Cold Comet Ride

Almost froze my feet off today. It was colder than I expected it to be but generally I was dressed appropriately. At about mile 12 there was a long puddle, caused by the recent rains. I slowed way down and and tried to coast it but it was about 100y so I had to pedal. At first it was fine... about six inches. Then suddenly it was twelve inches deep and both of my feet had been completely dunked. Cold in and of itself but the air over the next 8 miles really froze them.

Instead of riding with Marc who was meeting me at the Rambo trailhead I stood in the restroom at mile 20 and used the hand dryer to partially dry my socks, shoes and insoles. Standing on the cold concrete made my feet even colder. I left after about 25 minutes, still damp.

At first my feet were ok... it was only 16 miles back to the minivan. I avoided puddles, of course. But my feet were still freezing. And then that damn deep puddle got me again. I didn't submerge but there were a couple big unexpected splashed that accomplished about the same.

Four miles later I was in a lot of pain. Nothing to do but keep pedaling. Counting down the minutes. With only a few miles to go things were locking up and moving to new and exciting types of pain. I've had cold feet a lot in my life. Skiing. Hiking. Cycling. Climbing. But these were up there amongst the worst.

Finally made it back to the car. It took a couple hours for 'em to warm back up. All's well that ends well, I suppose. Painful way to get a weak 32 miles in. Next time: indoor trainer. Forget the romanticism I always grow throughout the year... winter riding sucks. Group rides can be ok because the group keeps you motivated. Solo winter riding, not so much.

Yeah, I'm kinda bitter right now. Lol.

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