Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Thank God for Hand Warmers

Same Old Same Old Track Today

The sun failed to burn away the murky clouds today so it stayed pretty cold, although yesterday's high winds were thankfully absent.
So, in fear of snow coming in tonight and coating the roads with ice and snow tomorrow, I decided to ride again today, just in case.
Yesterday was so cold I tried to be better prepared today.  I dug out the ski mittens, which are great for keeping the pinkies warm but terrible for shifting and making it impossible to work any radio/GPS knobs.  Dug out the polar fleece skull cap Jacque made for me several years ago, and opened up a package of hand warmers and popped one into each mitten.  I also wore an extra layer: a thermal vest.  Ah, yes, and I cannot fail to mention the fleece lined cargo pants Jacque bought for me a few weeks ago.  My legs normally don't worry much about the cold;  they are pumping along and have the normal big veins which keep the warm blood flowing in the lower extremities.  None of which explains why it's so hard to keep the feet warm.
The basic laws of bike physics, especially on a recumbent, are that the feet are out front facing the wind ahead of everything else.  While the pumping legs stay warm, the feet can get numb even in warm weather during long rides - and they can get really cold riding in cooler weather.  I'm wearing leather boots during these cold months, which keeps the wind from penetrating inside the feet, but I'll start wearing double wool socks soon.  AND dig out the muk-luk insulated boots.
As I rode along I stayed pretty well zipped up and comfy until I started up the first long hill going east.  I got so warm I had to stop and remove the windbreaker outer layer, and left it off the rest of the ride, or about 2/3 of the entire distance. 
People always ask how cyclists stay warm enough riding in cold weather, and the answer is simple:  CYCLING provides the heat, and even in the coldest weather it's all too easy to get TOO hot, for me especially around the arms, torso, and head.  Sweat begins to build up, which then REALLY gets cold, even with wicking fabric layers close to the skin, and then riding is a weird sensation of too cold in some spots and too hot in others.  I find it easier dealing with being slightly too cold for comfort, because then I stay relatively warmer because I'm not sweating.  It's not too easy to balance all this, depending on temperature, humidity, wind, hills, etc.
Riding has its rewards, though, so it's usually worth it to brave the elements and ride ANYWAY.
When I stopped at my halfway take-a-break spot, I tried to take a blood glucose reading with my meter and it popped up a "LOW T" message instead of allowing me to apply a blood droplet to the test strip.  I tried warming the little meter in my armpit twice, but it still refused to allow the test and again repeated the "LOW T" thing so I just ate my snack-cookies without permission from the blood tester.
The haze and  cloudiness also prevented my latest toy from working to any benefit:  the front mounted solar panel. Too bad they haven't invented a device that converts COLD to electricity.....

Ride Started: 3:04 PM    Ride Ended:  4:49 PM
Beginning Battery Voltage:  13.6   Ending Voltage: 13.0  Lowest: 13.0
Lowest Temp  31 F      Highest Temp:  35 F 
Stats from the GPS:    Total Miles:  10.52
Overall average speed            Moving Avg               Max Speed
  5.9 MPH                               7.7 MPH                     26.8 MPH
Total Trip time                       Moving Time             Stopped Time
 1 hour 46 mins                     1 hour 22 mins           24 minutes

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