Day 253: Oooooh, I hear pedaling in the rain

Day 253's blog post title is brought to you by the extremely lovely, legendary yet fairly feminine voice of Neil Sedaka.

I conquered one of my fears today. I biked in not-so-ideal weather. I didn't do it to the point where I knew my safety was at risk (i.e. there wasn't lightning, winds weren't insane, and visibility was still very good). Besides, I blogged on day 252 that I was GOING to bike and that only rain or darkness would stop me. The rain wasn't bad enough for me to feel like I shouldn't go, and it was a huge pain in the butt for me to air up my tires so I was determined to make it happen. It was pretty cold, though... (43ºF/6ºC) with a wind chill factor of 37ºF/2ºC.

I layered up with 2 long sleeved fitted shirts, a thick hoodie, tights, socks, thick sweat pants, my rain jacket and I headed on out to the hike & bike. I felt like one of those little kids you see overly bundled up for the cold weather because I felt so bulky.

Shortly after this photo was taken,
there was much less smiling.

Things shifted during this ride. During my first lap, I realized that the wind was on opposite ends of the loop, so I already knew this ride was going to be a challenge. I'm so used to the difficult side of the loop being where it is that I had to psych myself up to work harder on my usually "easy" stretch.

I did my "usual" 11 miles, but this ride was FAR from usual. I haven't felt this challenged in a while, and I'm sure it was due to a mixture of several things. I haven't biked since uh.....I can't remember!! I know it's been at least a month, though. Add the change in wind direction and the annoying splashes of rain, and I was on the verge of miserable during laps 1-3. By my 4th lap, I was exhausted, but DETERMINED to finish strong. I pedaled like mad to get back to my car because I was cold and wet, but I also pedaled harder because I didn't want the windy side to defeat me.

I brought the remainder of the cupcakes I made for new year to Nick after my ride because I didn't want to be tempted to eat them, and he was gracious enough to give me some dry clothes to wear on my drive back home. Thanks, boyfriend! I'm sure I was a pitiful site in my drenched state.

After an awesome hot shower, I inhaled some bangus (milkfish) with a brown and white rice mixture and a tomato.

Then it was off to choir practice in Fannett. It was an atypical practice since so many members were missing due to different circumstances, but we gained one new member (hopefully!), so I'm excited about that!

I ate a turkey dog with a slice of wheat bread and some dijon mustard with some shrimp chips when I got back to my apartment after practice.

I'm not sure if I'll bike in the rain like that again, but I'm happy to say that at least I tried it.  I couldn't help but think of my boss lady Beth's first marathon while I was out there. She ran 26.2 miles in very similar conditions, and I figured if she could do that, I could bike a measly 11!


I must take advantage of these last few days I have off that I can bike in the daylight. Gah, March 10! hurry up and get here already, please! I miss you, Daylight Savings Time.

Tomorrow's weather will be cold again, and I think the rain will be gone. You better believe I'll be out there.