A cold ride, snaped chain, crazy drivers, and legs made of lead, yeah!

It was suppose to be 40F today, maybe it was at some point, in the sun where there was no wind, but not where I rode today, burrrr.  I thought maybe I was over dressed for my 25 mile road ride I did today, I was ok until I did the first 1 mile 4-10% grade climb, I was wet with sweat at the top and it only took a few minutes of coasting down the back side of the hill to realize the I was in for a fun next hour, esp. since the sun was starting to set and things where cooling down more, and I was riding in dimly lit hilly woods.

Then I almost got side swiped by some 200 year old lady that had no business behind a steering wheel anymore, I was on the shoulder and instead of moving away from me, she actually swerved towards me and came inches of hitting me, a few minutes later my my poor shifting problems I’ve been having the last couple rides since the mechanic “fixed” it, got a lot worse then my chain ended up snapping about 2 miles from my house, luckily I had my chain tool with me and had myself back in action in a matter of minutes.

And then to top things off I felt like my bike weighed 100lbs, it was really weird, or I just felt really weak. Maybe I just didn’t have much power because I’m just getting over a cold? I wonder if riding in the cold makes you ride slower because the metabolism in your legs isn’t at an ideal temperature? I don’t know but I’m not impressed with my riding right now cold or not. My hams and glutes where cramping up in the first 15 minutes, but eventually got better, not sure what that was about, probably my new position I’m experimenting with.

I’m jut getting over a cold and I wonder what effects that has on your ability to ride fast?

But there where some good things today I noticed too

1. I was climbing slow, but my heart rate was a lot lower then where it would be last summer doing the same hills, even though I was climbing and pushing a bit on the flats today the most my heart rate got up too was maybe 86% and that was my peak heart rate most of the ride was 70-80% even when climbing, normally I’d be at my threshold around 92% MHR most of the time when climbing.
2. I can tell I have more strength and leg power etc. but I need to put the saddle time in to take full advantage of it as I don’t have much muscular endurance, but I definitely have more power then before, and my legs don’t feel sore at all now after riding where before they’d be all rubbery and tired. If I pushed myself a little I could see that I could average over 20MPH on the flats without too much trouble, I just need to do a bunch of riding on the road and get my position dialed in.

Things I learned in general today

1. I need to get thicker gloves for when it’s down near the 30’s
2. Might not be a bad idea to have a dry shirt or two to bring with you change out after any killer hill climbs, or just wear more layers so even if you get wet you won’t get a chill. Maybe just wear a scuba diving suit lol
3. It’s smart to have your tools with you, glad I had a chain tool with me, I would have been screwed without it.
4. The crappier the conditions the more you should focus your route closer to home so you can back inside if you have trouble with the cold or you have a major mechanical.
5. You might want to get one of those side view mirrors, so you can see if someone is coming up behind you and about to swerve into you.

Review of  position changes

1. 1. the handle bars feel much better in my hands now that they’re rotated up a bit
   2. I think I put the seat up to high now? I’m just guessing as my lower back and back of legs where hurting
   3. I think I need to move my cleats forward I think I want my foot more under me.
   4. I’m probably too far forward on the seat’s fore-aft now

Clothing adjustments

I need to make some changes to my cycling clothing when riding when it’s in the 30’s, I have down to 40’s figured out

Today Temperature ~33F, and I had on

1. Head: Hood:
   Seemed to be fine until I was going down the hill after climbing, probably not much you can do hear about it though.
2. Hands: Crappy gloves:
   The gloves got to go, they sucked once they got sweating from climbing, they turned into ice cubes
3. Upper body: Thin underarmor type shirt> realitevly think polar feelce> cycling wind breakerMy upper body wasn’t too bad, but once I started climbing and got slightly sweaty the downhills got chilly, and I could feel my back get a little cold and the muscle in my back started to tighten up. So I’m thinking next ride I’ll put either another layer on or use the thicker polar fleece I have.
4. Legs: Thin pair of cycling shorts>long underwear>cycling tights>wind/rain pants
   I didn’t like how the rain pants where a bit tight, but they blocked the wind and I don’t think I was over or under dressed there.
   I think I was dressed good in the legs but I need to either get tights that are windproof or find slightly loser wind/rain pants.
5. Feet: regular cycling shoes and neoprene booties
   Feet where fine, no problems