Snow/Cold

So let me preface this blog post with I'm tired of making the excuse its too cold to do something. Today it got up to a balmy 31 despite the weather saying it was only going to get to 23. The sun really warmed things up but the wind... cut through you like a dagger. So I decided I'd try my hands at riding a bike today.

It snowed in Atlanta on Thursday night. It left some awesome ice patches on the roads that don't get any sun and man it sucks. So I wanted to see how hard it was to ride a bike in said ice. Ice sucks. I ate it hard on my way home trying to stop. I decided to skid a little just to slide across the ice and I went down hard. This was a minor setback as I had bigger plans for the day.

I got my trusty mountain bike and headed for the woods to a secluded trail nearby. There was tons of powder still fresh in the woods. The sunny parts were all melted, but the shady parts were totally covered in snow. A few bike tires had spelled out the best lines for me luckily as this is a mighty rooty trail. A steel bike behaves differently when its sub freezing temperatures I felt like. I couldn't ever get up to speed as I normally would have, but I felt a bit over cautious. My brakes had shifted and my front was rubbing really bad on the disc, but I could not hear it as the constant sound of snow crushing under my tires drowned out most of the subtle noises I normally hear that would indicate a bike needs a little tuning. So I had a really good time. Tree roots are a bitch when its this temp, they act like very long icicles and are more slipper than when they are wet. I had a few instances where a normal roll over resulted in a total loss of front tire contact and bad bad sliding. I had a few small falls, but normally caught myself. So I got to ride in the snow. Something I've never been able to say I've done before. It was fun. It was a lot slower as the snow was on top of a layer of already moist pine straw. It was certainly not optimal biking conditions but how often can you go mountain biking in the snow in Atlanta? If ever?(except now)

So one of my goals was to see what it takes to stay warm in these riding conditions. First thing I learned is that a wind breaking layer on my legs (even shorts) is critical. I wore a pair of cycling shorts under some underarmor long underwear but it wasn't enough. I could never fully get warm legs, but mostly cause I wasn't pushing very hard. My feet were perfect thanks to my Smartwool socks in combo with some Pearl Izumi toe warmers. Those guys make some amazing socks. I finally got to try out my new Pearl Izumi Attack II shoes. This is my first real pair of cycling shoes. I like em. The sole is super stiff, but man they suck for walking in, unlike my Shimano MT41's which are great for walking/hiking/running in. I decided to try the arm warmer thing after seeing a bunch of people use them and I don't know how I ever got by without these things. I am hooked. Smartwool made the ones I am using now and I can ride without a jacket on and still feel great. I have been using my merino wool cycling jersey as a base under another jersey and that is perfect. Occasionally a gap opens up and skin is exposed, but depending on the wind/sun it doesn't phase me too much.

I left the trail early cause I forgot my multitool (knew it would be a short ride and wasn't far from the car ever). I had a chain break. I have never had a chain break on any bike I own so it was due time. I normally do the single speed thing but I have a 1x9 setup now so I can climb a bit more efficiently in the mountains, but I never really felt confident on the 1x9 setup. Today was a perfect example of why. If I had a chain tool I would have gone on my way, but I didn't. So I hiked it out. I wasn't even pushing hard at all. I was in fact going very slowly when it broke. I went to the bike shop to get a quick link for next time it breaks right after.