My Winter Gear Guidelines

It's a late in the game but not too late to share some tips on riding in the cold. Some may agree and some will disagree but this is what works for me. Depending on how well you tolerate the cold, or not, determines what gear you wear. That's a no brainer. I"m often times asked about bikes and gear so here's what works for me. This is actually a message I sent to a friend that inquired about what to wear.

You can waste a lot of money on gear. I have a couple rules about gear and they are both directly related to temperature. If it's below 40 degrees, it's really cold on a bike and you better wear as much gear as you have in the closet. If the temperature is between 40 and about 55 degrees, it's gonna be cold so there are some non-negotiables. You should still dress in layers in case the temperature changes 5-10 degrees! At these temperatures I wear Pearl Izumi winter gloves, warm under shirt with a wind stopper material, jersey with arm warmers, and a good winter jacket. I always wear shorts with knee warmers vs full length tights as long it's not below 50 degrees. To be honest, I really don't ride that much if its an colder than that. I'm not afraid to get on a trainer or spin bike ;) The knee warmers are an image thing ;). Lastly, full shoe covers and something to keep your head warm. These are mandatory for below 50 degrees. Above 50 degrees I might use under shirt, jersey, arm warmers. Maybe head cover and shoe covers but probably not. It depends on the chance the temperature is going to change or get warmer. Still, shorts with knee warmers. Anytime its below 60 degrees its a good idea to keep your knees covered. I read somewhere that it has to do with cold air and arthritis. For real. The key above 55-60 degrees is layers so you can take off it you get too warm. Rule of thumb is when you start the ride, you should be a little cool. Then you are sure not to get too warm. Most people over dress and then sweat more then risk overheating which could put them at risk for hypothermia because when you get wet, you really get cold. Make sense? You can get this gear online or at the bike shop. Its not cheap but you can always find sales. Hope this helps!

Oh Mary, I'm Comin' To Join You! This is the BIG One

Thought you might like these. I'm turning 40 on Monday so I plan to have a GREAT Week-end :)

"Forty isn't old, if you're a tree." ~ Anonymous

"We don't understand life any better at forty than at twenty, but we know it and admit it." ~ Jules Renard

"I'm not 40, I'm eighteen with 22 years experience." ~ Anonymous

"At age 20, we worry about what others think of us. At 40, we don't care what they think of us. At 60, we discover they haven't been thinking of us at all." ~ Ann Landers

"The 'I just woke up' face of your 30's is the 'all day long' face of your 40's" ~ Libby Reid

“Life begins at 40 - but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times.” ~ Helen Rowland

“Age is a matter of feeling, not of years.” ~ George William Curtis (All depends on who you happen to be feeling at the time I guess! )

“Forty is the old age of youth; fifty is the youth of old age.” ~ Victor Hugo

Where Do You Live?

I saw this T-Shirt on an old man at Cracker Barrel as I was eating breakfast this morning with my family. Obviously, I had to approach him and ask him if I could take a picture of his shirt. At first glance, I thought it was one of the funniest T-Shirts I’d ever seen. My kids think I am so weird when I do stuff like this. They are probably dead on ;) I could’ve taken the picture without him knowing but I thought that would have been rude. They looked like a fun group so I humored him by telling him how much I liked his shirt. When I asked him if I could take a picture, he told me that he thought I was coming up to him to complain about it like everyone else has done. Seriously? He said I was the first person to tell him I liked the shirt. Everyone else had told him how inappropriate it was and that it was offensive. You have to be kidding me? Offensive? Inappropriate? That’s funny. People need to loosen up a little bit.

As I thought a little more about this silly little T-Shirt, I thought about how these street signs could represent where a lot of people you know live. You might even live at one of these streets?

