A Little Winter Riding Help

A couple weeks ago for my birthday Jackie surprised me with a couple cool tools to make winter riding much easier. First, she got me a set of Nokian Extreme 294 studded tires. These have 294 carbide studs in each tire to keep the bike upright on ice and packed snow. I finally got them mounted up today and went out for a ride. It was pretty warm, mid 30's and sunny. You are supposed to ride them on pavement for a while when you first get them to help fully seat the studs so I did a 17 mile loop on pavement. Definitely a lot more rolling resistance than what I'm used to riding, but I can't wait to get them out on some real trails. I haven't ridden a trail now since early December I think.

She also got me a pair of winter riding shoes, some Pearl Izumi Barrier GTX's. They look great, but unfortunately were too small. Dave exchanged them for us for the next size up, but those are too small as well. PI's must run small so I will go up one more size. They will be great once I get some that fit good. Now I wear wool socks with a chemical toe warmer stuck to them, inside my regular shoes, with neoprene shoe covers over them. The new shoes should be a lot easier, just put them on a go.

It felt really good to get out and ride today. Especially since I was so bummed I didn't have my stuff in New Mexico. Not only was the weather great, but a couple of the doctors and a rep I visited all ride. One of the doctors was even trying to convince me to come riding with him. Next time for sure.

Back to Reality

Well, paradise is behind us. We returned from the Bahamas to temperatures in the teens and snow. It did feel good to sleep in my own bed for a night, but it was bittersweet as I had less than 24 hours in Michigan. I flew back out this afternoon to Albuquerque, New Mexico for work. I'll head home Saturday afternoon.

This is a really crazy time of the year with a lot of work travel. At least I have a new laptop so I can blog on the road. I have to continue to dispel the nickname Todd assigned me, the Shitty Blogger (just because I didn't post anything from May to October last year, big deal).

Time to get some sleep now. I'm tired and have a couple long days ahead of me, plus I haven't had a real workout in a while now so I'm hoping to spend some time in the gym in the morning.