Cold Weather Riding

Riding outside in the winter can be totally awesome, or totally suck if you're not prepared for it. Even when you are prepared, you can still experience some problems. Dean caught a little frostbite on his toes a few weeks back, and I had to go to the dermatologist to learn the blisters on my hands and feet are what's known as chilblains, some skin damage that occurs in cold, damp conditions. The blood vessels apparently shut off to protect themselves, resulting in little blisters/callouses on my hands and feet. They go away in the warmer weather, but my guess is that each year I continue to ride outside it'll get worse.

So before any winter training, make sure you're taking the proper precautions. Warm gloves, warm clothes and warm booties will make the ride more enjoyable and hopefully not give you frostbite. In fairness, I do ride with all these things, I just have inherited poor circulation and ride my bike for too long in the cold.

With that said, hopefully everyone is RIDING his/her bike, whether indoors or out. I've been heading up to TriSpeed on Saturdays and the groups have been small (this past week it was just me, my friend Tom and Sean, the owner). If 9 is too early, there is also the 10am ride out of Oregon Ridge which is a larger group and a very chill ride.

Mondays at Fed Hill have been booming, and of course last night I suspect a ton of people were there to fulfill New Years resolutions, so if you're lacking that motivation to get out and run, rely on the social aspect of the Fed Hill group!