My Blog

With the weather having turned cold here in AZ at long last I though I would put the question out there to everyone what you all put on as far as clothing goes to keep training through the cold. I know there are some of you out there in the mid west and Northern California that have a lot colder weather then I do in AZ. I always have a hard time motivating myself to get out there and train when I know I will be freezing my Bizzals off for a couple hours. I will put this one stipulation on the discussion, no one can say “I get on the trainer and stay inside.” One of the main reasons I ride a bike is to show off to the world just how sexy I look in spandex so keeping my radical skinny body hidden in the house is not an option.

My first strategy has always been to start with a good base layer as pictured, I am striking my best Assos pose, to add a bit of European drama to the chat. This year I have been digging my new threads from Pearl Izumi. I have been using their product religiously for the last couple years and have found that they strike a good balance between price and quality. This year I have been using a couple items none stop. First as my base layer I have been throwing on the EKG Long Sleeve and Short Sleeve Crew. These things work great and they are not manufactured in some Asian sweat shop which I think is way cool.

The other two super cool things I have been using this year from Pearl are their Woolie Seamless Arm Warmer and XC Wool Sock. I have an inherent love of all things wool so when I say the new Woolie arm warmers I had to get them. However when I did get them I was presently surprised because not only are they warmer then all the other arm warmers I have ever had but they actually stay on my arms through out the ride. Maybe it is just a problem with us skinny XC guys but my arm warmers have always fallen off my scrawny arms. These babies stay up the whole time though and I love it.

So with these new additions to my wardrobe I typically adjust what I am wearing for the temperature. In any thing around the high 40s to low 50s I put on a base top and regular shorts with the long wool socks on the bottom. Then I cover it with a jersey and my arm warmers. Anything low 40s to high 30s I will jump to knickers long socks base layer but then skip the jersey and go right to the wind breaker/jacket. Typically it doesn’t get a whole lot colder then the high 20s here in phoenix in the winter but if it does I just double up on layers.

I know some of you have to have secrets to keeping warm so let’s hear them.

So I decided to give the inaugural Dawn to Dusk race put on by DCB Extreme Adventures a try. As I am planning to do Old Pueblo a try this year I thought it would be a good warm up act as well as give me a change to try some new strategies for training a try. My new theories are experimental though so try them at your own risk.

My pre race training for this one broke from my normal retain as I knew I would need extra strength and mental fortitude to get through. This new plan consisted of eating as much food as humanly possible at the MGM Grand breakfast buffet the weekend before. In addition I sharpened my skills of perception by losing 50 bucks at the Black Jack table. I really wanted to challenge my mental game though so I selected the table with the best view of a couple of GO-GO Dancers. Their hotness proved to be a worth testing ground to see if I could count cards while watching gyrating flesh all at the same time. Just when I would think I had an upper hand on the gals their skillful cunning proved to be to much for me because they would switch out for two more fresh dancers requiring from me a few new looking overs.. Sure I could have gone to another table but this is how committed I am to training.

Contrary to what I originally thought though mental training is only part of the game, and as important as proper food storage in the body is this also plays a small part. While I am not totally ready to abandonee my theory that Black Jack, breakfast buffets and dancing girls is a fun and affective off season training regimen I think it will need some more research.

So with my experimental training under the belt, so to speak I got up nice and early Saturday morning and meet the other guys from Focus out at McDowell Mountain. (Those of you who raced here at the NORBA know the place) My bike was rocked out in super star fashion by the best wrench in the valley, Glen at South Mountain Cycles. Thankfully I decided to team up with Brian Barrett as a two man team for the day. Brian finished the Xterra national championship in 6^th place so you know how hard core he is. (You can also see his picture here in a Tri geek magazine published a couple months ago.) Brian was picked to head out first and as dawn approached and he left for the first lap menacing dark clouds crested over the top of McDowell Mountain. Within thirty minutes it was an all out down pour.

Brian came in around 10^th or 11^th place and I left the safety of the heated exchange tent into the storm. As much as I would like to relive every painful second of the race with you I will give you the general idea. Peddle in a wash, pedal with a crazy cross wind, climb some muddy hills, pass a couple people, exchange timing chips with Brian, crash in the team trailer for forty minutes in newly changed clothing, stand in the exchange tent for a few minutes, then repeat.

It was in the middle of my 3^rd 15 mile lap though that I realized just how cool mountain biking is. I had made the long five mile climb up the fire road in the rain and had turned to face the wind when I thought I was in for another huge gust in the face. I could hear the approach roaring up in front of me. I was wrong though, it wasn’t wind at all. Rather the washes at the top of the course flooded between my laps and now I was staring right at a real desert flash flood in all of its glory. I trusted in the power of my big wheels to carry me through but when the power of the water swept my hoops with the authority of a ninja master I knew there would be no riding it. Luckily my cat like reflexes kept me from falling all the way in and I quickly ran through and jumped back on the bike. I rode another 100 yards and came to the next wash. This one was even deeper faster. I dismounted and jumped in with my bike over my shoulder. Jumping however was the wrong move as I kept going down long after I thought I should have hit the bottom. The sandy water ran up to my knee and beyond. The guy behind me came crashing in on his single speed without realizing the depth. The water swept him, only he wasn’t quick enough to get out of his pedals and the wash took him and his bike under and down a few feet before he pooped up and scrambled to regain his footing. I carried on through the next 3 water traps before coming to the largest, not only was it deep but long. No joke I turned the corner into it and looked out just in time to see and hear a lightning strike in the distance as seven or eight riders scrambled through to the other side walking as best they could against the current. This was when it really hit me. I could be at work doing some overtime in my warm dry cubical with the other hamsters. I could be on the couch watching collage football with a beer and some popcorn but myself along with the other real men of the Phoenix metro area where out fighting each other and the elements.

By the last lap of the day my will was broken. My time went down and I lost our team a podium position by getting passed and coming in two minutes after 3^rd place. My mental training did pay off though. Instead of thinking about the cold water trapped in my shoes on the last lap I closed my eyes for a brief second and thought about black Jack and I got on through.