Riding in the Holiday Season: December Rides!

[north woods gal]

What a relief to see everyone, again. I couldn't pull the site up for several days, now. Kept getting a "couldn't connect with the server message". Anyone else have this problem?

Anyway, yes, crazy me, I'm still riding every day and we're now into some serious cold as in below zero for a high temp. Minus 23, last night, for a low. Won't even try to explain why anyone would be riding in such weather, but just as an interesting thing to share, when riding in sub zero cold, some things kick in that are unique to that kind of cold.

The most noticeable thing when riding on the hard pack snow or even clean pavement in sub zero cold is the increased rolling resistance with the tires. On a local road, for instance, my usual top speed rolling down the hill in warm weather or even moderate cold weather is about 18 mph with the fat bike. In sub zero cold, same snow conditions and road, same bike, same tire pressure, my max speed on this hill drops to about 13 mph. That's a huge decrease! With that added rolling resistance, even riding a short 5 miles on the road becomes a serious workout. I lose at least two, maybe three, gears to maintain my usual pace. On the trail, bike handling also changes.

The one good thing about this kind of cold, though, is that the snow hardens up nice, allowing me to ride in snow that is too deep when it is warmer. Can also ride out on the lake, now.

If all goes well, will finish the month with only two days missed on the riding. One of those days, was spent shoveling snow on my trails and one of those days was a glorious day in fresh snow with the XC skis. Just couldn't pull off the skis and go bike riding.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. Please think of me when you're riding in more sane weather. Send some my way.

[Crankin]

The only riding I have been doing is spin class. I go to one that's only 30 minutes, followed by 30 minutes of core/body work. It's on Wednesdays and Fridays, so when I can't do an outdoor activity, I go to this. Done a few hour long spin classes in the past month. Will look at my Garmin on Friday, to see my total miles, and at this point, it's fine. I am thoroughly enjoying xcountry skiing and snow shoeing/hiking in the winter and looking forward to renewed motivation and maybe a century this year.
Glad the forum is back.

[emily_in_nc]

Glad to have our forum back!

I've been keeping up the regular rides here in generally warm, usually sunny Florida! The past two mornings have required tights and wool jerseys over a regular jersey, but mid-way I am able to peel off the outer layers. Tomorrow is supposed to be cooler and cloudy, so that's our laundry and errand day. Looks like I'll end up just crossing over 3700 miles for the year when all is said and done. No complaints about that! Next week looks like a chilly and possibly rainy (which we really need; it's been so dry) start to the new year, so I may be taking a riding break for awhile. Glad there's a gym here in our RV park, and we can always bundle up and take walks even when we don't feel like riding.

[shootingstar]

I've done only baby short rides under 12 km. Vancouver has had some snow, ice and now it's cold with rain at 2 degrees C which is not pleasant for cycling. I'd rather cycle -10 to -15 degrees C with dry pavement.