Ride Report Who opened the freezer door at Four Corners?

Cause it was bloody cold!!!!!!!

I started out, with a few others, from Cooks around 9:15am. I think it was in the high 50s--perfect climbing weather. As we headed up past STT, I was so hot that I thought my two base layers and jersey may have been a bit of overkill.

About an hour into the ride (cause I'm slow), I noticed that my Hr was a tad low--surprising, as I was a tad bit ill the night before and thought the loss of fluids would dehydrate me, increasing my Hr. That was the first clue to the temperature drop.

Then a nice breeze started up from the Arctic; I could no longer feel my cheeks (if you were up there, I think I smiled a greeting, though I'm honestly not sure that the intent made it to my frozen muscles). A few riders were heading down, one in a ski parka--smart man. My Hr dropped a bit more--to the "recovery zone". I'm more of a hummingbird heart climber--hmmmmm.

By the time we got to 4-corners to stop, I had donned my arm warmers, jacket, and a trash bag (poor girl's portable rain coat), shielded myself with a hill, tried to burrow into ground for warmth, and I was some shade of blue that amused the other riders (thanks guys). We could only stop for a short bit, to avoid forming icicles and freezing to the ground, before heading on to Joplin.

Heading around the road to Saddleback, the fog was so think that we slowed way down, in fear of missing the Joplin trailhead. As much as my body ached from the temps on the climb, I knew it would be 1000 x's worse descending back down the way we had come. We ended up finding the trail, without any problems, then continued our way down.

Poor Suzie, my roadie and conned 24Hr teammate, had joined us, which made for a great hike down. Our frozen fingers were a bit too disfunctional for braking; Joplin wasn't the trail we wanted to ride without brakes. We chatted the whole way to Old Camp and even rode a couple sections. We met our group, and Carl's group at the base camp (I think they thawed faster than us). It was a bit warmer down there (not warm enough to take off the jacket, but warm enough to feel our fingers and toes again.

The rest of the ride was beautiful. The fog had lifted, the sun broke through with a bit more warmth and the trail was in great shape for a pair of roadies. BTW, who polished the Luge?

I'm not sure what's worse, knowing that the temp is freezing for the whole ride, or the surprise frigid temps in the middle of the ride. Heed my warning, it's winter in SoCal, prep for ALL weather on ALL rides!!!
--the finally melted snowgirl

PS no pics, my friken fingers weren't working enough to shift, you think I could take a friken pic?

 

Uh huh....

Sounds like and adventure...the type that makes everyone tougher ... sorry I missed it

 

So glad that Elisheva and I stayed low and out of the wind today, sticking to a tour of O'Neill, RSM and Tijeras Creek. It wasn't exactly warm, but it didn't hurt like it would have up the hill. I kept looking at that ring of dark clouds encircling Santiago Peak (think Mt. Doom from LotR) and was quite content not to be up there today (besides, I've been to the peak the past 2 weeks).

Georgia - I bet the post-ride libations helped you all thaw out. Of course, Carl's group rolled in just moments after you all left, so we couldn't quite manage the full Cook's takeover. Sounds like you all had a good ride regardless, and the cold will just add to the sense of accomplishment. Of course, by the time you're telling friends and co-workers, there will be snow and sleet and crampons and ice axes and...

Nice to have met you all.

 

Rachel, your RR's always crack me up! :clap:

This is my time of year, so don't go wishing it away too soon!

 

It was fun hanging out in the parking lot watching the riders roll in. Nice to see you Rachel, and Rachel's hubby, Susie, Dave, Jay, Carl, Justin, and a few more I can't remember.

It was a good day for riding, providing you kept your altitude on the low side.

 

Maxwell, there should be snow up there by next week, for your annual "Maxwell's Mayhem in the Snow Day".

 

You can never guess the temp on the Main Divide based on the lower levels. Check out the weather stations.

Santiago Peak high today was 31.8

http://www.airsites2000.com/santiago_peak3.htm

Sierra Peak high today was 43.2

http://www.airsites2000.com/sierra_peak1.htm

 

Sounds too cool - couldn't resist.

 

It was cold as M*#($)%@Q at 4 corners. Decided to do this loop again after about 4years. Nice group with Bandman, Klutter, Jay, Dubjay, LoisMustDie, TorqueW, my buddy Eric, 1fG rider. Some on AM bikes, XC bikes, most of us turning the Singlespeeds.

Harding is always a bear man. Sorry to Dusty, and Permigrin that I wasn't more chatty when saw you guys. I was a hurting a bit then. By the time I dragged my butt up to 4 corners I had shed 2 layers and I was still sweating like mad. So getting up on the ridge there was like stepping into a meat locker, but with crazy wind! We ended regrouping down by the gate b/c the ridge was too farking cold.

