barely keeping up on a cold day

 

I went for a ride with some of my usuals yesterday, in spite of the temps that never got out of the low 30s and the threat of snow (it came later, but it was threatened, nonetheless).

I set up a quick spreadsheet (because of course I did). Since the first of the year (so, a little over six weeks), I'd done two rides totaling 25.2 miles. Since Thanksgiving, I'd done less than 100 miles. Despite daily workouts, I knew my fitness wasn't up to much of a ride. And because of that, I'd avoided a the few rides that my usual partners had gone; nobody likes to be the one dragging the group back, especially when the others are shivering at the stoplight.

But come ON, already. We've had this gelid weather for so long. When I got an invite to a pickup ride, mostly on the Henry Hudson trail, I decided to go along. The trail is fairly flat and somewhat sheltered from the wind... and if I did fall off the back of the group, I'm sure I'd be able to find my way back. Tom H, the convener of the crew, figured about 24 miles. It was possible.

So I loaded up the car (I haven't done it in so long, I had to revert to my lists [because of course I have lists] to make sure I had everything), and headed out to the Sheriff's STAR location on Dutch Lane Road in Freehold.

 Well, I'm still able to keep the bike upright. I was wearing my heaviest, thick gloves from my motorcycling days; they keep my hands warm, but have limited dexterity; I had to learn how to shift in them. Still, I kept up with the group all the way up. We made a quick stop at Big Brook Park...

...and then continued up to the end of the trail, about 12 miles out.

 

At that point, Tom said it was only about another three miles to the waterfront park in Keyport, which would make the total distance a little under 30 miles. Hearing no objections, he led on.

 

 In Keyport:

 

 And back.

 

 By about mile eighteen or nineteen, I started to get sore in my thighs. I barely kept up, and Ricky and I traded places now and again at the back (he said he was tired as well, but he's such a gentleman that he may have just been keeping an eye out for me). I was, of course, thinking that I'd never ride again and this whole thing was a big mistake.

 

But winters the past several years have been mild, at least at times, and I've been able to keep fitness up into the following spring. In earlier years, however, when I didn't ride in the coldest weather, I remember each season having an early ride that was just misery... and then I remember strengthening up as the season progressed. 

 

It's true that I'm close to turning 70, and that my fitness has been falling off since last summer (I've complained that my performance is unreliable). But 2024 wasn't a great year for Jim on the bike. I got only about half the miles in that I had in any of the previous five years, what with illness, weather, and life's conflicts. Still, I'm reasonably sure that I can reach an improvement (even if not to my previous levels of fitness) if I can get back on the bike regularly. The Excellent Wife (TEW) has been urging me to ride the weekday rides, at least once a week, and I've resolved to do that when they resume regularly. And we'll see about the result that brings... if I actually do it (because as I write this, it's still only a resolution).

 

I made it back, mostly with the group... and saw Heddy with this excellent idea, that I'm going to have to steal:

 

She's cleaning off her tires with a whisk broom, before putting the bike in the car. She does it because she likes a clean car, but it strikes me that it would also serve to get the gunk off the bottom of the downtube, bottom bracket, and chainstays. Too many times I've been putting the bike up on the car rack, and noticed I was bringing several pounds of trail surface home with me, and then I'd have to sponge off the bike when I was home, sometimes in conditions that were as cold and unpleasant as those on the ride itself. It won't completely remove the need for that, but the whisk broom could make the subsequent cleanup a lot less unpleasant.

 

In fact, I might actually DO the subsequent cleanup. Ahem.