Weather

It's a fact. Wisconsin is cold.

I had originally planned a ride out to New Glarus for today - as per the usual Sunday tradition that I've been following since last spring. The route we take is low-traffic, somewhat challenging, and about 65 miles in length. Plus, there's this great little cafe in town which we love to stop at mid-ride for coffee and conversation - Fat Cat Coffee Works, in New Glarus.

These guys are super friendly to us cycling-folk, and I for one think they make a mean iced-mocha.

Despite the promise of a great weekend rid, I unfortunately woke up to a beautiful, blue-sky, 26 degree morning. That's farenheit. That's below freezing. That's a wind-chill below zero when you're traveling at 20+mph on a bike.

Now, I've been in the postion where my fingers have gotten too cold to pull the brake levers. It's scary. I don't want to repeat it.

So, instead of getting out for a real ride, I did some easy riding on the trainer, with cadence drills and one-legged spinning. I plan on hitting the weights later today after getting some studying done.

It's good that the "off" off-season (as coined by a friend of mine) - That is, the part of the off-season where you concern yourself more with how hard you avoid the bike, and any serious training - is coming to an end. I'm starting to get really motivated to resume training, because I've got this feeling that I could get wicked fast this year. Maybe everybody feels this, but it's nice for me to finally have a great season behind me, and be able to look forward, knowing that I'll be more competitive and stronger next year. This hasn't always been the case, and I'm going to savor the feeling.