7 February 2008  |  Misc

Bitter Freezing Cold

Yes, that’s right. It was most certainly not the 40 degrees that “Accuweather” was predicting. The ride started out alright, and we headed up Rist Canyon at a pretty good clip. There was quite a bit of snow on the road in the shady and windy spots, but it was pretty packed down so it wasn’t that sketchy. As we got closer to the top of the climb the winds picked up and it got COLD. I kept a good pace, head down, and it wasn’t until I reached the top that I realized how cold I really was. We decided against heading down Stove Prairie Rd and Poudre canyon (as we were all dressed for the 40 degrees we expected) and instead turned around and rode back down Rist. I had worked up a pretty good sweat on the way up and I froze as soon as we started coasting back down. The patches of snow that were no problem on the way up were pretty treacherous at higher speeds, and my hands were so cold that i couldn’t really squeeze the brakes very well- not good. Ben and Dusty were as cold as I was, and we had to stop periodically and hop around swinging our arms , just trying to get SOME feeling back. The wind was icy cold and I’m sure I wasted a ton of energy just bracing myself against it. It might sound like I am exaggerating but I haven’t been that cold in a LONG time. Even the USGP ‘cross race in Portland wasn’t this bad. It was pretty sad. As soon as we got home we got in the hot tub- really the only way to truly warm up after being that cold. How I love the hot tub. So now I’m warmed up, but I still have that dull ache in my fingertips. Looks like I’ll be staying on the flats tomorrow, no need for a repeat of that debacle.