Frozen Leg Presses

made the necessary preparations and hit the road and trail today for come-what-may at 12F with a windchill at -2F. It was probably my 2nd coldest ride ever, but the cold was fine. I actually dressed a little warmly up top and had to unzip some jersey zippers to keep from overheating. The issue at hand, though, was sheer difficulty. Our recent snows made conditions adequate for riding; the snow was very dry and had some grip to it. My prob, though, was just sheer difficulty. I felt like I redlined the entire ride. Perhaps my use of the RedlineMonocogSS was the issue. Perhaps I needed a smaller gear. Perhaps my body was compensating for the cold with less efficiency. Whatev it might have been, I found every pedal stroke difficult today. every one a leg-press. I went via Seneca Gds to the Cherokee trails, where I found evidence of bike tracks from yesterday (PrestaSchrader perhaps? I think I saw a tweet to that effect) and 1 track from earlier that me. I found that I had to work hard enough just to manage the downhills that I climbed virtually none. I walked the hill up to Hogan's Fountain and from there, demoralized, NO, tired, I headed to Breadworks for a hot cup and then home. My mileage reported will be greater than that traveled, but if I had been wearing a HRM, it would've looked like a hard-ass hour+. I probably have to go out tomorrow to vindicate the effort. =)

cold Monocog

Beargrass Creek in a cold, near-frozen state

Pissy Panda

frozen junk, may melt in 2 weeks

Something I did find entertaining while looking at PrestaSchrader's site was the "Jen's Factor", as seen at the Cyclocosm site. For those of you not educated about pro cycling, Jens Voight is a monster of a hard man, a 38 year-old German who never quits, wins alot, and appears to be clean as a whistle, unlike his many pro brethren. If I take this Jen's Factor into account, I was between a Jen's 4 and a Jen's 5. The description for the 5 is as follows:

Overview: desperation ride, often cut short

Apparel: looking pro takes back seat to survival

Conditions: rough, difficult, challenging

I don't feel like my excursion was really long enough to put to the Jen's Factor test, but that is one damn apt description. It wasn't fun, but it was done. And if today's was tough, tomorrow's might be transcendent; that's why we ride, right?