride wasn't the cold though, it was riding down a hill I can usually coast over 25mph on and realizing I'm pedaling around 300 watts in the 39x15 and only going about 17mph. That sucked.

Looks like this week is indoors, the temps are in the 20's with the wind chill keeping it in the single digits. I hope it warms up as I've planned a team ride out in Frederick, time to get some serious miles in, the MASS schedule has finally been posted so there's something to work towards.