So today the weatherman and I failed to connect. Thus, the wardrobe guy and I failed to communicate properly and the net result was a massive failure on my last long ride before IMTX.
Everything started out really well. I managed to cleanup the carnage from last week regarding my flat tubular tire. Actually, my flat, brand new tubular tire :-( I also took care of a number of other repairs and adjustments, so I thought I was ready to go.
I got up and got going as planned. I did the sunscreen thing, making sure to roll my shorts up a little to account for them riding up during the ride. This way I would not reburn my racing stripes of sunburn from last week. While I was outside putting on sunscreen, it seemed cold, but really nothing worse than last week. Plus the sun was shining so that made it seem warmer.
I headed out in shorts and short sleeves with arm warmers, same as last week. I was a little chilly at the start, but I figured I would warm up once my legs got moving. The only problem was that as my legs got moving, my fingers and toes kept getting colder.
My first two splits were great, so I just tried to push on and wait for the temps to inch up. But then I passed the time/temp banner at mile 12 and the temperature was showing as 39! Oh, shit, no wonder I'm so cold, I'm out here riding in shorts and it's only 39 degrees. I probably should have gone home at this point and put on some more clothes, but the first hill was coming up and I figured a nice climb might warm me up.
Again, no such luck, the backside downhill wiped out any gain almost immediately: but I pushed on.
When I hit the first turnaround in Rochester my fingers were feeling thick and numb and I was cold to the core. I stopped for a minute to try and warm up. Then I stopped at the Get-Go to use the restroom and I had to buy a cup of coffee. The coffee helped so I pushed on.
When I came through Ambridge the temps had climbed up to 44 - progress. Keep on keeping on, let's just get this thing done.
I made the left onto the red belt and started towards Warrendale, thinking that turning away from the river might mean warmer winds instead of the cold winds thus far. Again, no such luck. By the time I was half way to Warrendale I was simply freezing and when my teeth started to chatter uncontrollably I knew that was it, I needed to do something drastic. I called Cath, I groveled, and I convinced her to meet me with my warmer clothes.
15 minutes in the car with the heat on, sitting on a heated seat seemed to do the trick. Then I got out of the car to get back on the bike and I immediately started shivering again. And just like that my day was over. I threw the bike in the back of the car and we headed home. Fail. Miserable fail...
It took the whole ride home and about 20 minutes in the shower before I finally stopped shaking.
What a massive fuck-up. What was I thinking?
Ok, enough whining, time to get your game face back on. Recovery week coming up and then taper and then IMTX. Get this out of your head and move on. Cold will not be a problem come race day, so not another thought...
Hopefully your training day went better than mine.
Clark
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