Ring the Peak defrost

It was a cold and frosty day for a bike race here in Colorado. The temps stayed below freezing most of the day. The moisture on the ground helped the riding surface an it was not as soft as last year.
I had a good ride till I got to the turn off to Victor. The cloud cover and wind came up and really cooled things off much more than it was earlier in the morning. I put on some dry gloves and a wind shell over them then a dry hat, my windstop jacket and neck warmer. With 30 + miles to go I needed to stay warm and dry. After a long hike a bike up over the highest and what I thought would be the coldest part of the day it was time to make the long descent back to town.
As my speed increased so did the windchill factor creating a hazard I was not looking forward to. Frozen fingers that made technical descending very difficult. Last year I really flew through this section and expected to make short work of it this year. Wrong, my fingers became so cold I had a hard time operating the brake levers. I would walk the most technical sections and even the easier parts just to try to warm myself.
This really slowed me down but also made me wonder how long it was going to take to get down out of there. I had not seen a single soul since leaving Gold Camp road and did not expect to see anyone anytime soon. Lots of things go through your head and mine was full of thoughts. Am I going to freeze up here, will I make it down before dark and it gets colder? Corned beef n cabbage, corned beef n cabbage, corned beef n cabbage. Got to head straight home and get in the warm shower, and the bed with lots of covers. Find someone in a warm car and get them to crank the heater up. It's amazing what the mind does but I stuck to my mantra of corned beef n cabbage. That seemed to get me down to the road and it was getting a few degrees warmer the lower and closer I got to town.
Once in town it was a race to finish before dark, I had a good chance of making it so I pushed the rest of the way to the finish.
I made it in at 6:30 pm and just before dark. Julie, Linda and Fred had a table waiting and beer on the way. I could not take my gloves off so Julie helped peel them from my frozen hands.
Corned beef n cabbage ordered and a beer in hand we toasted to my craziness for even being outside on a bike.
We also toasted Linda for running her first half marathon earlier in the day. Good job Linda!
Ring the Peak was a success for me this year, a little more of a challenge but I rode faster than last year, I rode it on my full ridge single speed and finished.
There were 13 riders that started the race, five of us finished the complete course for 2012.

Ring the Peak tomorrow!

Well tomorrow is race day for the Ring the Peak and the series championship. The forecast is rain, snow and cold with a 30 degree start and a high of 39 down here. I will be above 10,000 ft most of the day so it will be colder.
There are a lot of people dropping out of the race this past week due to the weather forecast. So I ride year round and have the gear for the cold but it was 80 degrees on Wedensday.
I'm trying to acclimate to the cold and spending as much time outside as possible, since I mostly work outside this has not been to hard.
I will be riding the same bike as last year only I'm going to run a 21 in the back so I can spin a little bit easier and try not to work as hard. It's the same course as last year so no changes there and yes we finish at the Irsh Pub and I will be drooling for corned beef n cabbge with lots of beer the whole race. Good motivation for me to get back as soon as I can. It's one big loop so once on course I'm committed to finish and hopefully a little sooner than last year.
Since it is a fully self supported ride I have to have my own food, water, warm colthes, tools and spares. That's a lot to put in the camel back pack but I manage to get it all in there.
It does become a heavy load until I start eating and consuming my water. The last part of the race is about 18 miles of downhill with a 4,000 ft drop so I won't need much water once I crest the top of Mt Baldy and head down. Food wise I will bring a tuna sandwich some chips, lots of bars, gel shots and carrots.
So today I will go out for a ride to make sure all is sorted out and working right, it's cold so I will test some warm clothes and then get home and get some rest.