April 23, 2002 (pre-trip)

Ugh!

Minus 6 degrees Celsius, snowing and blowing snow, roads are covered with ice. Jeese! you’d think it was the middle of winter, not the middle of SPRING. I was supposed to do a two hour bike ride after a solid 60 minute swim today. I wanted to ride the trike to the pool, then back home and another hour on my tri bike inside on the wind trainer. But I wasn’t looking forward to battling the wind and cold.

However… I know that it’s possible to encounter weather not unlike today on my trip through Montana and Idaho this time of year, Especially through the passes, like Lost Trail Pass at the Montana/Utah border – elevation 7014 feet. I want to find out how the trike works in the snow and ice.

So off I went. The machine was stellar – very stable. I would much rather ride it than my mountain bike in this kind of weather because of the two wheels in the rear. I can take one wheel off the road into the gravel if need be and barely even notice the difference.

My toes froze though! I’m going to have to pick up some insulated bike shoe covers. As far as clothing goes, I was warm enough in a long sleeve T, a fleece jacket, my rain coat and fleece tights. So I’ll probably limit the clothes I’m taking to that plus shorts and a short sleeve T.

The machine has two speeds: slow and stop. Today due to the howling wind I averaged only 15km/hour, but on previous rides I have been averaging about 19km/hour, so I think I’ll use around 18km/hour for trip planning.

Oh ya – the swim… well what can I say… sixty minutes of going back and forth in a 25 meter pool. It’s mind numbing. And my Speedo radio broke, so I couldn’t listen to tunes.

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