Last night I decided that I was doing all or part of today's long ride outdoors, regardless of the temperature. The only thing that was going to hold me back was sleet or snow. To prepare, I went to MEC last night and picked up a new pair of wool socks and a flashing light for the back of my jersey. It was a replacement for the one I lost on my last ride. All night I was looking at the weather channel and it looked like today was going to be around - 11C. I've never ridden in any minus double digits before.
I woke up at 9 am, ate and bundled up to ride, which included chemical hand and toe warmers. It was -17 C with windchill. I wasn't sure how the day was going to unfold. I was scheduled for a 6:40 ride and I wasn't sure how much I was going to do outdoors and how much I'd do indoors. After last week's long "trainer hell" session, I wanted to ride outside as long as I could.
My plan was to ride a 1 hour loop that would go past my house. This would give me a chance to stop to drink and eat. Once I got started, the cold and 27 kph wind was not as bad as I expected. A one hour loop, turned into a three hour loop.
I did the first loop and the timing to stop at my house was perfect. I needed water and food. Bad. I did have a water bottle with me on the bike, but the spout and most of the water inside froze. When I tried to open it, by hitting it on the ground, the top shattered into pieces. The upside was that the top was off and I was able to drink some of the water that wasn't yet ice.
When I got home, I unbundled and as strange as this sounds, none of my clothes were wet from sweat. My hands and feet were cold, but I was bone dry. I had some soup, hot chocolate, bread and peanut butter, boiled eggs and water. Once I finished, rather than ride inside, I decided to go for it and do another loop outside. I bundled up, put on new toe and hand warmers and off I went.
Speed wise, my ride sucked. Right from the moment I left the house I could hardly push my legs hard enough to get my heart rate up. At times, I was riding at 28 kph and my heart rate was 110 bpm. The second loop, my heart rate was higher, but not by much. I figured it rose more from digesting than riding.
I had to have a talk with myself early in the ride. I told myself "not to be discouraged. Training for an Ironman over the winter is a big experiment. Do the best you can and let the chips fall where they may". My concern is my bike speed, it's so slow compared to my normal summer long rides.
In order for me to qualify in Kona, my plan was to have a "monster" bike ride. Biking is my strength. With all the indoor riding, I don't know if having a "monster" bike ride is possible. I'm finding that indoor riding speeds don't compare equally to outdoor riding speeds.
The other thought I had was "this is F@#King crazy!". Not from riding outside in -17 c weather, but from putting so much pressure on myself to race fast. I love training. I prefer training over racing. If I wasn't trying to qualify for Kona, I wouldn't care about my training bike speed. I'd just try to enjoy the ride. Which is what I eventually did, after I accepted the mantra, "let the chips fall where they may".
The second loop was fairly uneventful. Over the course of the ride, I had a couple of squirrels, and a family of deer, cross my path. I also saw the biggest, most beautiful horse I've ever seen. For the second loop, I put chocolate milk in my water bottle and unscrewed the top to drink it. For a while it didn't freeze and then half way through the ride it froze and I had nothing to drink. I was fading a little, but I also brought a couple of "Dad's Oatmeal Cookies". They didn't freeze and did the trick.
For the last 40 minutes, I rode in the dark and with no Sunshine it was even colder. I had two pairs of gloves on and my fingers were still freezing. They felt like they were getting frost bite on the tips. I finished at the perfect time, 5 minutes later and I wouldn't have been able to use my fingers to push the garage code pad to open the door.
I hope that my nose is okay. It was dripping the entire day and I had to keep wiping it with my glove, which is not very soft. I hope it's not chaffed. Last time I chaffed my nose, I was a kid in Winnipeg, probably after playing 12 hours of street hockey.
When I got off the bike and into the house, I was frozen. Seriously. I stretched and had a hot, hot bath. I didn't even have the cold water running at the end of the bath filling. Normally, it would be like a hot tub. I'd be sweating and it would be unbearable. Not this time. It took over 20 minutes for me to start to warm up. Even now, an hour later, my fingers still feel frost bitten and I haven't broken a sweat.
In closing, I have to make one important and insightful comment. "LONG OUTDOOR RIDES IN -17 C WEATHER, IS STILL MUCH MORE ENJOYABLE THAN LONG INDOOR RIDES ON A TRAINER". Period. (Even if you lose a finger or two from frostbite).
Rather than stop the outdoor ride early, and do the last 40 minutes indoors, I kept thinking back to last weekend, and how mentally exhausted I felt, and decided to finish the ride in the dark and cold. Today's picture was taken just as I finished and before I tried to open the garage door. Burrrr....
Long Ride - 6:40:12 / 183.51 km (113.78 miles) / 27.51 kph / 118 avg hr
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18 comments:
You are nuts, then again you grew up in Winnipeg ;)
Congrats on getting the ride done and hopefully no frostbite.
Colleen
Nuts, nuts, nuts, nuts! Of course I say this remembering playing hockey outside in Winnipeg in a -45C windchill :)
Another upside is that no matter what weather you might encounter in a ride, it will never be as bad as this :)
Once again your crazy training inspires me! why ride inside when it is perfectly fine outside!? I will start planning my training rides accordingly! Have a greart weekend!
That was a bit bonzo (nuts), still I can sympathise, that long ride on the trainer definitely drained you. I hope your fingers are intact, and next time take one of the thermal insulated bottles with you, they normally stay just warm enough not to freeze until near the end of a 1 hr loop. They look like Siggs. I just hope you can get one there.
Most good trainers brake when you reach a certain speed, it is a safety measure to stop you flying off into the wall. You are in all likelihood going much much faster.
