I had planned on taking the 65 mile loop out where I had gone before, up and over Prentice Cooper State Park, to see how long it would take me to make the round the second time. But, I was foiled!! It was 45 degrees outside, with wind! I put on long underwear and my riding clothes – everything was comfortable, until my hands and right big toe went numb!
It was hard to get myself to bail on my plans, but, after about 20 miles, I knew that there was chance of me making it the rest of the trip safely – I couldn’t operate the bike safely. I was quickly losing motor control.
I turned around and hightailed it home. I made cocoa with a splash of Buttershots to warm things back up. (Disclaimer, don’t be kicking your feet up with a drink til after you’ve done peeled off your helmet for the last time for the day!)
And, later that night… went shopping for a heated jacket!!
Stretch: figuring out how low a temp I can go to ride in (with the gear that I currently have)!
Lessons: Finding out what your limits are, then finding ways to correct for those limits, regarding clothes choices, in this case. Also, that challenges keep coming, but if you’ve planned to tackle only incremental, bite-sized pieces of your learning progression, what challenges you do face are usually, then, quite manageable.
Smarter-Not-Harder U 