Gritty Water Bottles

• I really felt like a roadracer today. After the morning ride at Hains, the actual training, I went to work then commuted back home. As I left the office, it was raining. I was in full team kit, with the new windbreaker vest - a nice piece of gear, BTW. I had on my little cycling cap, brim forward, to keep the rain and grit out of my eyes. It was cold, it was windy, and the only other people on bikes were messengers, and a couple guys from other clubs. I had a 45 minute light spin to loosen the legs. The rain wasn't pelting down, but was a heavy, heavy drizzle. But it didn't feel bad. It was nice to be back in the harness, pulling a load, keeping an eye on my powertap to stay in low zone 2. The road rash - maple rash, actually - on my leg ached a bit, as did my sore wrist. Screw it - little stuff like that shouldn't get in the way of a good training day. I made sure to drink a bottle full of water on the ride - a bottle an hour, that's another training rule. So too the fenders - in mid-November, the fenders go on my black Giant OCR, which is way too nice to be a winter beater but that's exactly what I use it for. You can talk about the roadie aesthetic but the deal is that when the weather gets heavy, you do what you need to do to ride. On the way up the Cap Crescent, I did pass some commuters. Most were bundled heavily in all sorts of gear. They looked like bags of rags atop bikes. Not me - form fitting bib shorts, knee warmers, base layer, jersey, wind vest, foul weather gloves. Perhaps not pro, but wearing clothes that kept me from sweating hard or freezing, and which made some degree of pedaling efficiency possible. All in all, not a bad ride. Despite being cold, wet, and blown upon by a heavy breeze, it was okay; I submitted myself to the discipline of the training plan and it felt good. I was back where I belong, like a cook in the kitchen, or a machinist on the factory floor. It felt good to be doing this today, on a day when few other riders could be bothered to brave the weather. It felt right.

• Sir Edmund Hillary died today. If you have to ask who he was, what he did and why he did it, you should be ashamed of yourself. I suggest you celebrate his life tomorrow night after work by pounding a sixxer of Busch. Yes, that's right. I'm telling you to "head for the mountains. " I figured if I told you to get hammered on cheap beer to celebrate his achievements, it's something you might do. Whereas if I told you to drop $80 grand, hire 20 sherpas, train for 5 years, risk death at the hands of the local governments and then attempt to climb Everest and maybe die, you'd tell me to pound sand. So unless all that is in your plans, just grab some Busch, and hoist a beer for this great man. If anybody asks why you're drinking Busch, just tell them, "because it's there."
  

• Apropo of nothing, there are *way* too many commuters who ride even in very cold weather wearing heavy layers of clothes on their upper body, and nothing but shorts on the bottom half. Very bad idea, people. That's how you get really crunchy, stiff knees. Proper dress is warm on the bottom, cool enough on the top so that you are just barely breaking a sweat when riding at whatever your cruising speed is. Basic rule: if it's under 70, cover the knees. Nobody will think less of you for it. If you need inexpensive tights to throw on under your bike shorts, here you go, to Nashbar's $14 specials. The $14 polypro baselayer pant (tight) is perfect down to about 28 degrees. Lovely stuff. If that doesn't do it for you and you wear bike shorts, check out some knee warmers. They are *essential* transitional clothing for 10 months of the year. The other handy trick is to carry a rolled up set of arm warmers in your bag or a back pocket. If you need them, put 'em on, and if you're still too cold, find a newspaper box with free newspapers and tuck one inside your jersey, to block the wind. Between arm warmers and the local underground rag, you'll be toasty. Pace makes a good inexpensive arm warmer; so does DeFeet. Hey, there are more upscale options, but the fact is transitional clothing beats the heavy single item solution (e.g. commuter jackets) because the transitional clothing is so flexible and so useful in many varying circumstances.

• I've been thinking about my dream bike lately, for some reason. Right now anyways, it's an Independent Fabrication. Not sure which I'd go for - probably one of their steel frames, most likely the versatile steel Club Racer. I could see spending a lot of hours on that bike. Truth is, I could probably be talked into a Waterford... but I really, really like the IFs. What is your dream bike?