Snowflakes and Sunshine

Not the smartest thing I've ever done, but it was certainly fun! At least as fun as a Max interval workout gets....

While we did get some snow on Wednesday, and the wind and cold were more like December weather, I held out hope of getting outside to do my workout Thursday. The trails were muddy but the roads were clear. As long as they stayed clear and the wind didn't pick up, id be good to go. When I drove between my two buildings the sun was shining and it was pretty nice out - just cold. Then the clouds closed in over lunch and snowflakes started flying. Not fair! Nick had the spin bikes in the garage, all ready to go. I was tempted, but knew Coach Adam would want the power numbers for this workout regardless of where I rode. But I tried - texted him and said I was gonna just ride in the garage. Nope - got the text back "power please." So I started to get ready to head to CTS to use the computrainer. Somehow, as I was getting orginized, we decided it was a waste of time to drive over there to ride. So...

We bundled up and headed into the snowflakes. The air was still, with sparkling flakes drifting around us like glitter. Just enough sunshine filtered through the clouds to illuminate the delicate flakes. Without any wind, it felt fairly warm. While I'd planned on staying on the road to keep my bike clean (Nick had just put a new drive train and cleaned up the bike to get it race ready) Nick decided to head into Stratton. The road was clear and it was still decently nice. We decided to just head up the road and continue heading up. Normally I do the recovery downhill so I'm fully ready for the next interval. Neither of us wanted ti turn around and ride downhill though. It wasn't that warm! While on the road, I felt over dressed. On two of the recovery intervals I took off my over gloves and hat. I wasn't getting chilled by staying climbing. We found some mud and snow while climbing up the Chutes. Nick rode ahead of me, riding his own workout. I continued climbing - interval and then recover all the way up and onto the road. And into the wind and snow. The clouds descended, hiding the sun and bringing with them biting cold and snow. And I wasn't even halfway finished! We kept going up Gold Camp, into deepening slush and mud and ever stronger wind. My hands were freezing in my summer gloves and my ears were numb without my hat. Almost finished though. I could suffer for the rest of the workout.

As soon as I finished, we hid from the wind and bundled up. Hat, warm gloves, Gore Jacket. My camelbak was frozen solid. My once clean bike was covered in mud and ice. So much ice in fact that I couldn't shift into my little ring! The cable was covered in a think layer of ice. Luckliy, we were taking Columbine home - only one hill that I'd have to deal with. I wasn't the only one freezing - Nick's hands were numb. He couldn't feel his brakes! Like I said, not the smartest, but still a solid workout - physically and mentally!

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