Riding in the Cold

This past weekend is likely to be the coldest riding I’ll experience this winter.  We might get a few Peach Pelotons that start in the upper 20s to low 30s, but usually the temperature climbs to at least the 40s.  So, Saturday’s ride, with temperatures ranging from about 29 to 37° (with 10 to 15 mph winds) was about as bad as it gets.  I guess the cold took a lot more out of me than I expected.

Middle Georgia was right at the southern edge of the snowstorm moving across the state.  Fortunately, neither Jasper County nor Bibb County got any snow or ice.  Peach Peloton was a go!  The original route was to the north, but Robert changed it to a southerly route to Fort Valley.  That turned out to be unnecessary, but it’s better to be cautious.

Robert and I were the first to arrive at the start of the ride.  We wondered if we would be the only ones, but soon thereafter a few of our stalwart teammates showed up: Cal, Cody, and Van.  Stony met us on the route since we rode by his neighborhood.

I wore my balaclava for the first time this year.  I had forgotten that I can’t keep it totally covering my nose and mouth because my warm breath fogs up my sunglasses.  I pulled the front piece down below my chin and managed much better, and the rest of my head stayed relatively warm even though my face was exposed.

After one turn at the front, I realized that I should stay at the back of the peloton.  We didn’t seem to be going inordinately fast, around a 19-mph pace, but I had to work pretty hard simply to hang on.  The cold was taking its toll.  In addition to the usual effort of trying to keep up, my body had to expend significant energy to stay warm – a double whammy.  I doubted that I would be able to hang with the guys for the entire 93 miles, and so I started considering shorter alternates.  However, there weren’t really any shortcuts until the store stop at mile 55.

In the meantime, the guys dropped me at about mile 42.  Despite my protests, Robert insisted on staying back with me.  A highlight of the ride occurred while it was just the two of us.  A pickup trucked loaded with beautiful looking turnips – roots and greens – passed us.  Fortunately, nobody fell off the turnip truck.

We caught back up to the rest of the group at the store stop in Knoxville.  Robert and I took a very brief break and got back on the road before the others.  A few miles later, I turned on Hopewell Road at Musella while Robert continued on the official 93-mile route.  Although of course I missed his company, it was a relief to go at my own comfortable pace without worrying about slowing him down.

I pushed on and finally made it back to the end.  My total distance (84 miles) wasn’t extraordinary, but it seemed like a bigger feat, again likely because of the cold.  I changed clothes and sat in the car drinking the hot apple-cinnamon flavored Skratch Labs that I had had the foresight to bring in a thermos.  I didn’t have to wait long for the guys to get back; they rolled in a few minutes after I got settled.

Yesterday I was going to do an easy dirt ride for about an hour and half.  The temperature was similar to Saturday, highs in the 30s, but it was a bright, sunny day.  I wasn’t exactly relishing the thought of getting back out in the cold, but as the previous day’s ride had shown, it would be manageable.  Then, Robert presented an alternate plan: movie spin!  It had been several years since we did a Sunday afternoon movie spin at Jordan Engineering.  As Robert put it, five hours in the cold the day before was enough for one weekend.  We invited our spin class friends to join us, and we were glad that Ann did.  She probably wishes she hadn’t…

Robert and I rarely watch movies (well, me anyway), and on the few occasions we do, we usually have a hard time figuring out what to watch.  Robert was leaning toward a newer release, but the first few we considered weren’t available yet on iTunes.  I made a suggestion or two, but he didn’t like those.  Finally, we decided on The Lobster.  The premise sounded entertaining, and it was billed as one of the best movies of 2016.  2016 must have been a horrible year for movies.

There are some sick, twisted individuals in this world to come up with some of the plot points in The Lobster.  It was one of the least enjoyable movies I’ve ever seen.  Some things are worse than riding in the cold.