Around the lake? its 35 degrees!

So, I nearly froze myself riding home with my buddy Steve last Monday after work. The ride in is the easy part - the bus does the heavy lifting - all I have to do is mange to get from the stadium to the office without getting any grease on my pants. Easier said than done if you chat with my wife. At a quarter to four Steve and I donned our gear, fired up our headlights and headed north to grab the trail in Freemont. I had my gloves, jacket, booties and tights - the only thing I was missing was a headband for my ears, but at 40 degrees I was just fine. Unfortunately the sun goes down quickly in Seattle in December AND apparently the great glowing orb still heats the earth, even this time of year. At 5:10 Steve pulled off at Wayne golf course and I was left to forge on alone the remaining 10 miles. I was starting to lag a bit but didn't give it much thought, Steve rides every day so I really shouldn't be able to keep up with him. Well, the lagging turned quickly into sagging and blossomed into a full fledged delirium filled bonk. I was smoked, and beginning to realize that being soaked to the core with sweat when its 35 degrees out isn't too bad when your rolling along and generating more heat - its a different thing entirely when you can't keep up a pace. I was getting colder, slower and fuzzier as each mile passed. Not a good situation - a real smart guy would have strolled into the first Starbucks available (there are dozens just off the trail) called his wife and accepted his fate. If you're reading this blog however, you would never mistake me for a smart guy. I have ridden those 10 miles dozens and dozens of times, so to keep my mind occupied I set little goals for myself; make it to the park, make it to the brewery, make it to the bridge. Roughly an hour later I rolled in to the parking lot chilled to bone and thankful I didn't have to ride any further. When I arrived home Audra said I was still blue - and thats after 30minutes of driving with the heat on full blast. She plied me with tea, the girls gave me blankets and slowly (45 minutes for my fingers 90 minutes for my toes) the tingling began.

What did I learn from all this - well nothing I didn't know before really but failed miserably in following. Dress warm, dress in layers, wear a hat on your bald head and for pete's sake, wear a shell the breathes! Oh - eat something before hand and always always have a snack in your backpack for those bonking emergencies. If you don't, you may find yourself alone in the dark, getting colder, getting slower and wishing you had done all of the above.


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