 
I got up this morning and lay in bed for a little while dreading hearing the temperature. After a couple minutes, my fears were realized: 22 degrees with a light breeze. Yikes! I ate and hit the road, passing a time/temp sign at 7:23 when it was 23 degrees.It was freezing. I wore wool baselayer, long sleeve heavy jersey and a wind proof shell, windproof fleece hat, long tights, full booties and toe covers (and light wool socks). I cruised out through arlington, on washington blvd till fairfax. I had to stop at a starbucks there for 20 minutes to dethaw. By then my water bottles were frozen. Next stop was somewhere past manassas, in other words, past the exurbs. It was fairly hairy riding till then--lotta traffic and with my pack on, turning my head to look back was a little difficult. The countryside was pretty, and the hills picked up. For the rest of the ride it was constant hills. By just before lunch I was bonking pretty hard, despite eating more than enoguh. In retospect it was my frozen water bottle situation and the need to expend extra calories to stay warm. A gu and a mouthful of wwhat litttle water I could defrost and I was ok to make it to lunch. Took a long lunch in Culpeper at a great cheap cafe appropriately named the "Frost Cafe." Drank a lot of water. Warm, full, and hydrated, I rolled out. 45 miles to go. Those turned out to be hiillier still. Difficult stuff. But the temps were up and I was cranking. I rolled into Charlottesville in late afternoon. Found a hotel, took a long bath and chilled out (warmly). Final mileage: 116. Temp in Charlotteville upon arrival: 34 degrees. Pretty xtreme ride. Hope the other folks are enjoying P. R. I'm jealous, but feel good about my ride. Tomorrow: 85ish. Miles, not degrees!
Comments:
Awesome!
by: Liz - 01/28/2008 02:56 PM I completely forgot you had done this this weekend -- when I saw you on Sunday night you gave no indication of such an epic ride! Awesome! |
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