Slushy Winter Cycling

Post-ride radar. The red band hit while I was in Freeville.

 I hit the road yesterday, in spite of the fact that a band of mixed precipitation was heading our way. It was in the mid-30s, so I was achin' to get out there. I've developed a full-fledged allergy to the trainer. I though I could get my ride in before snow started to accumulate on the roads, but my desire to tack on some extra miles, combined with the intensity of the slushy, icy wintry wet stuff led to a tricky situation.

I should have worn goggles, and more importantly, I really should have put the studded tire on, but no, I wanted the road wheel to take on the hills faster. I won't make that mistake again! By the time I reached Lower Creek Road, the snow was really starting to stick, and as I neared Hanshaw Rd., it really got dicey. Fortunately there was almost no traffic and drivers knew to give me lots of room.

Grit and grime, but I beat the salt trucks!

By the time I reached Bush Lane in Lansing I was officially waterlogged and started to get the chills. Boosting the RPMs really helped to warm me up, and then it was time to face the tricky descent down Sunset and Remington. Talk about an adrenaline rush!

On Hanshaw Rd., wondering what the hell I'm doing.

Better than a spa!

Groundhog Reminder

If Punxsutawney Phil is correct (let's call him P-Phil to give him some more street cred.), we only have two more weeks of winter! Even if he's off by a few weeks, our chubby little lowland marmot friend has me all fired up about endless days of spring cycling. So let's welcome all the snow, sleet and freezing rain and bide our time, as we notice the days getting longer and sooner than we can imagine, the local roads will be filled with beaming cyclists breathing in large gulps of warmish air, taking in the beautiful roadways of the finger lakes yet again. 


My trainer isn't quite gathering dust, but it's seeing a lot less use than last season, thanks to inspiration from Keith T. and Andy G., who remind me via Facebook that winter cycling is a viable option. I somehow managed to log 170 road miles in January, and those short hill climbs have me feeling so great. I find it so challenging to get motivated for a cold weather ride, but the payoff is always huge. 


So thanks to P-Phil for the boost...time to take stock of the spring cycling wardrobe!

Zesty Wintery Ride

I can't think of a better adjective than "zesty" to describe today's wintery road biking adventure, after a week of the flu and no exercise. Temps were in the mid 20s, but the 10-15 mph winds and the occasional snow posed somewhat of a challenge. Ski goggles were and absolute requirement today. Roads were mostly clear, though there was a lot of fishtailing on the lesser-maintained roads behind the airport. I'm glad that I'm not riding a studded tire in the rear, in spite of the decrease in traction on the sloppier roads. Studded tires really do add quite a bit of resistance.

19 miles, a little over 1,000 vert. ft, 16.1 mph. Not bad for a heavy touring bike and a studded tire.

Fingers were freezing on the way up the hill, though they finally thawed by the time I got to the airport. My left foot was an ice cube by the time I got home, but curiously, none of that mattered. Here's hoping for a mid-winter thaw so I can take the road bike out again...

Winter Cycling: Saved from the Trainer!

After resigning myself to the dreaded trainer, Andy Goodell inspired me to reconsider winter cycling after I read about his ambitious adventures. During the holiday break I broke out the crappy old mountain bike and surprised myself. I guess the hard work is really paying off, because in spite of only being able to use the large chainring (lots of chain slip), I was able to still climb up to Lansing and Forest Home with relative ease.

I started off the winter cycling routine somewhat modestly, but thanks to dry roads and sufficient winter cycling gear I kept upping my distances. On Dec. 26th I rode in 16 degree weather, and managed not to freeze, thanks to my dreamy new mittens and the fact that climbing was involved. On yesterday's ride, lower back pain was a clear indication that the mountain bike wasn't the way to go, so I pulled out the trusty old Miyata 1000 touring bike. I was surprised by how good it felt—it's been almost two years since I rode the Miyata. Then today I decided to test the brand new Mavic Ksyrium front wheel on the 28-year-old touring bike, and it was a truly revelatory experience.

Today was a glorious day, with temperatures in the mid 40s, and after my hillclimb, I met up with a FLCC group organized by Andrejs Ozolins for a short ride to Buttermilk Falls. How great to spend the last day of 2010 on the bike! Final mileage for the year: 5220. It was nice to see Jim, Wayne, Ron, Andrejs and Andy.

Tomorrow's weather promises some rain and continued moderating temperatures, so if the rain washes the salt off the road I'm taking the road bike out on Sunday, my first ride of the new year.

Full-fledged Withdrawal Leads To (gulp) Running!

