Freezing on the bike

Saturday, 2/20/10

Note: There are approximately 3,500 calories in a pound of body fat. I’m going to log my calories burned per workout with a goal of burning at least 3,500 per week so I know that I’m doing enough exercise to lose a pound of fat. Actually, any combination of calorie reduction and calorie burning totaling 3,500 will do the trick, so if you watch the caloric intake while doing the workout program – you lose faster.

I need two days off from running if I am to keep the calf from flaring up again and so that means back to the bike on the trainer in the family room. I hate working out indoors on stationary equipment, but if there’s something good on the tube, I can make it 45 minutes to an hour. I had resigned myself to this drudgery when I found out that I needed to take my jeep for some repair work in Chardon, which is about 20 miles away. I needed to leave the car overnight and had no one available to bring me back. It was then I began to consider pulling the bike off the trainer and using it for the return trip.

Now, I’m no hardcore winter bike rider. In fact, I’m normally rather soft about riding in the cold. When the thermometer drops below, say 50 degrees, I park the bike and look for other ways to work out. This was the new me though, and I was determined to toughen up. I packed the bike in the jeep along with half my winter wardrobe and headed out.

For those of you unfamiliar with Northeast Ohio and Lake Erie snow effect, let me tell you that Chardon ranks in the top five spots in the country for average snowfall. Though the roads were bare, snow melt from the sides of the road would keep me wet for sure. I drove out and when I began pulling the bike from the back of the jeep, my mechanic and former triathloning friend questioned my judgment.

“You’re old, fat, out of shape, and its cold as hell,” he shared, judiciously.

“Don’t candy coat it to spare my feelings, Dan,” I responded, continuing to prepare for the ride. I was wearing my running pants, a stocking cap under my helmet, gloves, two t-shirts (cotton again), booties over the riding shoes, and a wind breaker. It was 35 degrees, but sunny. I had that going for me, at least.

I carried the bike to the end of his driveway since it was covered in some kind of snowy, mud slush – something I knew I didn’t want mucking up my bike before I got started. I threw my cell phone in my saddle bag since I knew Dan would come and pick me up if I got into any real trouble, and headed off. It was a hilly ride of about 22 miles and the time on the trainer at home had done little to prepare me for the climbs. I used to laugh at a ride like this as hardly worth doing in my triathlon days, but I wasn’t laughing now. I learned a new appreciation for the phrase ‘wind chill factor’ while descending a steep hill over a mile long. Hitting speeds around 50 mph rocks in the summer, but I couldn’t feel my lips, nose and, well, other important parts by the time I reached the bottom.

I managed to complete the ride in around ninety minutes, which was respectable considering the conditions and my total lack of training. I rolled into the garage, frozen quite thoroughly, and pulled out my cell which was vibrating in my bag. It was Dan.

“Car’s done – you should have waited,” was all he said.

Duration: 1:30:00

Training heart rate: 130 beats per minute

Calorie burned during workout: 1,350