Winter cold got you down?.... Nahhhhhh

So anyone with half an ounce of common sense that's ever ventured out for a bike ride when there's a foot of snow on the ground ....wait some of you already think that's an oxymoron -- common sense, bike ride, foot of snow.... Well, let me continue, again hypothetically let's say you have. If you think hard enough you can already realize what bone shattering chill that might send through certain extremities if one is not adequately prepared. Frozen flippin' toes being the most likely to succeed in the can-I-get-gangrene-in-under-an-hour contest. If you've tried it's almost always going to be the limiting factor in how long one can ride in the fall, winter and spring. Hands, body, junk, all that can be covered pretty adequately, it's always the toes that take the beatin'.
Seeing as I still can't CC ski to save my life and I'm not about to sit around for 3 or 4 months -- and using a roller or trainer has it's limits before thoughts of suicide kick in. Getting quality training is something I've really struggled with in years past. Well, try as I may through everything from plastic bags to different boot cover ideas. At long last I can attest to finding a wholly and entirely worthwhile solution. Listen to me carefully -- if you want to ride in the winter (or are forced to because of lack of snow for skiing), you gotta give these type of bike shoe/boots below a try -- you will not be disappointed, you'll be kicking yourself you never got them sooner.

Add in these attachments if you really need them and you'll be just fine. http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2007/11/12/scarpa-grizu-heated.html

http://cozywinters.com/therm-ic/

I got the Lake brand of boots at FreeWheel in the twin cities. They go for $200-$300 but are well worth it, I can't even dare call it "Feeding the Fat" reference of the dear Charlie Farrow. It's more a a necessity for survival out there. I believe he's gotta have something like that to pull off his Arrowhead 135 escapade in February.

Check 'em out sometime or drop me a line if you ever have questions.

I've been meaning too, like probably so many others, get on the blog and do some updating but a day turns into a week, a week turns to another then.. a month is gone before you know it. If you're reading hang in there folks I think I can still pull off a 3 or 4 posting per month average.

Having ended the season on a pretty high note from the Iceman Cometh I was anxious to keep the momentum going so I've really not taken any major time off the bike. That's not to say I'm stacking hours and hours of base training in yet but I've gotten in between 7-10hrs most weeks since Mid November. The recent snap of cold however is putting a crimp even on the best pair of biking boots, gloves and face wear so I've resorted to flailling around on some CC ski's, but some good mentoring from FSx Midwest - Fischer / Swix Racing man, Paul Haltvik, and there's appears to be some hope for me. It lets be get out for an hour and stay warm enough so I can follow up with another 1hr ride on the bikes to get at least 2hrs of aerobic work done.

Game plan this year is get 6 months of base and buildup training done so I'm good and ready to race come May & June, then there's a sizable break in MTB racing in July so I'm going to take a rest period during that month and then hopefully I should be refreshed enough to able to race out the remainder of MTB & CX season from Aug thru Nov next year without crashing & burning out by Cheq 40 like in years past. I've also integrated a pretty good lifting and core exercise program into my weekly routine as well with any luck will help with injury prevention and add some durability.

As it's said anything worthwhile usually isn't dropped in your lap, so sometimes when opportunity doesn't knock, you just have to build a door. So whatever your choice -- hit the roads or hit the snow, just get out there and make things happen.