Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Jan 8th Commute - Wind sucks or maybe it's me




Woke up this morning and was over joyed to see that the temp was above the 28degrees, that I was expecting.  Took a guess at what would keep me warm and headed out the door.  For some reason my pants which don't normally give me problems were very tight around my thighs.  It didn't feel like I was able to get everything out of them that I should.  Felt way under powered.  Both going to work and coming home.  Fighting the wind is never a good thing.  Especially when you haven't been riding as much as you should.  So pair being outta shape and riding into sustained wind of 23mph with gusts to 44 and you've got a recipe for suck.  A double batch of suck really.  I need to get off my ass and start working out.  Change the diet a bit also.

Temp - 34/49 degrees
Wind - 23mph sustained/ 44mph gusts

Me:
Head - 5 OK(Finding the right hat is tough with this tempature swing.  Fine in the morning sweaty in the afternoon)
Hands - 5 OK(Again, Gloves were fine in the morning and too heavy in the afternoon)
Chest - 5 OK(Same story)
Legs - 4 Not great (Pants were too tight and felt like they were choking my legs at times)
Feet - 8 Good (Keen boots with bike socks)
Overall Physical feel - 2 (Wow I suck, or maybe it's the wind)

Bike ratings as follows.  One will mean total equipment failure.  Ten means it totally served it's purpose and I need to write more positive reviews on it.

Bike: Redline Monocog
Tires - 7(Stayed inflated)
Brakes  - 6(Little squeeky)
Drivetrain - 9(Single is good)
Overall/Other - 7(Need to try a different bar.  See if I can get the wrists to stop popping as much)

Total Score: 58

Things to change - Ride more, work out more, get to the gym

Things I noticed -  Wind sucks, a lot when your outta shape