Audax Ride in very cold weather.

[Volnix]

Hi!

There is an Audax ride in 7 days around here... It's organized by the Audax Club Parisien Randonneur and it seems like a nice easy way to score a medal...

(Although you have to pay another 10 euro for the medal.

)

The thing is that the weather it's gonna be awful at the place at that time. It's probably gonna be something like -10C and it's a 200km ride.


What do you think? Yes or No?


Thanks.

 

[An old Guy]

I remember going out for 200 mile rides when it was below freezing. Ice on my beard. Running nose. At the time I thought they were nice rides.

I never rode on roads when there was a chance of lots of ice or snow.

If you have doubts, stay home. If not, booties, wind breaker - top and bottom, long underwear, .

 

[CAMPYBOB]

200 Km =...uh...er...12 miles! -10°C = around 56° F. Sounds easy. I say go for it! I mean it's only takes about 4 hours by bike to cross Europe. How tough can it be?

125 miles in 14° F temperature? Not only NO!, but Hell NO! Not with chemical heaters. Not with electrically heated socks and gloves. Not with massages from naked Playmates every 20 miles...er...lemme think about this...

 

[mpre53]

Originally Posted by An old Guy
I remember going out for 200 mile rides when it was below freezing. Ice on my beard. Running nose. At the time I thought they were nice rides.

I never rode on roads when there was a chance of lots of ice or snow.

If you have doubts, stay home. If not, booties, wind breaker - top and bottom, long underwear, .

You probably looked like one of those Nordic skiers in the Olympics. A regular Heikki Lauhtipassaykssanen.

If you couldn't guess, I just made that up.

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB
200 Km =...uh...er...12 miles! -10°C = around 56° F. Sounds easy. I say go for it! I mean it's only takes about 4 hours by bike to cross Europe. How tough can it be?

125 miles in 14° F temperature? Not only NO!, but Hell NO! Not with chemical heaters. Not with electrically heated socks and gloves. Not with massages from naked Playmates every 20 miles...er...lemme think about this...

Yes it looks bad... Even the organizers say that "due to the low participation - something something"...

I had a small stroll the other day at around 0C... Shoulder couldn't move left on the next day.

 

[mpre53]

I remember being in Rockford, IL back in the 80s, and going out for a walk when it was -20F. Snot freezing weather. But I was only 32 at the time.

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by mpre53
I remember being in Rockford, IL back in the 80s, and going out for a walk when it was -20F. Snot freezing weather. But I was only 32 at the time.

I don't know... The thing is that I had the lot, (thermal layers, woolen top, windbreaker, neck warmer, cap... It's just the thermal socks I missed) and even though I felt fine during the ride, when I woke up the next day I was messed up... and that was only a 20km ride.

200km in even colder weather, with stops... Doesn't sound good.

On the plus side, the say that it might be clear and there wont be any ice or snow...

 

[CAMPYBOB]

It was 13 degrees F this afternoon. Hell, it was 13-14 F all damned day. Unlike Maydog, my blood actually thickens and freezes at these temperatures. I was outside for about 45 minutes cleaning up downed limbs after the 40 MPH gusts we had yesterday and last night. It took 15 minutes to thaw my hands out and they were in two pairs of gloves as I worked.

Yesterday, despite the brutal freakin' wind that damned near crashed me twice, was a tropical paradise compared to what we have in store this week! The ride ended in a 42 degree air temperature after a high of around 50 degrees.

Not much for day time highs above 20 F this week and night time lows near zero.

Yeah, I siss'd out and hit the trainer this afternoon and I'll be on it all week unless the weatherman got it all wrong. Like JH says, this be skiing weather...if out local resorts opened. I haven't checked their status since the New Year, but unseasonably warm weather had kept the slopes green.

 

[jhuskey]

Time to make some turns dude.

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by jhuskey

Time to make some turns dude.

So how much are these then?

Maybe I can DIY one of them from an animal trough and a Peugeuot Carbolite.

 

[maydog]

This is not something that should be attempted on a whim. You should be an experienced winter rider or at least have a competent companion along with you. Such a ride in these conditions requires a lot of gear. Even with good gear, the cold can start to take over as you become fatigued. I have not ridden more than about 3 hours at that temperature.

The conditions matter too, -10c/14f on a sunny, calm day doesn't feel so bad. Dark skies and wind make conditions much worse.

Account that you will be riding much slower due to wearing bulkier clothing, carrying emergency gear and riding in much denser air. Likely you will not, should not ride at your usual warm season intensity otherwise you may saturate your layers with sweat.

Tube/Tire changes suck in the cold, use a resilient tire/tube combination.

