The singular motivation for riding outside is to completely avoid riding on the trainer. Although, admittedly, I've been on it twice since cross ended the third week of January. So much for that. Riding has become riding for the sake of riding. Or for you Latin connoisseurs out there: Veho gratis vehentis. I haven't done anything over 35 miles in almost 3 months now (10.19.08 to be exact) which is completely fine by me. I've still managed to get out 2x/wk. which I set for a doable goal for the winter. Yesterday's ride sort of pushed the temperature envelope. I would dare to guess the mercury was in the neighborhood of zero at the end of the ride. Everything was fine except the very tips of my fingers and of course, my feet. I even did the wool sock-toe warmer-wool sock-saran wrap combo. To no avail. In hopes of remedying (can't say I've ever typed that word before) the shoe situation, I recently dropped the hammer on some Louis Garneau 2009 0-Degree Winter Cycling Shoes. Bicycling Magazine recently ranked them the best winter cycling shoe and "they" say they're rated to 5 degrees:
My current shoes, the Sidi Diablo GTX's in one word, blow. A complete waste of $350. They're great to about 25F and after that it just becomes a matter of how long you can deal with freezing feet. At basically half the price of the Sidi's, I'm hoping the LGs do the job. Not to mention, the LGs will go nicely with my red Assos Fugujack. Hey, you gotta look good when you're riding too, right? No seriously, it is the best jacket you can possibly buy for winter riding and I highly recommend it. The built in balaclava is sweet. It completely blocks the wind and it breathes well. I couple that with their 851 Airblock tights and I'm good to go. I'll let you know how the LG boots work out.
I recently came up with this ridiculous goal for my 2009 riding- 500,000 ft. of climbing. There's something about that half a million that draws me. Nobody cares but me so we'll see what happens. To date, I'm "only" averaging 956ft./calendar day. With a season's worth of epic riding ahead of me, I'm sure it won't be too far out of question. Other goals include but not limited to: Tour of Battenkill, a couple/few mtb races, Housy Hills RR, 6 Gaps with Doug and the boys, D2R2, Greylock Century, and as many hillclimb races my schedule will allow. I would like to go sub-30:00 on Ascutney.
2 comments:
I've been using ordinary Sidi Dominators with Performance neoprene booties for eons now. Best winter warmth and dirt cheap. On sale (they're almost always on sale), the booties cast $20. You'll get at least one season out of them. They aren't completely waterproof, but I've ridden each of the last three days in NH with regular socks, Sidi Dom's and the booties and had no cold feet issues. One key element to cold temp riding is to keep the shoe loose fitting. I have tried burly socks before, but if it means compression fitting your foot inside the shoe, you are doomed to cold feet. A couple down sides of the booties is they don't work with Speedplay road pedals and they can trap snow in the cleat area when the snow is sticky.
Hey, I have a new tentative route for Berkshires. It has a wildcard big dirt road climb heading north out of Adams. I have to do some recon to see how road bikeable it is. The loop is a tristater, hitting bits of Mass, NY and VT. ~100 miles and 12,000-13,000ft.
I'm in for that one. Dirt=fun. I will try and make every big ride you guys do this year. I have a couple of strong guys down here who are up for some adventures as well.
I'll have to pick up some of those neoprene booties. I too have found I do alot better with one pair of socks where I can get a little wiggle room.
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