'Tis the season for cycling withdrawal, and it's never hit me this bad before. Last season I even felt a secret bit of relief when the road salt ended my season, but this year I'm just fit to be tied. While I'm hoping that my 2011 road biking season will start in early May like last year, I shouldn't expect such good fortune. After years of rejoicing at the first sight of snow and celebrating any and every bit of wintery mix, today I confessed to a friend of my hope for drenching rains, followed by several days of sun and warmth. 

Hope alone won't get me through the off-season, so instead I have refined my off-season strategies. The first stage was to save up for a really good wheelset, which I finally picked up last weekend. The new Mavic Ksyrium Elites are sitting in a box under the tree, a marvel of industrial design. The anticipation of testing out what shaving nearly one pound of rotational weight off of my ride will really keep me excited and inspired in the next few months. Comparing the Ksyrium and Aksium wheels side by side, you can really see the differences and refinements, though the Aksiums have held up quite well after nearly 10K miles. Beefier hubs, wider spokes, 18 spokes up front (as opposed to 20 on the Aksiums), and the inter spoke milling are all obvious differences and improvements. I did the math, and the weight savings cost me approx. $45 per ounce, though since rotational weight is evidently three times as valuable as fixed weight, you can argue that it costs $15 per ounce! Either way, I look forward to comparing ride stats next season to see if I can increase my average speeds.

My other off-season survival strategy has been to dramatically increase the cross training. I've been doing a combination of EA active (Wii Fit-based workouts), riding the trainer, swimming and running. I've always hated running, but in the last few days I've noticed some changes. My roundabout walk/jog to school has been supplemented with a 2.4 mile lunchtime walk up Kline Rd to Highland and over to Hanshaw, Devon, and Renwick, a climb of almost 400 ft. After several days of gradually increasing the running, today I ran the whole course. My body is still getting used to the pounding, but as long as the roads stay clear, it's not horrible, and all that fresh air and daylight is so welcome during these short days.

Not Quite Ready to Call it a Season

It's been an embarrassingly long while since my last blog post, and though my priorities have been necessarily elsewhere in the last few months, the cycling blog will undoubtedly continue. As the season wound down, I was seizing every last opportunity to squeeze in a ride, but the writing is on the wall—I have perhaps half a dozen rides left before road salt and ice will drive me to off-season activities. 

Last season I felt a certain amount of panic toward the end of the season that I didn't want to see end. This year, however the addition of some carefully selected winter cycling wear has led to a much more relaxed tail end of the year. I know now that I can comfortably go riding in the low 30s without getting too cold, and damn, do those cold weather trips feel great!

My goal for the year was 4500 miles, which I easily exceeded, thanks to my obsessive quest for yet another ride. What a satisfying season—lots to reflect on in the coming three off-season months. Hopefully I'll be back on the roads in early March, if next spring is anything like this spring. In the meantime, I'm off to Glenn Swan's to get my second chain of the year, and then in a month or so, I'll be upgrading to a Mavic Ksyrium Elite wheelset! I can't wait to see what happens when I lose close to 500 grams (.88 pounds) of rotational weight...

A Reminder of the Joys of Group Rides

While I truly enjoy and appreciate my solo rides, it's hard to beat a good group ride, especially when the cyclists are well-matched and no one rides off of the front and disappears. Add kindness and good cheer to the mix and you have a road biking experience that can't be beat. Also, when someone else chooses the route, it helps me to get out of my routine. I'm feeling so fortunate to have finally found this great group to ride with, and look forward to more adventures in less familiar territory.

Today I had the distinct pleasure of riding with Steve, Travis, Stephanie, Liz, Garth and Ashu, and we headed out to Lansing, then took Cobb Rd. to Moravia. Moravia seems to be a pretty popular crossroads for Finger Lakes cyclists, and it makes sense, since it's a connecting point to Auburn, Owasco Lake, and some gorgeous country with challenging hill climbs. Climbing out of Moravia on the aptly named Long Hill Rd. was an exhilarating challenge, with 570 ft. of ascent spread over 1.5 miles. This hill was around an average 9% grade, which was similar to Ringwood Rd. in terms of distance and elevation gain. The rolling hills that followed took us to right past the Hazard Public Library in Poplar Ridge. I was tempted to get on a ladder and add an extra z to their very cool sign.

The return trip took us back on the familiar 34B through King Ferry and Lansing, and we had a most excellent tailwind that brought us back to our starting point in Cayuga Heights in short order. We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day in mid-October, and now that I'm three miles away from making my 4500 mile goal for the year, any and all road biking this season is yummy fluff.