It was forecast to be chilly overnight but it turned out to be a bit colder than that. Nothing by real world standards but -3.6 deg C. I went out for my ride and free wheeled over ice a couple of times next to a frozen lake only to find out the ride was put back by an hour
Went back an hour later and whilst the sun had come out and it was only just below 0, folk were all over the cycle path I had freewheeled over earlier, and I decided to wheel the bike over the ice. A second later my choice was vindicated and I ended up carefully dismounting completely. Got to the meet only to find out it had been changed to a gravel bike ride. Me and the couple of others on road bikes wisely decided to go home.
Got a message from folk that they were going for an afternoon ride and it was now glorious sunshine and there was warmth in it, which was a good job, as I was early and some folk were late So I took a picture while I was waiting.
Today’s ride was more mud than snow and that was mostly being on “hard”, stony tracks!
30km with 660m of climbing. I was on the singlespeed fat bike again - just one short stepped and iced rock climb beat me for about ten metres. Looking at my HR data just 12 minutes out of nearly four hours was above Z2 and only 20 minutes in Z2 so pretty steady.
Fat bike tyres don’t half throw up a lot of mud and water the bike took quite a bit of cleaning.
I was out for a spin today with a friend of mine. I was in front looking down at the trail, and he yelled at me to look up. Two moose were on the trail 20 feet ahead. Good thing he yelled at me! They didn’t seem too upset by us and gradually left the trail and we could pass.
Apparently it does rain in California, and of course it had to happen on my mini training camp weekend.
Well the forecast said after sunset, but it turned into a spa afternoon and the bike got a little mud bath. 2.5 hours in 50F / 10C temps and light showers were perfect for testing out my winter kit Time to wash everything, and dig out the fenders.
Hill repeats today. It was just 15mi in 1:40, excluding the time slumped over the bars sucking wind and unable to do much else), but the target climbs were hard with the core bits at 18-24%. At ~2C and some rain since the last snow, the trails were a mixture of no snow/ice to crunchy snow, to bits of ice. However, traction wasn’t an issue on the climbs and was only a nominal concern on short segments elsewhere on the ride.
The hill repeats were 5 focused climbs on 2 different segments, the first and last were the same with the 2nd-4th the same repeated back to back. But it’s not flat here so…
Nice!! How cold does it get there over winter? I find winter not ideal for hard outside intervals. Once I sweat, then the rest of the riding becomes very uncomfortable because I get too cold. I’ve gotten better at proactively delayering, but that can only go so far. So I try keep my riding as much as possible below threshold.
A nice variation on my training ride. Only 3 turned up though. I am not sure if the put folk off and/or the extended route
After the first half nearly all into the wind the rain was starting to get to me and when the other two sprinted up Belton Hill I could only sit and pedal consistently at my all day pace. Not a good sign I thought with half the route still to come. Surprisingly I think it was the consistent warm up I needed and things came back to life
With the forecast of rain I took the short route back. Typically it has been dry ever since
When I got back from the ride although the bike was mucky the chain was clean. So I lazily gave it a wipe down and lube. Its supposed to be worse tomorrow so a proper clean will wait till after that.
Snuck out instead of doing Martin Hill today, this one is for all the people in the back of the peanut gallery who never shut up with their “indoor is not cycling” nonsense
After our soaking yesterday the skies cleared overnight and a torrential rain belt was blown in. Sunday’s rides are more relaxed though so I went for multiple layers. It must’ve nearly doubled my body weight At the end of the ride I was vindicated after having been dry and warm the whole way round.
@DaveWh two years ago, (out the door) temps dropped to -15 C (I actually think they went a bit lower, but -15 was my limit for riding). Last year was barely winter. This year, temps dropped to around -2C but right now are hanging around 0-2C with it rising a bit this week. As far as getting chilled, I find that’s more of a problem with sustained efforts, which wasn’t yesterday. Merino as a base, or doubled-up as a base with another layer or two, helps but the next layers matter, too. Kit matters. That’s not to say my layers aren’t soaked at the end of the ride.
@ellotheth, no. In general, when it’s icy, there simply isn’t enough consistency with the thickness of the ice and underneath is too rocky. There are areas where the studs would be helpful but it’s easier just to ride at a lower elevation. The icy section in the pictures and nearby was, generally, “soft” or easily avoided.
It’s sort of moot now, or at least for a bit, as we had heavy rain last night and the temps rose to 2-4C. Hopefully our winter isn’t over.
This is from my run this morning at slightly higher elevation my ride yesterday. The icy bit was crushable and not slick. (I’ve neglected my running so much in favor of the gravel bike that today’s 8mi, with over 1400’ of climbing, was 3% of my YTD mileage. IOW, I’m nowhere close to my 800-1000 mi of running of previous years because of the gravel bike.)
It was that temp here this morning. Right now, it’s a balmy 10F (-12C). I frequently ride in these temps - just can’t do hard intervals.
Yesterday, however, I rode with a friend of mine who is faster than me. I was pushing hard to keep up with him, harder than I normally would, so ended up getting pretty damp with sweat. I got cold on the descent back down, event after adding another layer.
That’s a good climb regardless of the ground condition. I don’t know what your layers are and there’s only so much they (the layers) & you can do. To state the obvious, you need to limit the overheating on the climb since with that descent you won’t be working hard to generate heat, and keep the sweat in your layers warm, for a while. You’re probably doing merino already. For me, in -15, I’m wearing a thin merino long sleeve with a thick merino-blend as the next (these are generally running kit from SOAR Running or Odlo), another merino layer or Rapha’s now-discontinued Pro Team Thermal Base with neck gaiter (I wish I bought more than one of these), a long-sleeve jersey that does reasonably well against the wind, and then a thick jacket (my winter jacket is Stolen Goat’s Climb & Conquer series), a neck gaiter (if not wearing the Pro Team Thermal Base), and a hat (prefer Stolen Goat’s winter hats). For yesterday, which was only 0-2C, a short-sleeve merino base, the Rapha above, and loose-ish Rapha merino long-sleeve under the Stolen Goat (a good hi-vis option when there are hunters about, which I didn’t expect But with that downhill… I suppose it depends on where you feel the coldest / where you feel the sweat freezing.
So I took a picture while I was waiting.
and that was mostly being on “hard”, stony tracks!
the bike took quite a bit of cleaning.
Time to wash everything, and dig out the fenders.
put folk off and/or the extended route 
At the end of the ride I was vindicated after having been dry and warm the whole way round.
