Tag Archives: snow

Been waiting a long time for a ride like this!

Tues/Thurs 7:45am ride
Almost looks like a Christmas scene! And check out the temp on the bike computer!

We knew it was going to be cold, we knew there might be snow, we knew it wasn’t going to be a fast ride. We hoped it was going to be fun. A win on all counts!

Pretty sure this was Kevin’s first ride into the snow. That’s curious, given that he’s been riding for quite a while, and I’ve seen quite a bit of snow up on Skyline over the years. One of my most-memorable rides, at least 10+ years ago, I got to watch the transition from light rain to snow while climbing Kings. Pretty amazing, something I’ll never forget. That wasn’t going to be the case today as the rain & snowfall had finished just prior to the start of our ride.

We were well prepared for the cold. Otherwise the the scene above wouldn’t have been much fun at all! Here’s what it took-

-Thermal bib tights with wind-stopping material on the front. Keeps your legs warm even in a cold rain.
-Booties over the top of toe warmers, along with wool socks.
-Long-sleeve base layer
-Jersey
-Long-sleeve thermal jersey-jacket
-Windshell jacket
-Very warm gloves

Kevin next to someone else’s mini-me snowman.

Yes, that’s 4 layers on top. We assumed we’d be taking off the windshell jacket as we climbed Kings, but we never over-heated, probably because we were riding at a pretty easy pace. The temp at the bottom was about 33, gradually dropping to 30 near the top of Kings, and finally 28 across most of Skyline.

We stopped at the Skegg’s Point parking lot to check out the view, as well as a couple of snow sculptures. I learned from experience that it is NOT a good idea, on a bike ride, to build a snow man. Been there, done that, didn’t notice how the gloves were soaking through and had the nastiest, most painful descent ever as fingers could barely work the brakes. Not today. Even so, the descent was not much fun because you were no longer keeping the engine going while essentially dealing with a 30mph wind.

It was a very memorable and beautiful ride.

Someone asked “How do you motivate yourself to get out and ride during the winter months?”

tech tips, Web General, , , , ,

Motivation? Don’t look for motivation. Just do it! If you’ve decided to be a rain-or-shine kind of cyclist, then you find yourself actually looking forward to “epic” winter rides. Make sure you’ve got a separate rain/utility bike, with wider tires (it’s not about speed, it’s about not slipping on paint stripes or getting flats) and possibly a bit more relaxed riding position (because if you’re heavily bundled up you might not feel comfortable in your normal riding position).

It’s quite the challenge for my group, because our Tuesday/Thursday-morning training ride includes 3300ft of climbing and, of course, 3300ft of descending. What you learn is that it’s very important to keep up a consistent pace because if you relax the cold and wet will get to you very quickly. Dress in a way that you’ll remain warm even if soaking, because there’s no truly waterproof cycling stuff out there. The high-tech stuff (including GoreTex) won’t keep up with a cyclist at high output… you end up as soaked on the inside as things are on the outside.

You could, of course, just set up a trainer in front of a TV and watch your favorite races, but there’s a small number of us who would rather ride through a hurricane than sit on a trainer. Mental defect of some sort. Or just a refusal to believe that anything can stop you and your bicycle. Do keep in mind that I’m in Northern California so the worst winter will throw at me are a few 40 degree days with driving rain, or upper-20s but dry, or once in a while, snow at the higher parts of our ride. We also rarely see ice, because it’s typically dry when it’s that cold. –Mike–