Well that was an interesting one.
Been trying to find a time to do longer rides in the winter, but not take away from family squad time. I always say that I have all the gear to ride in the winter, I really need to make use of it. I also have lights, so…
Even though the temperature was near freezing, I wanted to do 4 hours because Sunday is a complete washout. As always, consult with @stb222 on clothing and off I went, an hour before sunrise. I also planned to do this without stopping as I just found a loop I made and went with it, I also thought having a pack would keep my water from freezing. OH THE FORESHADOWING
Sun was on fire this time around.
I’ve been enjoying these open ended sweetspot workouts. I decided to wait until the sun came up to start, and once it did I let it rip. 1 hour at 252w and I’m just finishing up my bottles. I go to drink out of my pack and woops, I forgot to blow the water back into the pack, rut roh. I blow some more but I’m not making any headway. I hear some crunching in the nozzle part but man, I’m not getting anything. I see that I’m coming up to a gas station, roll in and go checkout the bathroom in hopes that it has a hand dryer, instead of asking if I can put my pack on the roller dog machine. I do and scoop a rice crispy treat as a thank you.
Now my body adjusted from the 5 minutes in the store and my hands are wet, not good. Takes a while to get them back to the right temp. I take a swig from my now unfrozen pack and the rubber nipple is cracked, squirting valuable carbs all over my gear and my gloves. Would have been gross on a warm day, but just a huge suck fest on a cold one. I realize I will have to stop and twist the nipple (lol) and drink, then close it to keep on going.
Then I notice my garmin saying “memory is full”. Not sure what that means, but it’s still showing me things, so I keep on keepin on. I don’t think I have too much crap on it, but I’m not stopping to figure it out now
Needless to say I’m running a little lean on my fuel and keep going, but still smash another 250w for an hour. It’s just starting to warm up as I get closer to home and I can unzip the jacket and “warm” down.
All before 10am. Whats for lunch?
Bike Check 3
Do you need 3 drop bar bikes? Absolutely not. I kept seeing this bike come up on an add somewhere and realized I had to have it. I had a full on gravel bike, full on race bike, but what about the bike that can do both if need be? The Blackheart All Road is just that. Reading the “about” of the company and the bike really drove it home. The creator of the bike wanted a CAAD10 that could ride dirt roads… sounds a lot like me. It’s also the first new (read “not new to me”) bike I have bought in quiet some time.
This thing fits 38s (40s if you are careful enough) and still has somewhat roadie geometry. More of a roadies gravel bike. I guess that’s an endurance bike? I’m not sure what it is, but its comfortable and still fast enough to join group rides with. I do most of my riding on this bike because of that. Of course the China carbon wheels I got used from some guy local. I risk my life with the Enve knockoff carbon bar, almost makes me want to buy a real one… ALMOST. I pieced together the AXS kit. 46 tooth chainring with the 10-44 in the back is more than enough gearing to go fast and still climb stuff if need be.
jamespearl 