There is a cold front across the country at the moment. I become extra aware of how blessed I am to have a beautiful home, a warm bed and warm shower in the morning (well sometimes - if I remember to set the heater on!) and warm food to fill my belly.
This morning we set out to do a 70km ride. It was minus 1 degree celcius. I was quite nervous. I have run through many Joburg winters and I really loved running in the cold. I found it invigorating and exciting. I loved dressing in the various extra layers and I would come back with freezing cheeks and bright eyes. However in running there is not the wind chill factor in terms of going at such a speed that there is wind. There were many layers on my body and I still had goosebumps. I had cycle shorts, long running pants over those, 2 x pairs of socks, 1 x long sleeved warm shirt, 1 x short sleeved cycle shirt, 1 thin fleece shirt, 1 x outer layer wind breaker, 2 x buffs, 2 x pairs of gloves. On our Magaliesberg rides they always start with about a 3km ride into a valley and it is gosh darn flippen' cold - especially on a morning like this one. It was probably only about 30kms into the ride that I was ready to lose a couple of layers.
It was a route called Slow Poison. Part of the ride is on a district road that is a slow steady climb on a very bumpy uncomfortable road.
I kept my heart rate below 80% and it was a solid steady pace. Breakfast at Wimpy was fabulous and I did what I could to defrost the iceblocks at the end of my legs that used to be toes - even my right heel was frozen!
My lower back took a lot of strain for some reason but my neck wasn't too bad. I got really tired about 15 kms from home but still opted to do an extra 4km loop to ensure I got 70kms under my belt.
Great, awesome and wonderful!
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