Still avoiding the trainer

Today's weather is ugly. Snow, sleet, freezing rain and ice pellets. That's right...ice pellets. The storm was supposed to roll into town late morning and hit hard after noon. So I figured if I got up early I could get a ride in before the weather turned ugly and avoid the trainer for one more day. I succeeded, I suppose, but it's debatable.

If you look at the radar, you'll see the really nasty stuff has yet to hit Madison, but the storm definitely rolled into town earlier than I expected. I headed out about 8:45 am. The temp was 19 and winds were about 5 mph. It was overcast, but no snow in sight. Cold, but no worse than the lunch rides I've done all week.

Four miles in, the flurries started and the winds picked up. No big deal, I thought. By mile 5, things got a little more serious. The snow was flying and it was already starting to accumulate on the sides of the road. Again, no big deal. With the wind blowing I figured the roads would stay clear for the rest of the ride.

By mile 8 the roads were completely covered in snow but it wasn't really affecting my ride. My rear tire slipped a little on one of the steeper climbs on Sunset, but otherwise I was fine. I took the descents pretty slow. No need to get stupid.

I was surprised how much traction I had in the snow considering I was riding slicks. I took it slow in the corners, and was actually having fun. The worst part was my frozen toes and face. The snow melted on my face and then refroze and it was getting cold. Also, my glasses fogged up and then froze so I was having a hard time seeing.

By the time I got to Seminole there was about a 1/2 inch of snow covering the road but I couldn't hold back. Seminole is my favorite road. It's straight and flat and a great road to put your head down and push hard for a few miles (they're putting in a 4-way stop next week which really sucks...I'm so disappointed). There was a strong side wind but I still kept it above 20 mph...21.5mph most of the way. It was fun, but the wind chill from going that fast did me in. When I turned on to Lacy Rd. my face was very cold and my toes were hurting. And my glasses had fogged up a little more so vision was limited. I was ready to head home.

At this point, I only had 2.5 miles to go, but things were getting tough now. The snow was really coming down and blowing and drivers were looking at me like I was crazy. Traction wasn't a problem, but the snow was much deeper and I had to use caution to make sure I didn't crash, especially since there was a constant stream of cars...surprisingly. By the time I made it home there was about an inch of snow. I wish Cheri had been there with her camera to get a picture of me in all my icy glory. I had big chunks of ice on my eyebrows. But I made it and avoided the trainer for one more day.

Tomorrow I think I'm going to have to dust off the trainer and break out the Spinervals for a Coach Troy beating.

Ride
Time = 1:09:59
Distance = 18.15 miles
Ave Speed = 15.6 mph
Max Speed = 29.2 mph
Elevation Gain = 976 feet