About 20 of us got together to meet quickly then take a spin around the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. It was 11 degrees at 9 am! By the time we actually got on the course, 2 1/2 hours later it was in the low 20's. That's a tolerable level of cold. Tolerable if you're dressed for it, that is! It's a beautiful, clear, sunny day and you really have to take advantage of that.
Like I said, it was a quick ride, 10 1/2 miles. Really short but still enough time for two stops. One for a photo op and to remove the chemical "toe warmers" from my shoes. The other to help a teamate who's chain had popped off her chain ring.
The hill that has always been my nemesis was actually fine. It's never been "fine" this early in the season. Since that's the case, I have very, very good things to look forward to this season.
Here's a list of the gear I was wearing. No frost bite for me today!
- wool socks plus neoprene toe covers over my cycling shoes
- thermal full length cycling pants
- long sleeve base layer, long sleeve fleece top, wind shell
- neck gaitor thing
- glove liners, cycling gloves, fleece gloves
- helmet and sunglasses
I was completely warm so I probably could have ridden more. My hands and neck felt a little like what I imagine Gumby feels like. Kind of wide and only a little bit flexible. All very serviceable though, so this is good! I'm so super glad I've gotten my cold weather ensemble down to a science so early in the year.
For anyone that's new to this site, DD and I are training to complete America's Most Beatiful Bike Ride in Lake Tahoe, NV on June 1st. We're raising money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It's our third event and promises to be exciting and quite scenic. Our goal is to raise $10,000 this year! To help the cause, you can donate securely at our website. You can also go there to see our thoroughly photoshopped photo of El Tour de Tucson.
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