February 2011

The cold days are long gone. April was very warm and try but I always have to think back on this special day in February when I rode my race bike ( the one I bought for poor conditions ) during a snow storm. This was the first time I was riding a bike on a road in these conditions. I had massive rain before but a snow storm was something different. I have to admit that I did not ride in heavy snowfall on purpose. It just happened that it started to snow very heavy when I just started to ride my bike. For only about a second I thought about going back but than I decided that it makes no sense to cancel my training just because of a couple of snow flakes.

Well. It was different. But the main problem was not the snow but the salt on the road. The snow melted on the road and because of the cold temperature it froze again on the bike, the shoecovers and on me. Worst thing was that I got water in my shoes because of the wet road. My feet started to get cold. I started to get cold. At the end it was pain. I rode about an hour only but it was enough. It took me a while to get warm again under the shower. Strange thing is: While I exercised outdoors in the cold all winter long I never caught a cold. When half of my office was on sick leave because of the flew I had no problems at all. I wasn´t sick for more than a year now. I think it is mostly because of my outdoor sports.

If you look at the images above you can see the ice on every spoke of the wheel and that most of the bike parts are covered with ice. I have to say that I was surprised how well it performed. Gear changing wasn´t any different to what it is in dry weather. Todays gear is really strong.

Of course you have to make sure that you remain strong too. This is where the last image comes into play. In my travels to Eastern Europe the food is delicious ( most of the time ). And rich - very rich. The image shows a ducks breast czech style. I got this in y very nice restaurant in Kosice ( city in Eastern Slovakia ). This is what keeps you healthy good food and a good ride.

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