Cross Virginity

I am getting it done. I refused to let torrential downpour and near freezing temperatures derail my training efforts. I threw the cross wheels on the cross bike and headed out in the heavy rain. Immediately I turned around due to mechanical difficulties though, the rear cassette had some play in it. It turns out I am missing a spacer so I just scudded one off my Mavic race wheels in the meantime. Strange configuration, the dura-ace cassette fits wonderful but the ultegra needs a 1mm spacer. Whatever.

I felt good heading out in the rain. It was dark, overcast and some hefty winds. It was raining hard enough to not use intermittent wipers so I didn't take sunglassess with clear lenses with me, I dont want to keep wiping them off since it probably wouldn't work. I decided to ride offroad on the 'railtrails' to avoid traffic which probably doesn't expect a bike on the road in these conditions. I had a blinky red light on the back but still...
I had a rain jacket on, specific for cycling, and it worked great! I stayed dry and warm but my feet, ohhh my feet froze. The trail had huge long deep puddles and as I cut through them, unavoidable, the water would splash up on my feet and drench them. I suffered some nasty frostbite by the end. Thats twice now that I let my toes get that cold in the past month. I better be more careful. Booties next time! Other than that I stuck to my mantra 'Every Minute of Every Workout Counts!'. If I felt myself slowing down our easing up I just repeated my mantra and put the hammer down. That, and I wanted to get home to warmth lol! I rode naked, so I have no data. Roughly 40km 1.5hrs-ish. Exactly what the training plan called for except I'm certain the plan didn't factor in that I was offroad in miserable conditions.
That was my first cyclocross ride :) That bike is fast on the trails, the winding turns were fun in the drop bars, it feels fast. Not as agile as  a mountain bike so you really have to plan out the cornering. My center of gravity was up high so it required some trust in those tires. I'm happy to say I'm please with those conti cross tires.


TRAINING:

Bike - 1:30hrs Cross Heavy Rain