Recap.

Alright...

Friday: I did get up early, 3:15 am. By the time I ate, drank coffee, used the bathroom, packed up, drove to St. Joe it was 5:00 am. Others at the Park n Ride I'm sure were wondering what the hell I was doing, but I was gone before any questions could be asked.
My headlamp worked very well. It gets the nod for the Arrowhead. While the temp was not "crazy" cold it was 13 degrees and the wind towards the end came up ferociously, meaning it was really blowing. Riding the snowmobile trails in the dark was pretty fun. Knowing the trails on the downhills helped. I'll have to play it a bit more cautious at the Arrowhead.
The trail, more or less, went like this: St. Joe, Richmond, Cold Spring, Rockville, St. Joe. The section to Cold Spring kind of sucked, followed Hwy 23, but the rest was in the woods, through the rolling hills...nice.
My hands were great the entire time. My feet started fine, chilled a bit, warmed back up, and stayed fine. I came to the conclusion that I will use my Lake winter boots for the Arrowhead. There are 3 checkpoints where I can add heated insoles, etc. if needed and change socks as well.
Overall it was 5.5 hours for 41 miles. I was flying!

Saturday: I worked this weekend so the morning was spent at the gym doing some recovery, core, and minimal lifting.

Sunday: Tom M. and I left my house at 8 am for some asphalt and gravel. The starting temp was -13 and had me questioning if I wanted to go or stay in bed. Glad I went. It was great. There was absolutely no wind! The sun was out and cars were scarce. I ditched the Bar Mitts for my expedition sized mitts. The hands were actually hot! The feet stayed fine too. 3 hours was the total ride time.

I'm feeling more ready for the Arrowhead after this week of riding. This week is suppose to be a pretty cold one. I have some Pugsley rides planned. I need to load the bike up and ride it as it would be at the Arrowhead. Count down in on.

But first, tonight...we sled.

Later.