Joplin was lots of comedy dropping in. My fingers were stiff as sticks so there was no brake feel, and your whole upper body was tight. Mix that with loose steep trail = Hahaha oh dam, almost eat'in it time. Made for some nice practice on my technical tripoding and walking. The leaves changing color on Joplin looked pretty sweet too compared to the rest of the scrub out there. As it's happened before on this ride, Joplin/STT ate some sidewalls. 2 this time. Both tires tubless, both couldn't plug the puncture. Though I did learn, that you can make a rim tape out of duct tape and cut ace wrap eh Jay?

Descent form Old Camp to Luge was nice under the breaking daylight through the clouds. Again, wish I had my camera as the light reflecting off Irvine Lake and the Ocean was pretty spectacular. At Cook's I destroyed half a plate of nachos, fries, and a Philly Cheesesteak with their very nice indoor heater running. Plus the Bud Ice/Poptart I had for immediate recovery was dam tasty in the parking lot.

Anyhow, good seeing you again Elsheva, Waldo, Lety, Gabe, Hugh, KishMe, Rachel/John and friend (Suzy?). Thanks to all the other guys for coming out to the ride. Though cold as hell, and a bit of grinder haul for the sometime SSpeeders it was a great day out there. A little fun adversity makes for a memorable day.

 

It was a really brisk ride heading up to Old Camp this morning. I'm really glad I had a shell and surgical gloves for the trip back down!! HAPPY WINTER!! Last one for me, and yes I'm paying attention.

 

From SJC it looked really cold up towards Santiago Peak and the Ortegas, so just recovering from colds this week, Shannon and I decided to forego a ride on SJT and rode out at the Weed Patch (SCST) instead. And it was d@^& cold out there! Knee warmers and long sleeves cold!:lol:

 

I rode up to the peak from harding and came down Holy Jim. I do not doubt those temps at all.

 

I think I was at 4C just as Pho'd up and his group were hunkering down on the top of Harding. We came up Maple Springs and wile we were putting on layers thought we heard some voices. When noone cam up Harding after a minute or so, we figured we were imagining it with the wind.
Talked to Eric last night to find out it was probably them staying off the ridge.

We left that icebox of blowing cold in a hurry and headed back down.

 

Nice RR, Rachel! :clap:

This is the time of year that I start bringing insulated riding gloves (and other cold/wet weather gear) in my pack... just in case. Cold hands are my weak spot. Once the fingers start turning blue, i'm about done.

 

Rode up Holy jim yesterday and made it within a mile or two of the peak and had to turn around, mist/snow plus lack of cold weather gear made it unbearable (and a little bit dangerous) and spent the next hour trying to get feeling back into my hands and feet.

 

Cold weather riding can be comfortable if you plan right. For me the main thing is to ride slow enough that you don't sweat. Base layers of merino wool are essential. If you get sweaty be sure to have a dry jersey or two in your pack, you will not need to change out the base wool.

If you wear smart wool glove liners, then surgical gloves under fleece gloves I guarantee warm fingers even if it is snowing out. The same with your feet, smart wool socks, then a vapor barrier (plastic bag or better seal skins) and a gortex shoe.

It is not fun riding wet and cold and it is your responsibility to those we ride with to be prepared when in the mountains.

https://www.smartwool.com/default.cfm

Dean

 

Good times! It was great to see everyone on the trail! Oh and YES it was freezing out!

HUGH

 

It's snowing at the peak now.

http://www.airsites2000.com/santiago_peak.htm

 

Soooo cold. When Nan and caught up with Hugh on his way back down and he said he was f*n cold, we knew we were in trouble. Being the tough girls we are, we didn't make it much further before turning around .

Dean - Thanks for the info, I'm going to try the surgical gloves under the fleece 'cause my fingers get so cold they go completely numb.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say numb feet...this would've been a good time to have clipless pedals since I couldn't feel them at all and found them only 1/2 way on my pedals at one point.

Rachel - Good to see you even if it was only a fleeting moment :wave:.

 

Damn I missed the ride and all the fun in the cold.

Dean has great tips for cold weather. Although I would not use surgical glove as they trap moisture and you'll be completely soaked.

The things I found to be very useful in the cold is windtex or Goretex wind proof gloves and goretex shell(or anything wind proof, water proof and BREATHABLE). The key is breathable and since we are riding bikes we do sweat whether we feel it or not. Also under armor makes a thin ski mask that worked well for me. Good winter gears are not cheap but tons of fun can be had.

Oh and smart wool is a must have for cold weather riding!