No long now until LA and warmth :)
C, thanks. You know the drill, Winnipeg makes you tough weather wise. And maybe staying indoors for the winter makes you a little crazy as well. haha. It was fun, no frost bite this am.
R, thanks. Who knows, next weekend might be colder. Oh, wait, I'm going to be in LA for my next long two rides. YES!!!!
JF, Thanks. A few times I used you as motivation, thinking you were outside on that ski hill. haha
JM, as always you have great suggestions. I am going to look into a thermal bottle. And I'm going to put hot chocolate in it. Thanks for reminding me about LA. Yes, I made it, next two rides without snow. Hopefully.
B
Bryan,
Awesome stuff.
Piece of advice - get some hand warmers. The little shake-to-activate pockets you slip into the gloves. The size is okay - the heat is tremendous. Only once have I had a bag break while riding - simple wash up after does the trick. There's even the adhesive foot warmers too. Works great in double digit stuff.
No cold hands - extended rides !!
Brent
B, thanks. Believe it or not, I had the hand and toe warmers. The toe stuff worked better than the hand stuff. The hand ones don't seem to be a powerful. I think I man need to use the toe warmers in my gloves instead.
B
You should apply for official "Crazy Canuck" status Bry. I'm sure they'd let you in! I'm interested in knowing what kinda mind games you experience on a 6 hour indoor bike session vs. a long ride outside in minus 17 degree weather. Way to finish it off!
got one word for you mate, CRAZY. wow. i live in dallas and am not afraid of the cold but most of the people in my club are. if its below 45 i cant get them out for anything. your commitment is amazing.
As far as Rocktape is concerned. Yes i will ship to Canada. I might just have to change the shipping up a little as i have a fixed $3.95 for anywhere in the states. what do small packages normally cost to get up there from the states. if you order 3 or less rolls it will come in an envelope style package.
Anyway, Rocktape..
ROCKTAPE is the only Kinesiology tape engineered to meet the demands of endurance athletes like runners, swimmers and cyclists. Unlike other products, ROCKTAPE can be used both to apply compression to promote recovery, or decompression to relieve pain and swelling. Similar to the Kinesiology tape Lance Armstrong wrote about in “Every Second Counts”, ROCKTAPE is used by professional and amateur athletes everywhere.
If you are interested in ordering please use my website and not the ROCKTAPE site. the URL is
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check out the rocktape videos on my site to see how to tape yourself. there is also more information on the rocktape website such as testimonials etc.
Thanks for the plug TP
M, thanks. Good question. Indoors is tough. I have no fixed strategy, other than to try and not look at the time or on long rides get off every hour or try to watch movies, youtube, tv, read, surf the net. It's mind numbing. I also don't like the sensation of sweating so much I'm soaked on the bike.
For outdoors, on long rides, I always think of it as an out and back. If I get to 1 hour, I know it's 2, because I HAVE to ride back home. No choice. Once I get to 2 hours, it's really 4, etc. But once I get to the actual 4:45 of any ride, time no longer becomes an issue. 5 hours and more seem to come quicker and are less painful. I'm not sure if it's because you know your into the accomplishment range and anything else is bonus or if your mind goes into a new dimension. Either way, I like it. Frankly, if I can get to 6 hours, I can do 10.
Hope this helps,
B
JAM, thanks for the info, I'll have to watch the video.
B
Speaking of crazy things, today I went to Cineplex and watched the Race Across the Sky movie. It is about Leadville, Colorado 100 miles bike trail ride. The ride is as crazy as you get and after watching the movie my wife and I said that one we are going to do this. Lance won it this year, and he said about it: “The Leadville Trail 100 is one of those events...Like the New York City Marathon or the Ironman, where people say, one day I want to do that. It's the purest level of passion that you can get.". The movie is really good and I highly recommend it. They are going to release it on DVD next month.
Cut and paste error. Forgot to include the first part of the message:
Congrats B. on finishing another long bike in the winter. 6:40 hours on the bike is impressive in any conditions, but at -17 C is absolutely amazing.
D, thanks. Also thanks for the heads up on the Movie. I'm going to check that out. Sounds great. Let me know when your doing leadville I'll join you. One day I plan on doing the leadville 100 run as well.
Must have been great watching it on the big screen. Do they allow you to bring a bike and trainer in the theater. haha.
B
B
Agree with everyone else. you are one crazy dude. Well done on the training, you are really doing everything possible to have a great race in China
J
Thanks J. As long as I can stay injury free and drop a little more weight, I can go with no regrets. Still big time worried about the bike speed. But, like I said, if I go with no regrets that's all I can ask for.
B
I am not sure yet when I am going to do the Leadville 100 Bike, but it is definitely on my "to do" list. I checked the Leadville Trail 100 Ultramarathon on Wikipedia and it sounds really tough. The say about it that " The course is difficult, with runners climbing and descending 15,600 feet (4,800 m), with elevations ranging between 9,200-12,620 feet. Because of its difficulty, it is common for less than half the starters to complete the race ahead of its 30 hour time limit." . Man, running and climbing mountains for 30 hours non-stop it'd definitely qualify as an epic moment (I am using your substitute for the words "crazy thing to do" :-)). Even though it sounds way tougher than the mountain bike ride, the logistics are simpler because: a) you do not need to buy a new bike; b) they do not have a lottery for this one, it is a first-come, first-served registration process. So maybe next year, or the year after that we'll do together the Ultramarathon. My wife wants to do it as well. Actually, after I read about it and I was kind of like "I think this is a little bit too crazy for me" and she was like "C'mon, don't be a chicken, we'll do it together" :-).
You are crazy! Just found your blog and I love it. Thanks for sharing.
ARX, glad you like it. It's fun to live. haha.
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