The Big Chill II

So my first really cold ride of the season was back on Thanksgiving. Since then I’ve been lucky enough to sneak in some rides on warm days and have been doing a lot of riding on my indoor trainer . . . until yesterday.

I rode with the Minyard’s group yesterday (Brian, Dave-O, Tammy, Chris, Steve, the usual suspects). We rolled out at 8 a.m. and the temp was about 35 degrees. The forecast was for the temperature to continue to drop through the day. The temp. wasn’t the problem, it was the wind. It was constant 20 mph winds with gusts north of 40 mph. This means the wind chill was around 20 degrees with it sometimes dropping into the single-digits. The wind was blowing out of the NW so we headed that direction, through Aledo, around Lake Weatherford and back.

Ended up doing about 70 miles. My layering strategy worked good and I stayed pretty warm, except for my fingers. By the time I got home they were basically icicles. The other casualty was windburn. Jess, Grant and I went shopping in the afternoon at Central Market and I could still feel the wind on my face.

My friends think I’m crazy for riding in this weather . . . I still say it is better than sitting inside.