Cold and Gray Part II

Running in the cold and biking in the cold are two different things. Disclaimer: cold refers to Florida cold. It was 58 degrees and cloudy today when I decided to exercise, another gray day. I figured I’d get a ride in instead of going to the Y or running. Some days both of those options suck. I thought about LMJ and wore my helmet. No matter how much I ride, I still feel like a complete retard when I wear a bike helmet. I’m a big believer in the 2nd amendment so I wore a shirt with no sleeves. I ride faster than I run and riding doesn’t use any part of my upper body so I was freezing. I decided to act like I had a pair and soldier on. Everything was fine. I was dodging cars and doing my Lance Armstrong thing, and then it started to rain. I was four miles from home. Oh yeah, I said some bad words. The upside is that I picked up my pace as I cut my ride short and headed home. I rode home at a 3min47sec per mile pace. It hurt – a lot. I rode through Boone Park, and for about thirty yards I was off road. I actually had to change gears to get up a “hill”. The freezing rain and rapid pace came together to help me ignore stop signs. It’s funny how discomfort changes one’s perspective. I made the choice that it was better to risk getting hit by a truck than to slow down because slowing down would mean either speeding back up or spending more time in the rain, and my legs and lungs were not having it. If I got hit by a truck, well, I’d probably be unconscious and at least the ambulance would be warm. The next time I ride in the cold and rain – probably tomorrow – I’m bundling up.