Where do you live? Bite Me Blvd? To me this is a place where people don’t worry what others think about them. They are very secure in who they are and aren’t afraid to just be themselves. They don’t actually go around saying bite me, but this is there attitude. What about you? Are you so concerned with what everyone thinks about you? Be honest. I have to admit, there has been a time in my life when I tried to please people and got significance from how others viewed me. For some of us, this is how we were wired. It’s a natural thing to want the approval of others. But, I’ve learned in my old age how that’s not so important. It’s not who you are to others, it’s who you are to yourself and your closest family and friends.

Maybe you live at No Frickin’ Way. This is hilarious! I bet this is a great place to live. I imagine this is a neighborhood that prides itself on the marvel of wonder. Do you find yourself saying, “No Way” or “Really” often or are you always negative. Or do you doubt everything and everybody? Do you trust people? I for one believe that trust is critical when it comes to happiness. A life of distrust is a miserable place to live. Having children has taught me the idea of wonder. It’s a beautiful thing. Do you have dreams? Do you set goals for yourself? Do you imagine or marvel in wonder?

Where do you live? I know some of you are thinking that this is silly and you might not get it. I thought the shirt was cool, funny. Maybe? Maybe to some of you, maybe not. Think about where you live. Do you need to move?

Good Ole Charity Rides

Charity Rides are the backbone of the cycling community. There are way more people that just ride for the fun of it, for the love of the bike, than there are serious race snobs. No offense to the race crowd, I'm a wanna be. In fact, more power to you. If I had more time or made more time, I would be there every weekend racing too. I love it! I've actually attempted to race a couple races in the past, not this year but in the past two years, I've probably raced 7-8 races. I can say with pride that I finished in the top 10 in most of them. I think 4th was the highest I finished in a Crit one time. I'm actually looking forward to racing next year. I'm on a strength kick right now and plan to implement a strict base period this Winter.

I got my start doing the MS 150 here in beautiful East Tennessee. We left from Verizon on Gunbarrel Rd and went North to Sweetwater and back the next day. Those were the good ole days. Since then I've done so many centuries I can't count as well as standing Bicycle Shop rides and rides with friends. Probably the single best thing I did to help me compete or to keep myself in good cycling shape was my decision to be a Spinning Instructor. 3-4 times a week in the gym really helps my ability to ride and at times ride strong.

This past week-end I rode in the Open Arms Care Bike Challenge. open Arms Care is an organization that houses and assist special needs adults in the surrounding area. Great ride for a great cause. My friends wife just got a bike and has only been riding for a couple months now. Several of us planned to do the ride but when it was all said and done, it was just the three of us. Because of soccer and football it was perfect timing wise for us to only do the 28 mile option. We had so much fun. It had been a long time since I'd done a ride like that and not tried to throw a lung. It felt awesome to just ride. No worries about heart rate, nutrition, hydration, none of that, just riding with friends. So with that said, thanks guys. I needed that. Chris and Cindy are pictured above. They are true bike snobs in terms of gear. Chris has a Cervelo R-3 (decent bike ;)) with Zipp 303's and Cindy has a new Orbea Orca. Sweet rides! Here I am riding down the road. The fog was so bad I had to take my glasses off. They were so fogged up I could see better without them, and that's scary. I looked like a dork but guess what, I was having a BLAST.

Motor-Cycle!

Check this out. I ran across this jewel last night outside Mamacitas. As a side note, if you haven't eaten there you need to check it out. They have some awesome food and and the atmosphere is cool too.

As we were outside admiring this piece of art, the owner came out to give us some details. He took the credit for getting the bike free of craig's list but his girlfriend quickly let us know that she is the one that got the bike. He said he ordered the kit from someone online and put it together himself. This baby will cruise at a max speed of 27 mph on the flats. It runs of straight gas with it's 4 cycle engine. Notice the spare gas bottle on the downtube. I told him he had better be careful and not confuse that with his Heed or Powergel energy drink. He tried to get me to ride it around the block but I didn't. Looks like a lot of fun but I think I'll stick to pedaling for now.