Today I've had a real winter spin on the XC bike and I have to say it was absolutely perfect just the way it all happened. Get out to Ballinastoe and have 2 of the long loops done nice & fast, this was the plan for the day. Since the weather was savage and cold (-2°C) I decided to drive instead of ride all the way there. I got up at 7:30 am and after breakfast and coffee I was ready for the first challenge of the morning: get the car deiced! :)
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| Nice and hard ice on the windscreen, winter is still here |
After the short drive I arrived to the place that was busy already. I got changed quickly and I was all set. Drink in the bottle, timer reset on the Garmin and go! When I went out for the first lap the temperature was still below 0°C, so besides the cold the other thing that provided fun time on the bike was all the ice everywhere. I got warmed up quickly though but the sketchy trails did not ease up at all for about an hour. Ice everywhere and frozen puddles of course. By the time I got out for the second lap everything started to melt a little bit so the whole thing turned into some savage icy-muddy spray in the face. Was cold but at some level of course I really enjoyed myself on the bike! It was great! :)
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| Here is a great shot of the Wicklow where the snow just looks amazing. |
Besides the regular "skidding-on-frozen-puddles-on-icy-trails-and-get-mud-all-over-me" story the real thing was the short section of the north shore. I can tell, it has been never been this tricky! :)
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| Lovely ice coating on the north shore...sketchy |
So, as it was planned I got 2 of the long loops done with a nice, quick but steady pace. I managed to have 1 hour lap times during the training so that left me with 2 hours training time on the bike today...check it on Strava.
Today's spin wasn't exactly long but it was some real quality time on the bike in savage weather conditions. It was cool, there is something I like about these cold and muddy winter spins. Can't wait for the next one! :)
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