great googly moogly

According to the thermometer at the house this morning and at the bank, today wasn't the coldest morning that I have commuted (between 7-10 degrees f), it's not even the coldest day in the last two weeks but good gawd was it cold! On a comfort level it was easily the coldest day this year. I'm not sure why it seemed colder than the -4 day but it did. Go figure... I made it in though and only had to endure a few minutes of the "my hands hurt so much I think they're going to fall off" routine. A long, hot shower really did the trick to thaw the body.

Yesterday I finally got around to registering for the Winter XC race in Vermont in three weeks. I guess there is no pussing out now. Here are a couple of quotes from the website:

"Winter mountain biking is not for the faint of heart. If you get a flat tire or mechanical problem, your life can turn into a nightmare. The wind might bring the temperature down to a point where most people on snowmobile would rather stay home. Your Camel Back tube will freeze. A snow storm might result in the need to walk most of the course. Rain could make your life miserable. "

"If you are not considered normal by your peer, this is probably a race for you."

There is no question that I'm not considered normal around here so I guess this IS a race for me.

On Tuesday, when I was at the shop, I also found out that a shop employee (Steve) will be going over on the Carver winter bike that I posted a while ago so now I have someone to share gas money, misery and the back on the element with. Did I mention that I plan to sleep in the back of the car for the weekend of the race. My rationalle for doing so are two-fold. First, I'm cheap. Second, it adds to the adventure aspect of the weekend. Who doesn't want to do an ice crit on Friday night, curl up in the back of an ice cold car for the night and then get up bright and early to race again the next morning? At least if things get too cold Steve and I can spoon.