Training Log Archive: veinbuster

Day 2 soloflex and free weights

A few extra sets while debating cold weather fattie testing versus intense trainer session.

Cold test shovelling the latest snow for 40 minutes. -14C with a decent wind - the weather station says -20C wind chill.

Torso fine with a t shirt, hoodie, neck scarf and down lined ski jacket.
Legs felt some chill with compression stockings, cr-x tights (relatively heavy) and gore Tex snow pants (mostly snow and wind protection, quite light). Much colder and I would have to dig out ski pants.
Feet barely ok with dress socks and my lighter Sorels. I might have to dig out the super Sorels for much colder.
Head fine with ear muffs, the hoodie hood up and sun glasses.
Fingers started to chill in about 30 minutes with my old lobster claws. I might try a liner next time, but will probably need pogies for the bike.

Might take a flier at ordering Dion snowshoes online rather than search out a store with stock - seem a tad pricey, but the modularity seems like it might be convenient.

C • Snowshoes 4

Another 40 minutes shovelling in -10C with a strong wind - strong enough that the wind chill might have been lower than this morning. The only clothing change I made was liners in my lobster claws. I'll definitely need a better solution for really cold weather.

Our total for the day so far is a good 15cm. And there is more coming.

Day 1 soloflex and free weights

Followed by 90 minutes of shovelling.

Fantastic ride!

Last night's 15 or so cm of damp snow on top of the Saturday snow made for a great day for the fattie. Easy down the back yard hill to get a feel for the conditions, a short woods ride and the the path north to the bigger woods. The bridges weren't plowed so there were some interesting transitions not the deep snow.

In the woods one skier was out. She returned in her own tracks, but later followed my track into an unused section of the woods and let one ski run over my snow pack. One cyclist I met while I was outbound popped his 27.5+ into my track once we cleared each other. Construction was active at the big bridge so after returning on the east side, I popped over to the west side. Here the snow was quite deep - deep enough that on my return I saw that my pedals had left prints 7-8cm deep on each rotation. There were a few spots in this section were grip was a bit dodgy - not terrible but every 150-200m the rear would slide a bit.

I'll have to adjust my expectations of 'race' pace in conditions like this. 8km/hr might be about right. I did gain a couple of km/hr when I used my outbound track on the return. I met another 27.5+ rider when I headed back on the west side and for the most part he was making his own trail. We chatted about the merits of a fattie for a bit (off the clock). When I started up again I noticed that he had tried riding in my track for a bit, but apparently preferred making his own way.

Then did the annual patchwork on the little gold tree from university days

Not quite cold enough to test my clothing for winter fat bike races at -10C, but good enough to establish a baseline. The air was still, so there was only the actual temperature to deal with.

Starting out I noticed the cold had come fast enough to freeze parts of the river like glass. It looked very inviting. I started out a bit before dawn so it wasn't surprising that there weren't many people out. Outbound there was one jogger and three runners - 2 of them brightly coloured women who wanted some guidance to extend their run a couple of kilometres.

The bridge construction was inactive for the day, so I crossed through it to the northern single track. Few people had made it across so the trail was quite skiable for a good stretch. Crossing the plank bridge towards Holland Landing I noticed the my tires were almost as wide as the bridge. My forks are wider. I think I finally have it engraved in my brain that the east pedal has to be up on the south end to make it over.

I couldn't find a way over to the east side of the river at the end of the trail so had to ride on the road for about a kilometre at the end of the trail - the natural entrance was blocked by a very big fallen tree. Once I got the trail again I looped back and found another way to get from the east to west side.

Returning on the east side I was surprised to find a long stretch of untouched trail. Even a full day after the snow, not even a squirrel had been there...more fresh tracks for me. It included a nice gearing test with a 13% grade covered with about 7cm of powder. The fattie went up nicely with a couple of gears left on the 10-42 cassette.

I did notice that I heated up a bit in the fresh snow. In a long race I might want a fresh base layer (ignoring practicalities of changing). With photo stops and cleaning the driveway when I got home I was out comfortably for a bit over 2 1/2 hours. I think I would have to plan on a snow speed of about 10 km/hr.

Beautiful morning. Two runners on the return. No cyclists or skiers.

Day 3 soloflex and free weights, also finished Day 2.
Now back to the city with the birthday girl.