Living near Lake Erie in almost any community with the word ‘Heights’ in it can be a good thing if you enjoy lake effect snow. It just so happens that I live in Highland Heights and I do enjoy shoveling, so it all works out.
Ice sucks, though.
It had been 50 degrees on Saturday and so I’d pulled my bike from its hangers in the garage and tried to go for a ride. I hadn’t been on it in almost two months and quickly discovered that the inactivity had somehow frozen the gear cable inside the housing. I was stuck in one gear and that wasn’t going to work. I drove it to Performance Bikes and received a repair ticket and a promise that it would be ready for a ride the next day.
I returned home and boarded the trainer for a boring, indoor ride.
Sunday came and went without a call telling me the bike was completed, though since a cold rain was falling, it didn’t really much matter. I don’t ride in cold rains and tend to shy away from warm ones, as well. I hopped on the trainer again.
Temperatures dropped overnight, hitting 17 degrees in the Heights, creating a thick coating of ice over anything outside – driveway and cars included. After shoveling five inches of a fluffy, light snowfall, I went to work trying to chisel the layer of ice covering the Jeep – my preferred form of transportation to Warren in severe winter conditions. I came to the conclusion that although the chiseling was a splendid workout, I wasn’t making much progress and elected to turn on the engine and try to melt it off with heavy defroster action. Fifteen minutes later with an assist from the warm air blowing on the insides, I was able to clear the windows. In all, I’d spent an hour getting the vehicle out of the driveway.
I did not consider this the entire workout, heading for the North Chagrin Reservation later in the day with Dakota for a Survival Workout. There was 6 inches of powder on the trail, but I knew where my rocks and logs were located and after brushing the snow away and kicking them loose from the earth (they were frozen in place), was able to do some lifting. I hiked the trail through the snow, itself a workout, with Dakota in tow and loving every minute. We were alone as most sensible folks were inside, warm and smart. We crossed Clear Creek where the water was running high and the rocks for crossing were covered in ice. I jumped and managed to reach the far side without getting too wet, but Dakota walked through and would shortly be trying to chew ice from between her toes. We shortened the workout trail to accommodate her ice build-up and discomfort.
I returned to the car pleased with the effort. I find the tranquility of the park with a layer of virgin snow worth any degree of discomfort. Was it a great workout? Not really, but some days it is just making the effort and keeping the focus that counts. It’s how we achieve goals and manage to stay in shape. There’s also a little bit of pride in being able to handle the elements, which once you’re out, really aren’t so bad.
Survival Workout: 45 minutes. Snow removal: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100-150 bpm for SW and 80-120 bpm on snow removal.
Calories burned during workout: 450 for SW and 400 on snow removal.
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