November 25th (Morning)

Well, it snowed last night. And all evening. And all night. And all morning. There was a lot of snow this morning.

But, like an idiot, off I went. I mean, really, I can’t just assume that I have found my limit until I try it, right? Right! Well, yep, I found my limit. And my limit is too much snow…

At first, the trails were OK. I actually was enjoying myself! I was wearing a pair of Scott goggles that I borrowed from Dave and Esther. They had an orange tint to them, but with the light it wasn’t too bad. I probably would like a lighter yellow tint which I think would be perfect. But they did great on eliminating (not just reducing) the glare of headlights from oncoming traffic, so that was cool.

Once I got to Rose Hill, all the foot traffic had ceased and I was the only tracks in the snow beside the deer and coyotes. The valleys were tough, I couldn’t make it up any of the hills without slipping out, and I didn’t get enough speed going down to make it up anyways. But, once I got to Frolek’s road things got easier. I still had to keep my speed down quite a bit as a few times I hit a rock or stick that I couldn’t see under the snow which would send me skidding sideways.

Going down into Peterson’s Creek on the Billy Minor Trail North was OK. I had control (front brake was good, but the rear brake kept freezing up), and was able to go as slow as I wanted. But it was tiresome for sure. Going up the other side I walked the whole way and it was brutal, as every step I slipped meaning for every 1 step forward I slid 1/2 a step back… What a waste of energy!

Once I exited Peterson’s Creek my hell began… The snow plows had made a nice big bank on the sides of the road, meaning I had no where to bike unless I wanted to ride in the lane (not!). So, I stuck to the sidewalk (even though that’s illegal). But sidewalks here are so unpredictable. I couldn’t see where the edge of the sidewalk was, and constantly slid off the side. Some home owners shoveled their walks, some didn’t. Some just piled the snow from their driveway on top of their sidewalks! I couldn’t tell where the approaches were, so when crossing streets I often ended up hitting the curb hard, causing me to flounder all over in the snow… And, Kamloops has a wonderful sidewalk system that constantly jumps from one side of the street to the other (many of the streets don’t have sidewalks on both sides), meaning that suddenly my sidewalk would end… Arrggg!

After almost an hour of probably the worst ride I’ve ever had (add to that the 1/2 an hour of trail riding already), I finally made it to work. I have never had a ride yet where I was so desperately wanting to just quit and give up!!! Not fun.

So, I’m done. Old Man Winter has defeated me soundly. I will sit back on the bus licking my wounds ‘till the warm airs of spring put him back in his place and I can emerge once again (maybe on a Scott Scale 29er???). It was a good ride!!!

Two quick numbers before I sign off:

• 3600 – The amount of kilometres I put on this season
• 35 – The amount of weight (in pounds) that I lost

Cool!

November 24th (Evening)

I took my old, original biking route home tonight again as I did on Monday. It was snowing a lot, so I’m not sure how tomorrow’s ride will go. Tonight was still fun, though. The snow makes for a hard ride to be sure, and a bit hairy going down into Peterson’s Creek, but the quietness is almost surreal. The soft crunch of snow under my tires is the loudest noise aside from my breathing. It really is quite beautiful. If only I could figure out how to keep my hands from freezing I’d be set!

Oh, and I’m not sure if you recall, but there was a dirt path between Springhill and Roger’s Way that ran alongside the old Merritt highway. I complained about it many times when it was wet and muddy as this was the muddiest part of my entire ride. Anyways, the city has now paved this path and it is a great little path! So smooth… And with a fresh layer of snow it makes for a neat little section.

The toughest part of the ride is the streets as they are getting narrower now and I have to hang out right at the edge, by the snow bank created by the snow plows. As such, I often will end up hitting the bank and causing me to slide and fishtail, not fun! Plus, cars are driving by now even closer and with less control, not a good combination if you ask me!

The temperature was -13° and it felt OK. My gear is good, and other than toes and fingers it feels great. Almost too warm sometimes (I had to unzip the fleece today). Also, I used sandwich baggies over my toes, wore two pairs of socks, and then put the toe warmers on top of the baggies (instead of inside them). As these are air activated, I figured this made more sense. And I think it worked, as I didn’t have any issue with my feet being cold ‘till about 15 minutes left in my ride. So I guess there’s tricks to everything here!

November 24th (Morning)

No ride yesterday (-17°, and with the wind chill it felt like -29°). So, once I saw that I waited at home and got a ride with Corrie to work after she took Taryn to school.

A couple of people have brought it to my attention that it’s not just being out in the cold, or even being out on a bike in the cold, but its the being out in the cold on a bike alone in the middle of nowhere that is risky. I guess I can see their point, really. I mean, if I were to get injured or knocked out or something out on Frolek’s land, by the time someone came along to find me, I’d be frozen stiff… Therefore, I have decided to make -15° my personal cut-off point. Colder than that, I ride the bus or get a ride. Warmer than that, I ride the bike.

So, this morning was -17° and Corrie had scrounged together some change last night so I jumped on the #16 bus out of Juniper. That was fine, and all, until we got to TRU and I noticed that the Pineview bus (my connection) had already left… Oops!

