Ready for Cold Weather?

In the next week or so we will be issuing the most sought after and ever coveted Holiday Riding Schedule 2010. This schedule of rides will have our usual arsenal of shorter winter rides as well as two long rides we are going to attempt this Fall. If you have never done a long ride in cooler temperatures you are in for a real treat. Gone are the need to wipe your brow, drink incessantly and be pretty much spent by the time the temps hit 90. You can ride seemingly forever without the need to stop and fill the bottles. If you wear the right amount of layers, you can keep your personal temps at a level that is very comfortable...right between too cold and too hot. It can be a real pleasure to ride in chilly weather...or not.

I will put my cold weather riding prowess up against just about anyone...with the exception of Rob "El Roberto" Francis and perhaps John "Gianni Bugno" Duke. But those two dudes were born and raised in the frozen artic barren wasteland of the Great Lakes Region, so that's not a fair comparison. The main secret about cold weather riding is this; find how much to wear so you feel comfortable. This will be different for each individual and will take a bit of trial and error to discover.

Experiment. Go out by yourself at different temperatures at different times of the day. Try several layers, especailly those that can be later stowed in a back pocket. Also, here are some tricks from our cycling brethren up north:
1. Try a neck gaiter for temperature regulation (pull it over your mouth and nose on the downhills and into the wind and pull it back down when you are climbing)
2. Wear arm warmers under your long sleeve jersey
3. Several thin layers work much better than one or two thick ones (use the zippers on the layers often for temperature regulation)
4. Ear warmers work great for all but the coldest of rides
5. Try some toe warmers instead of booties which are heavier and tend to make your feet sweat, thus giving you cold feet

This winter riding season, many of us have expressed a real desire to not lose the gains in our fitness we have acquired through much hard work this past summer. Therefore, a strong effort will be made to offer rides throughout the Eating Season (uh, Halloween through New Year's Day) and through the chilly months until we emerge from the "winter of our discontent into glorious summer." ( in case you were wondering, "that's Shakespeare boys"...and that quote was the jockey who rode Seabiscuit) But I digress, uh, were was I...oh yes, glorious summer...which happens to be around the 1st of March!

So, we will keep up to date the Rides Calendar at the bottom of this Blogazoidal. However, I most likely will not be posting as many blogifications as I have in the recent past. This is due to less fodder for the posts because there will be fewer of you characters riding! But, mainly because Coolio hates to ride in any temperature below 70. Less fodder, less posts. More fodder, more posts...It's a math thing.

Speaking of chilly temps...or at least I was thinking of chilly temps. We have decided to start this week's Saturday ride at 9am instead of 8am. This will give the weather a chance to warm above the low 40s before we head out on the road. (I'm giving 4 to 1 odds that we don't see the new Coolio.* Any takers?) We still start at Fish and Wildlife and we'll still do the same route, just start an hour later. Also, don't forget to turn your clock, (Spring forward, Fall back) this Sunday morning when you get up. Or, Saturday evening before going to bed. Bummer, no more daylight for midweek rides. However, we will be doing a midweek Bring Headlights Ride throughout the darker months.

Check the Rides Calendar at the bottom of this Bodacious Blogazoidal. And I'll...

See you out on the road,
Bob

* New Coolio: This is the "new" title Bobby gave himself a few weeks back. He claims that it means he will show up to more rides and take pulls, (stop laughing, that's not polite), and generally come out in the Spring a "new" Coolio because of all the winter training he has completed. Uh, please take note of Coolio's Weedhopper Training Matrix at the bottom of this Bloganoid for the "real" training Bobby will be doing this winter. (I'm still giving 4 to 1...)