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Sunday, May 18, 2008

Halton Hilly Hundred - Soaked to the Bone Edition

We did the Halton Hilly Hundred as planned Sunday morning.

From about the 50K point on, it poured and poured. I wasn't prepared at all for the mix of rain AND colder temperatures AND wind... I wasn't alone, only two of us actually finished the ride, of the four who started!

I made a lot of mistakes with respect to clothing on this one, so I'm going to impart a few things I learned (thanks to my experienced cyclist buddy HV).

Foot covers - I have winter foot covers, but I'll buy rain ones too. My feet were cold and numb by the end.

Leg warmers - Instead of wearing full cycling pants, these just pull on and cover from where your shorts end down to your socks. If it clears up, you can take them off.

Rain jacket - I know it sounds obvious, but in previous rain rides I took the philosophy that the water would get in anyway, so might as well let it in. This time the cold wind combined with the wet to make my arms and torso fairly uncomfortable.

Glasses (if you don't wear them already!) - I got a lot of spray from bikes in front of me, even from my friend's bike with a rain fender added. But with the glasses on, it was tolerable.

Despite the discomfort, I had a great time. It's an amazing ride, from the escarpment climbs to some of the rolling hills and valleys through the countryside. We'll do it again later in the season, hopefully with more cooperation from the weather!

1 comment:

Darren said...

Yo Jono!
Good on you for braving the elements and getting out there on the weekend. Sometimes you just gotta tough it out. Like Coach Troy says, 'you start a workout, you finish workout!'

Me? I'm still firmly entrenched in the fair weather cyclist department!
Cheers!