Winter Ride

I've been itching to take the bike out and decided to do a ride this weekend. I almost cancelled it because the weather is cold and windy. I then saw a post on our club forum that a group was going for a ride Saturday morning. I made sure to dress in layers. Temps were in the high 30's with 10-15 mph winds. By the time we were done with the ride, temps were in the mid-40's. With the wind chill, we were probably riding in 30-35 degree weather. We're some hard core riders. Did I mention that the other riders were women. It was an easy ride as I was getting used to the saddle, aero bars and aero drink bottle.


The bike felt real twitchy when I first dropped onto the aero bars. I switched to one arm on the bars and the other on the brake hood just to get used to how the bike handled. Once I got into a section of relatively straight and flat asphalt I had both arms on the bar. It actually felt pretty comfortable and I felt more relaxed than when I'm in the drops or on the hoods. It's difficult to tell if I was actually faster since I was dealing with a head wind and some cross winds throughout the ride. Not to mention my bike computer wasn't reading the correct speed info. I might have to replace the transmitter battery and check placement on the fork. I think I'll have to raise the saddle a little bit. I feel like I need more space between my chest and knees when pedaling.

Saddle felt comfortable throughout the ride. Even when I was sitting up and when riding on top of the hoods. It really felt comfortable when I was on the aero bars. The aero drink bottle worked well. However, I think I cut the tube a little too short. It's kind of hard to tell because I didn't drink like I normally would. I was wearing a baklava mask to help with the cold and my breathing. Kind of hard to drink regularly when your mouth is covered.

Overall it was a great ride considering how cold and windy it was. I was wearing 4 layers to keep my torso warm and 2 layers for my lower half. I also had shoe covers that helped keep my toes from feeling too cold. If I had an outer shell that helped with the wind, I could loose a layer or two.