Cyrogenic 102

After watching my daughter taking second place in the cup of the federal state of Bremen figure skating competition on Saturday I was motivated enough to focus on my own "sport career" and venture out into the flatlands of Bremen and Lower Saxony on Sunday.


David was so kind to remind me of Toms wonder weapon (V3 Vlamse Vielrennner Dre) against cold feet, the self heating patch from Japan. Actually we have quite a supply at home, even the shoe specific type, but I was just to stupid to ask my wife so far.
So I left at 1 AM on my Cervelo when temperatures reached - 2 degrees, the highlight of the day. The skies were blue and I enjoyed a nice tailwind riding out along the river Wuemme. My orange Assos jacket offered me good protection against the elements, but my feet got cold as usual. I continued along the river until Lessum where I made a right turn in direction Ritterhude. This is the only road I know that offers some degree of climbing training: First 20 meters up, mainly on cobblestones in the old part of the village and later two times 20 m up, but unfortunately on a congested road leading through industrial wasteland. 


I rode further to Osterholz-Scharmbek and made a right turn in direction SOS landscape and Worpswede. And now I ran fully into a very strong headwind, almost similar to what we have seen here lately. Yes, to have a very light bike can have its own disadvantages.


I arrived at Worspwede back on the usual road and continued in direction Quelkorn and Fischerhude. Riding fully against the wind, my speed dropped to 22 or 23 km/hr. Not only that, but I the wind also contributed in getting my feet and hands very cold. I took a 5 minute break to eat a banana and could hardly use my hands to peel it.


But when I made the turn at Fischerhude and ran North again I enjoyed a tailwind and could easily ride at 35 km/hr without making too much effort. After 83 km distance I was back at the river Wuemme so I decided to go 5 km further North, ride back the same distance and then take the usual 7 km ride home, to make it a full hundred. The first time this year and it is already February.


Before riding home I made a small detour and rode over a pedestrian bridge that crosses a semi-highway close to our house. I like this bridge. It's a little bit tricky to ride up and it offers perhaps 5 m of elevation training. I never cross the street here at street level, I always ride up and down the bridge. With the Cervelo it is easy to do in the big ring (compact) with the biggest cog in the rear. With the Gazelle I have to choose the small ring plus the biggest cog and even then it is hard work.


I was home after 4:10 hrs and covered 102 km, taking less than 10 minutes of break. It was a good training, but it wasn't any fun at all. I could barely insert the key in the lock and turn it - my hands were ice.

Of course this is nothing against the pain that Azizulhasni Awang experienced when he crashed on the wooden track in Manchester during a world cup track meeting on Saturday.
The obvious thing to do after such crash is, obviously, to HTFU, get on your feet, on your bike and cross the finish line to win the event. As shown on You Tube.