Holy smokes its still cold outside! I only own so much ski gear and it chafes a ton when you're out for a long ride. Thus, I'm relegated to the trainer (albeit staring at a new tv screen). Jack Frost TT is coming up on the 23rd, my OBRA license should be in the mail and my new TT bike is nearly complete, (just have to glue my front tire on and setup the disc wheel). My apologies for the lack of posts the past two weeks, I've been putting in a good amount of training hours, fully recovered from "the sickness" and have discovered some fun gravel roads to ride on. For a long time my comfort level on gravel was equivalent to shaking hands with a hot iron; sometimes it happens but nobody enjoys it. Lately I've found some roads that are hard packed gravel climbs I can hammer on which makes my comfort level slightly above neurotic. I know it's been improving my bike handling skills which is good because my nerves of steel still need some hardening, that crash last March shook the bejeezeus out of me.
Onward and upward I say, both literally and figuratively, there is no such things as a flat road around here so even a "mostly flat day" results in at least 2k of elevation gain. I've got a few days off from work this week and I'm toying with the idea of getting in some more training down in Eugene, there's a chance of snow and it's going to be blistery cold, we shall see how the next day pans out. Hours have been creeping back up to 15/week, I've got a menu of Portables to make (coconut, date, chocolate chip rice cakes) and one very muddy bike to clean. Today the high temp calls for a balmy 30 degrees or -1.11111111111111 degrees celsius. Since I've got my new TT bike, looks like it's time to get comfortable on it with something on the tele.
The latest and greatest news comes in the way of clothing , this is a DOUBLE pro tip:
#31322- Buy a nice pair of heavy fleece gloves, like the Black Diamond Windweight, they're amazing for nearly all riding conditions, even while soaked through they will keep you warm (shop in the ski department).
#31323- Suck it up and buy and gore tex rain jacket that is slim cut for cycling. Finally ponied up for this, I went out for 4hrs, rained on the whole time, 36 degrees standing still windchill was below freezing, all I had on underneath was a long sleeve base layer and I was warm and toasty. Worth it's weight in gold (ok that would be too heavy, let's go with carbon fiber)
Whew! I bet that blew your socks off, I'll post again after the weekend to further update on training in the cold, nastiness that is Oregon in February, looks like I'll have to put off tanning my legs for another week. Until next time!
Cheers,
-Andrew-
Onward and upward I say, both literally and figuratively, there is no such things as a flat road around here so even a "mostly flat day" results in at least 2k of elevation gain. I've got a few days off from work this week and I'm toying with the idea of getting in some more training down in Eugene, there's a chance of snow and it's going to be blistery cold, we shall see how the next day pans out. Hours have been creeping back up to 15/week, I've got a menu of Portables to make (coconut, date, chocolate chip rice cakes) and one very muddy bike to clean. Today the high temp calls for a balmy 30 degrees or -1.11111111111111 degrees celsius. Since I've got my new TT bike, looks like it's time to get comfortable on it with something on the tele.
The latest and greatest news comes in the way of clothing , this is a DOUBLE pro tip:
#31322- Buy a nice pair of heavy fleece gloves, like the Black Diamond Windweight, they're amazing for nearly all riding conditions, even while soaked through they will keep you warm (shop in the ski department).
#31323- Suck it up and buy and gore tex rain jacket that is slim cut for cycling. Finally ponied up for this, I went out for 4hrs, rained on the whole time, 36 degrees standing still windchill was below freezing, all I had on underneath was a long sleeve base layer and I was warm and toasty. Worth it's weight in gold (ok that would be too heavy, let's go with carbon fiber)
Whew! I bet that blew your socks off, I'll post again after the weekend to further update on training in the cold, nastiness that is Oregon in February, looks like I'll have to put off tanning my legs for another week. Until next time!
Cheers,
-Andrew-