But, no worries, I felt good and warm and decided that I would just ride the streets to work. That way if I fell and got hurt, surely someone would see me laying on the ground!!!

So, I had a short, tough ride this morning after all which is good. It is completely uphill the entire way, and I did walk a lot to try and keep the blood flowing into my toes and fingers. Actually, I even tried the plastic baggy over my toes (inside my shoes) this morning as that is supposed to be a miracle warming trick… NOT! My toes (and fingers) were still quite frozen by the end. However, being that this little route has so much climbing, my neck and torso were actually a bit too warm if you can imagine that.

This afternoon it is supposed to get down to -13° and even as good as -7° by Friday, so for the rest of the week I am good to go! Next week I’ll be in Vegas for Autodesk University, and the few weeks after is typically the coldest week in Kamloops (in my short lived experience here to this point), so we’ll have to wait and see if I have much more riding left in 2010!

November 22nd (Morning)

Still riding! The temperature on the internet said -10°, and yet with the 26km/h headwind, it was rated that it felt like -19°! I say “supposedly” because, really, it just felt cold!

Corrie and I found a fleece sweater at Penny Pincher’s this weekend and it turned out to be a perfect second layer. Not too warm, breathable and yet I never felt too cold. I removed my clipless pedals and put my regular pedals with clips back on so I could wear my running shoes with two pairs of socks. It didn’t really matter anyways as my toes still froze. I had slightly better traction when walking up the hills in the snow, but not much. Considering those two things, I may try my big Sorel’s… Too big? Probably. But at least I know I would be warm and traction wouldn’t be an issue!!!

It did snow a lot this weekend (well, a couple of inches I guess) so I was a little apprehensive about what this would mean for my trails. The Juniper section was no problem as it is so well travelled that the path was worn in quite nicely. The snow, however, definitely adds a rolling resistance factor, though! Sheesh…

The pipeline section at Rose Hill was good, I still got some decent speeds going down into the dips, but walked two of the hills as I was going much slower and there is precious little traction now when I do start climbing. I headed up from Frolek’s lower road to my single-track and that part of the trail was fun. Less travelled (not at all travelled in many spots other than wildlife), so it was fun to crunch along through the fresh, undisturbed snow trails. I did come across another biker’s trail at one point, so I’m not the only one!!!

As I rode along the edge of Peterson’s Creek valley on the east side, I got a bit nervous. Traction was non-existent, and I had the sudden realization of how if I slipped off of the trail it could turn suddenly very bad. Trying not to think of what was below me, I focused on keeping the bike upright and made it without issue. However, as I crested the top of the long, straight steep downhill it started getting a bit hairy again! Thankfully at this point, there are no cliff edges beckoning me to careen off of them. But, nonetheless, once it got steep I had extremely little control. The rear wheel had no effect for traction and slid from side to side. But what was worse, was the front wheel sliding! I now couldn’t control my direction NOR my speed, a very nasty combination! Thankfully the trail is about 4-5 feet wide right there, giving me room to slide around. I made it down still rubber side down so that was a huge relief! I crossed the creek and then made it up the other side by a combination of walking and biking.

By the time I got to the top of the trails and came out on Summit Drive, my water had finally frozen solid in the bottle. At least I got 30 minutes of hydration when I needed it! I might see if I can rig something up inside my jacket for a spare water supply maybe.

The rest of the ride was pretty good. I actually didn’t mind the street portion this time, probably because I didn’t face a free-falling death if I slipped off track… In the end, my toes and fingers were still pretty cold, but the rest of me was really good. If I can ride with boots, I will try that next. Not ideal by any stretch, but if it means I have traction to walk the sketchy portions and my toes stay warm, then maybe the extra weight and annoyance of the clod-hoppers will be worth it? I still would like ski-goggles if I could, but nobody sells clear lenses in town (that we found so far, I think I’ll phone around today). Other than that, things are looking not too bad… So far…

November 19th (Evening)

Another good, cold ride! I think I can make these rides work! Tonight was -7°, with a wind chill again but for me I was riding with the wind behind me so this wasn’t as much of a factor as it was in the morning. Corrie picked me up for lunch today, so we went by Wholesale Sports and I picked up a balaclava called a NINJACLAVA by Outdoor Research. It is on the lighter side, but it has a light, fleece lining inside. I still pulled my skull cap on over top of this, which helped give my ears 2x the warmth! Then, when I got a bit too warm, I was able to just pull up the skull cap a bit and it helped cool me down. When that got chilly again, I just pulled the cap back down!

I wore the track pants again over my tight stretchy sport pants. Going home, this was perfect. A bit on the warm side, but with the amount of downhill going this direction, it was good. I decided to just wear the fleece jacket without the sport jacket as a wind shell. It was pretty good, and even that was a bit on the warmer side. I would think that I might try wearing my short sleeve biking shirts with a lighter fleece and that might be perfect for the current temperatures.

My toes and fingers were still the worse off. Walking a couple of the hills helped for sure. I think I will be putting on my old pedals with clips so I can wear running shoes next week. This will allow me to wear two pairs of socks (or even wool socks maybe?), as well as give me better grip and traction on the frozen trails.

