No run for Kim means a ride for me. No rain means the Trek. The alarm went off at 5:30 and I was pretty slow moving getting out of the house. I wanted to do 50 miles but figured I needed to be useful for the rest of the day so I had settled in on 40 - a nice ride down to Carnation, over Tolt hill and back.
It looked nice and clear the Sun was just about to peak around Mt. Si as I got ready to go. I spent some time looking for a missing arm warmer (the pair got separated coming back from 7 Hills) but gave up and I decided I didn’t want to wake the dog that was sleeping in front of the drawer that had the other pair in it. I figured I’d just head out in my summer attire - shoes (no covers), shorts (no leggings), jersey (short sleeve), gloves (standard, no fingers) and I’d “Warm up” quick enough.
I was so confident with this arrangement I didn’t even bother to check the thermometer. When I was much younger I used to do this “warm up” for early morning rides so I figured it would still work. He he he, jokes on me.
I live at the top of a hill that while only being 130ft high it’s a 10% average grade so I easily hit 35mph coasting out of my driveway. As I descended this morning, I began to shiver pretty bad and actually believe I said something out loud about the cold (no children were around at 6 AM to hear this). Since I was soooooo cold, I was up for a fast warm up so I was pushing it a little harder than normal.
This faster pace was a bit of a double edged sword - faster meant more wind chill. I didn’t really take the time to debate or empirically figure out the optimum riding speed for the temperature. I was just thinking about adjusting my route to include as much of the rising Sun as possible. I was through town and heading out to Renig. As I went, I noticed the morning fog. A cold looking morning fog, was hanging out at the base of Mt. Si. Right where I was heading.
I looked at my bare arms and noticed that even at 20 mph my arm hair was standing straight out from the goose bumps on my skin. My fingers were trying to find a spot to hide behind the break leavers that would provide some shelter from the cold, and I decided I needed to turn around and get a jacket and my full finger gloves. So I did.
I was back at the house a mere 23 minutes after leaving it and even the climb up hadn’t done anything meaningful to warm me up. I stepped inside and changed gloves and put on a jacket and stepped back outside noticing I was having a bit of a hard time holding on to he door knob.
Back on the front porch (well more of an entry way/walk at our house) I looked out over the valley and it looked cold. Very cold. And the expected warmth from the jacket and gloves were not materializing. I figured I’d be warmed up and would soon feel the heat from the jacket. Granted I didn’t give it much more than 20 seconds but I decided to head back in and try to get warm in bed.
I crawled back in bed and got a “you’re freezing, don’t come near me” from my wife (which I don’t blame her one bit for) so I snuggled down and tried to think warm thoughts, half (well, maybe only 1/4 if I’m honest) thinking I’d get warm and then go back out since it was really nice (read not raining) and I wanted some miles. I quickly fell back asleep and didn’t really wake up until 11 AM at which time I still didn’t quite feel warm yet still.
Next time I’ll check the temperature and dress better.
Workout:
- Type: Cycle
- Date: 05/31/2008
- Time: 06:09:00
- Total Time: 00:23:10.00
- Average Heart rate: 164
- Max Heart rate: 190
- Distance: 5.73 miles
- Average Speed: 14.84 mph
- Max Speed: 35.1 mph
- Average Cadence: 80
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on Saturday, May 31st, 2008 at 6:09 am and is filed under Cycle, Snovalley.
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