And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.
I remember hearing this…is it a stanza?…from ‘Twas the Night before Christmas’ when I was a wee tot and thinking... they’re going to sleep all winter? Well…I think that’s what I did last night. When I awoke to the clatter of tiny hooves and went out to get the newspaper, I was extremely surprised to find the temperature over 50 and climbing. At this rate, the snow would all melt, the roads would dry…and I’d be riding my bike in a t-shirt and shorts in January!
And so it was. The temperature was closer to 60 than 50 when I did get on my bike. The only difference in apparel between this and a July ride in the 90’s was a pair of socks and a t-shirt under my cycling shirt. My plan was to hit the Waite Hill/Mulberry route which would normally take almost two hours and bring me back in semi-darkness…but what the hell. My low back has been bothering me since Saturday and I didn’t want to run anyway, so this was perfect. I’d get to burn major calories on the last day of the month taking my ‘calories burned while exercising’ over 33,000 for the month…my third best ever and a strong accomplishment for a winter month.
I worked hard over the first hour of the ride and was a little concerned that my lack of outdoor riding would be a deterrent over the second half of the course, but the hours of riding and watching ‘Everest’ paid off. Though I faced a strong, steady wind blowing around 20 mph over much of the return ride, I was able to come within a couple of minutes of my fastest time on the course without really trying. Apparently, I’m maintaining my biking conditioning.
R.I.P. Mosie…you made your girls very happy.
Bike Duration: 1 hour 52 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.Calories burned during workout: 1550.
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