All City Tour.

Note to self: check the temp before you ride.

Yesterday I got out for a ride on some gravel and asphalt roads. Getting out of town kind of sucks but once in the country things are fine. Studded tires definitely help.

First thing I noticed was it colder than I thought it would be. I checked the weather the night before and it called for single digits but not bad. Turns out it was -6 with a sw/w wind. About 45 minutes in I thought I may have to call the ride short. I switched the GPS from data to the map and time seemed to move a bit faster.

My left foot started to get cold and I started to get bummed. If I can't make it for a 3 hour ride how am I going to survive the Arrowhead? The foot came around and I didn't have my feet protected and ready like I will for the Arrowhead. My hands got cold too but was easily remedied with some heat packs. My set up on my All City is not my favorite. I have some Bar Mitts for road bars but am not a big fan at all. I have the biggest size and my hands still feel cramped with mid weight gloves on. Any spot my hands push against the sides of the Bar Mitts creates an almost instant cold spot. I was missing the toasty pogies on the Pugsley.

Ended up with 3.5 hours. I was very happy with that, considering how I felt for the first bit of the ride. It was nice to have the cold temps to get used to that kind of pain again and remember how to "deal" with it.

I somehow lost my food for the ride so I bonked pretty hard for the last 45 minutes or so. I kept thinking of a Pro team that would intentionally make it's riders bonk and then ride more to get them mentally tougher for such occasions. I just hope to have food next time and not pull another "Matt N." again!

Later.