Saturday, January 24, 2009

Never Above Zero

Handsome Lookin' Devil Aren't I?

RIDE REPORT:

Start Temp: -5 Finish Temp: 0

Start Wind: W at 10mph Finish Wind: WSW at 10mph

Start Windchill: -22 Finish Windchill: -16

Start Pressure: 30.59 falling Finish Pressure: 30.51 falling

Start Visibility: Forever Finish Visibility: Forever

Start Level of Insanity: High Finish Level of Insanity: Low

Ride Start: 11AM Ride Finish: 2PM

Ride Time: 2hr 40 mns

Dress Time: 30 minutes

Post Shower Time: 20 minutes

I started out heading west on the greenway. I wore glasses under my ski goggles, but soon my glasses had fogged up, so I stopped to take them off. After about 5 miles, I was tired of fighting the wind, so I turned north and took the Cedar Lake Trail and looped back to Lake of The Isles and the Midtown Greenway. I did a lap around Isles and hadn't gotten tired of the tail wind yet, so I continued west to the Mississippi. From there I did my typical route and followed the river to the falls, along the creek back to the lakes.

I felt good, and never got too cold. The trails were in ideal winter riding condition. I stopped once to mark my territory, and was chilled for about 10 minutes after that, but as I worked Old Blue's massive stud embedded tires I had no problems generating enough heat to warm myself back up again.

Very few people out today. Maybe a handful of joggers and only 2 or 3 dog walkers. I did see some skaters on Isles, and a few kids sledding on some of the banks of Minnehaha Creek.

It was one of those incredibly vivid days. The sky's blue was bright and brilliant, and the snow's white hurt my eyes.

One criteria I consider to determine ride quality is, if I want to come home. I wanted to ride more, and wasn't ready to come home. I decided to play it safe, because of the extreme temps and call it a day at 35 miles with a 13.0 mph average.

Very Very Nice!


3 comments:

StevenCX said...

Luke, I am your father!

tainterturtles said...

I'm speechless, and here I thought you'd only be out for 80 minutes! Good job today...don't forget to treat yourself tonight!

tainterturtles said...

PS....love the helmet and goggles. I can't see your eyes!!!