Winter Discipline

It was cold and windy this morning and, predictibly, only five of us were there in the dark at 6:15 a.m. for the morning ride. I knew it would be a pretty miserable ride, but for people like me who despise (and avoid) working out inside, getting out the door on mornings like this is part of an essential winter discipline. There have been years when I have succumed to the warmth of the comforter. It's like falling for that "here, the first one's free" line from the local drug dealer. You get up the next morning and it's even easier to skip that day too, and before you know it you've been sitting on the couch eating bon-bons for two weeks and what shred of fitness you still had is in the waste basket along with the brightly colored chocolate silver bell wrappers. All that does is add another excuse -- the near-certainty of being dropped on the next group ride -- to your already growing list. Then you wake up one morning and it's March and you're still not in shape and the guys who stuck it out all winter are blowing your socks off.

So we rode. It was windy enough that we were all having trouble holding a line in the crosswinds and The Donald eventually resorted to hanging a bit off the back because he was sure someone was going to touch wheels and go down. In fact, at one point I felt Rob brush my calf with his shoe. Ronnie turned back early, while Luke and The Donald discussed shortening the ride a bit and turning back at "The Dip." As we approached it, Rob started trying to convince them to keep going and do the whole long ride. He even resorted to "Come on. Are we men or mice?" The response was a chorus of high-pitched squeaks. I suppose I would have done the whole ride if there had been a few more riders, but if it was to be just Rob and me in that wind I probably would have done more harm than good. Other than seriously cold arms and toes, I was feeling pretty good. At least I have postponed setting up the indoor trainer for another day!

I had dressed for the temperature (upper 30s), but hadn't factored in the wind, and my knit gloves and arm-warmers were not up to the task today. By the time I got home the muscles in my forearms were so cold they were barely functional. I had great difficulty retreiving my keys from my back pocket and even more turning the key in the lock. The forecast for tomorrow is for slightly colder temps, and if this wind keeps up I'm going to go with the old wool riding jacket with the windproof panels and the neoprene booties. Hell, I'll probably wear all that even if the wind doesn't keep up! It's looking like another little cold front will come through around mid-day tomorrow, so we may get an actual freeze the night before Christmas.