Keep your phone in a watertight baggie and close to your body otherwise the battery can freeze and the phone will not work when you need it to. Water supplies will freeze pretty quickly if not insulated, you may need to keep them under your jacket as well. Concentrated sports drink solution will lower the freezing temperature, but not much.

Keep all skin covered.

I have considered doing a frozen century myself, but I wouldn't do it unless it was at leas in the 20's (>-7c) and sunny.

 

[MotownBikeBoy]

I think Maydog gave you good advice - something you could do, but only after experience in those conditions and with the right gear.

I did a 5K run 01/01, air temp was 13 degrees F, wind was a stiff 20 gusting to 30, so windchill was something like -15. I was very comfortable because I dressed right (which for me was a lot more layers than most of the runners).

It's all in the prep.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Quote by maydog:
"Tube/Tire changes suck in the cold..."

You got that right!

The few times I've needed or a riding partner needed to do an extreme cold weather tire repair it was a team effort. One guy removes the wheel while the owner fishes for the spare tube/tire irons and CO2. One guy positions the bikes off the road. Tire removal and tube replacement is usually a shared effort as everyone's hands stay gloved up as much as possible...only very short time periods of bare skin exposed to the cold and only for the tasks that can't be done in gloves.

This is one of the times those thin rubber surgical gloves come in handy.

If I'm riding solo and flat in 15° air I'm all about the cell phone, not the tire irons. I'll walk the bike to stay warm while until my ride gets there.

Frostbite sucks and hypothermia can kill you.

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by maydog
I have not ridden more than about 3 hours at that temperature.

The whole event is gonna last 13h 30m. That's the deadline to cover the 200km.

Even a Turbo-Doped-Lance won't make that under 9h and there is a 800m elevation at the first 100km.


Totally thinking of bailing...

Mainly because even if I make it there and want to bail, it's gonna be something like 100 euro worth of lost ticket and hotel moneyz to participate.


If it was very near here, I would probably just go and "not report to the next checkpoint" or something...


200km with stops... In 13:30h... How much can you depend on gear on that, if you have to take it off every few hours?

Originally Posted by MotownBikeBoy
I think Maydog gave you good advice - something you could do, but only after experience in those conditions and with the right gear.

Something that you -could- do... But probably wouldn't!

Btw, this year is the Audax F'n Finals!

http://www.paris-brest-paris.org/index-en.php

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Cold? You want cold?! You can't handle the cold...and neither can I.

It's 4 degrees F at 7 PM and headed for zero tonight. That's about minus 687 degrees Kelvin, I think. The animals are all in the barn and the barn cats are snuggled up with the mice, trying to stay warm. I think the only Gran Fondue I would get into right now would be one on Majorca with Cube!

Even Hawaii is setting record cold temps as they dip into the 50's...the lucky bastards.

Global Warming my skinny white ass!

Forgot to add:
God bless France! Je Suis Charlie!

 

[jhuskey]

Don't be dowin my fellow statesman's Al Bore. He is the man. The really %@$#/&%× man that is.

 

[mpre53]

10 now, heading for 0 by daybreak, and 15-20 winds with higher gusts. This is on the coast where it's usually more moderate. Then I look at the phone app and see it's 32 in my wife's cousins' 'hood in Finland.

 

[Volnix]

Originally Posted by CAMPYBOB
The animals are all in the barn and the barn cats are snuggled up with the mice, trying to stay warm. I think the only Gran Fondue I would get into right now would be one on Majorca with Cube!

Forgot to add:
God bless France! Je Suis Charlie!

What kind of wood - wood stain did you use for the Ark?

PT-Wood? Naval grade?

What kind of Barn Cats?

LaPerm? Maine Coon?

(Count me in for a Laperm as soon as I finally settle in a garden somewhere.

Practically non-existent around here.)

F@ck Charlie and f@ck ^%&@%. Gear Up!

("The Ultimate Bad-@ss")

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Quote by Volnix:
"What kind of Barn Cats?"

The fat, lazy kind that just wander onto the farm and decide life's good here. Despite getting them fixed as fast as we can haul them to the vet, they seem to multiply. 16-22 pounds of cat food every week plus all the mice, chippies, birds, moles, voles and whatever other meat they can scrounge up.


"F@ck Charlie and f@ck ^%&@%, Gear Up!"

The French will gear up and kick some ass.

 

[CAMPYBOB]

Quote by mpre53:
"10 now, heading for 0 by daybreak, and 15-20 winds with higher gusts. This is on the coast where it's usually more moderate."


It's up to 4° above right now with the sun shining and the wind at 16 MPH (gusting to 23). When I got up this morning it was 1° above and for most of the morning it was -4°.

I heard somewhere up your way they were recording -19°.

This is NOT cycling weather no matter what the fat tire guys say!