I have new resolve to keep pushing! I have one more week of riding before I go to Las Vegas for a work convention (Autodesk University) for the final week of November. When I get back, it will be interesting to see how cold it is and if I can continue into December or not. Last year, December was cold (-15° to -20°), but then January was quiet mild. Maybe we will be so lucky again?

Oh, and I just wanted to say that the new chain lube I’m using (Finish Line WET Lube, see October 29 (Morning) post) is pretty amazing. With the amount of wet, rain and snow this week, it took ‘till today to finally get a bit squeaky. The wax I used to use wouldn’t have lasted 5 minutes in the conditions I hit this week! So, even though it means more work each weekend cleaning the chain, it’s worth not having to worry about it all week long.

November 19th (Morning)

-8° this morning! YIKES!!! And with the windchill, it said it felt like -15°…. UFF…. DA…

However, last night Corrie and I dug out all of our winter gear. First thing we noticed was how many pairs of gloves I have, and how many toques the boys have!!! We really need to donate some of these items this year… Anyways, I found a pair of lined track pants, a fleece jacket as well as a nice toque that came down low over my ears, and yet still fit under my helmet (sort of!).

So, this morning after about an HOUR of getting dressed (obviously I’m exaggerating there), I headed out to brave the elements that had sent me running for cover yesterday morning. And I was warm! By the time I got to the traffic circle, I was still toasty warm which made me think I had now layered TOO much… My face was quite frozen, but the rest of me was warm and they say you should be slightly chilled when you leave. I was not… Sure enough, by the time I got to Rose Hill, my face had become accustomed to the cold but I was started to burn up inside with the fleece! My arms and neck were very warm! I unzipped my jackets low to my chest which helped a bit.

I continued with walking a few of the hills to get the blood flowing back into my fingers and toes, and to keep my body temperature down. This did help for sure, but seeing as how this entire route is basically one big climb, it was pretty tough to keep my temperature down! Pretty soon, I was sweating underneath the layers pretty heavily. Physically I felt pretty good, but I wasn’t really pushing any limits today in that department to be sure!

At the top of Peterson’s Creek valley, the snow starting flying around pretty good, making the streets a bit iffy. I took a fairly easy pace on the streets, not wanting to test my tires’ cornering limits. As I got to the top of Howe Road up at the trailer park, I was pretty warm and all that sweating turned around and bit me on the stretch across Pineview as the cold wind cut through my now wet layers, making for a bit of a painful final stretch!

So, with a thinner fleece and maybe a balaclava and goggles instead of a toque, I think I might have the perfect set up to continue riding! I will go at lunch today to Wholesale Sports, or maybe Canadian Tire to pick up these two items (balaclava and goggles) and  I think I’ll be set! SWEET! I think I have just extended my riding season ‘till probably -15° or so!

Now I just need to figure out how to keep my water in liquid form…

November 18th (Evening)

All day it was bugging me that I was suddenly looking at the end of my biking adventures. It bugged me that I wimped out at -4° too! Granted, I know it was the wind chill that really seemed to push me over the edge. But it still bothered me. I’m sure people bike in colder weather!

So, I looked online on www.mec.ca to see what kind of gear I might need, and instead I found an article on Winter Biking! I learned a bit about layering properly, something I think I could do with winter gear I already have. Also, I found some forum posts about people biking in the cold and learned how important regulating your temperature is. Which means walking a hill instead of riding just to keep your temperature from going up too high and causing you to sweat too much.

Therefore, with new resolve, I did NOT phone Corrie for a ride home! It was -6° now, and still the wind chill factor. However, I figured the wind chill would not be a factor for my ride as it would be a tail wind. And I was right! It felt cold, but nothing like this morning. I took it slow and steady, both up and down the hills. By the time I hit the trails, I was sitting at a perfect body temperature. My face had started to get used to the cold air, but my toes and fingers were getting pretty cold!

At the bottom of the valley, I walked from the creek crossing up to the usual stopping point on the bypass trail and then rode the rest. Not only did this help in keeping me from getting too warm, but it gave me a chance to warm up my fingers and toes!

The trails were quiet frozen and solid, making for a rather rough ride really. But it was still pretty fun, really, once I warmed up. The only downside, really, was the fact that my water nozzle froze solid by the time I got to the bottom of Peterson’s Creek, meaning no water to drink for the rest of the ride!

I continued to walk many of the tougher hills, a good excuse to really take the ride rather easy! I did take the look out trail again at Juniper, and as I came around a bend there was an owl sitting (standing, whatever…) on the trail with a dead mouse in his claws. He just stared at me as I squealed my brakes trying not to run him over… Finally, at the last minute, he flew away, leaving his mouse! It was kind of cool to see some different wildlife for sure. He wasn’t too big (not a Great Horned Owl), about the size of a large hawk or falcon (which is what I thought he was at first). Maybe a large burrowing owl?

Anyways, I have decided to try to find some better gear tonight and keep riding. At least try next week a few times to see if I can beat this weather!