Too cold, too far?
Posted On Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at at 3:04 PM by MTB ManToday's ride really drained me. I think it may be the cold 'cause I don't usually have a problem with ride I did. It was 38 miles and not terribly hilly, not usually a problem for me.
Initially my fingers were cold with my ski gloves and liners but they warmed up pretty well after about an hour of moderate zone 3 riding.
My feet were OK in the beginning with 2 socks and insulated shoe covers and started to get cold after an hour or so. At that point, I stopped for a Clif bar and they warmed up a little. I think the cold feet have more to do with circulation than the cold alone because they get numb/cold even in the summer after awhile.
There was a bit of a head wind in places but not consistently.
I had intended to only do 1, maybe 2 hours because of the cold but I wound up doing 3.
I felt really spent afterwards, more than I thought I should.
My right shoulder, which is a chronic problem, really hurt on this ride. It's been hurting at night too. It bothers me mostly when standing out of the saddle or changing my hand position. I try to be careful not to pull on it but it only takes one wrong move to set it off.
My new compact crankset and freewheel are performing admirably. Very smooth shifting. I am having to get used to some new gear combinations because of the lower geared small chainring.
Here is the route, one of my regulars:
