I Forced Myself To Do It

I don’t mean to get all roadie on y’all, but I felt like it was time to get out for a ride on skinny tires. I occasionally bash road riding around here, but it’s all in good fun. I bought my road bike a few years ago to help with my overall cycling fitness, but I rarely take it out. When I get out on the road, it always seems like people are trying to run me over. I’m sure that everyone that rides on the road experiences this, but I really hate it. That’s probably why I prefer to be out on the trail.


Anyway, after sleeping in a little bit due to a Christmas party the night before, I decided that I wanted to get out and spin for a while. It was a cold and windy thirty nine degrees outside at 9:00 when I finally headed out, and I immediately regretted my decision. Riding on the road amplifies the wind and the cold, but I had already made up my mind to ride. Besides, I had plenty of clothing on.


I had tights, bib shorts, two pairs of wool socks, and shoe covers on the bottom. On the top it was a short sleeved base layer, a long sleeved thermal base layer, and my Cane Creek long sleeve winter jersey (along with a knit cap under my helmet.) I was warm in the house, but as soon as I stepped outside I felt cold again. I decided to get moving so I could warm up.



It didn’t take long for my body to get warm, but I felt like I was getting frostbite on my face. I had sunglasses on, so at least my eyeballs didn’t freeze. I took a nice loop on some local country roads, and I really enjoyed the scenery.



When I took this photo, my smartphone displayed, “Flash is disabled due to cold weather.”


I live on the outskirts of Charlotte, so it doesn’t take long to get away from the hustle and bustle of big city driving. Long, lonely country roads surround me, so at least I don’t have to fight traffic. This also reduces the risk of being struck by a car. And you know what? I was lucky this time. Not one texting soccer mom tried to kill me with their minivan. I call any ride where I don’t have a near death experience a success.


I only rode less than an hour, but it sure beat sitting around in the house getting fat off of Christmas cookies. Little Miss Sunshine was baking tons of holiday goodies, so I try my best to stay the hell out of the house and far away from the temptation when she does that. The only bad thing about my ride was the fact that I got some windburn on my face. Their seemed to be a headwind no matter which direction I rode, but I’ll call that “training.” Anything to help me keep from becoming a fat ass in the offseason.


I could’ve gone on longer, but I had other stuff to do. Of course, you’ll have to come back tomorrow to find out what that was. I can’t promise that it will be exciting. If you come here and read this every day, you already knew that.