Week Fourteen - Day Three

BIKE: Mike
TIME THERE: 33 min.
TIME BACK: 32 or 36 min. (can't remember exactly when I left!)
WEATHER: clear, -13C, 6km/hr wind there; clear, -8C (-13C with windchill), 11km/hr wind back.
WHAT I WORE: double pants, turtleneck, fleece mid-layer, waterproof shell, scarf, lobster gloves
NOTES:
Try this little experiment: put your hand in the freezer for a minute - or, if you're living on the Canadian prairies, step outside without gloves. When you can't really feel your hand anymore, try making the tightest fist you can. Note how slowly your hand moves, how inflexible it feels, and how no matter the strength of your will, it just will not make a tight fist.

Whatever principles are behind the frozen-hand experiment that make the muscles work slower and prevent you from making a really tight fist are also behind the reason I felt like I was travelling through water on the way to work this morning. The ice wasn't too bad, there wasn't much snow to slow me down, but the whole time I still felt sloooow. I took 33 minutes and up to 36 minutes for my 8km commutes today no other reason than because I couldn't go faster. I'm not sure if other cyclists are going through the same thing, because I was passed by one oncoming cyclist in the downtown area this morning who whipped by me at some remarkable speed with legs pumping as though impervious to the cold. I was flabbergasted by his ability to bike so fast when I felt like I could hardly move.

What was especially brutal was the tiny hill coming off the High Level Bridge. It's small, and it's not steep, but even then I dropped down to 12th gear and had to get out of my seat and climb that hill standing to reach the top. I felt like I was dying by the time I actually got to the stairs, and then I had to lug my frozen bike up 32 steps (yes, I have counted, and no, I don't have OCD). I was panting so hard I could feel the saliva on my tongue freezing, which - by the way - is not a feeling I would recommend (in fact, it's kind of creepy).

I know the temperature is supposed to dip over the next couple weeks. I know it's going to get positively frigid, with high's in the -20C range (and I don't bike during the time of day that it's at the highest temperature). I know at that temperature tires lose their ability to grip the road and find traction, and it's imperative for me to wear something over my mouth so the cold air doesn't rush into my lungs and leave internal injuries, even burns. And I know that at that temperature, I will be sluggishly crawling along the road, my muscles barely working, and I'll ask myself (as I'm doing more and more these days), "Is this really worth it?"