Winter in America

Nobody wants to hear more bitching about the weather. Winter ends tommorow, but apparently nobody told New Hampshire. Due to the frigid conditions, my three day mini-camp lacked the time on the bike I had hoped for. Luckily, this was not a total loss, as the intensity required to keep warm on yesterday's ride made up for the lack of duration. With the temps never rising above 25F, we did a loop out to and around Newfound Lake (BTW, still completely frozen), battling arctic headwinds, snow squalls, "ice on road" signs, and later on, "falling ice" signs. The seasoned triathletes in the audience may know this route from the now-defunct Granite Ledges Olympic distance tri. Things are pretty quiet around there this time of year, so this course made for some great riding once we got on the side of the lake that was sheltered by the cliffs.

Turning south onto route 3A, we absolutely motored back to Bristol with a nice tailwind. Of course, I spent a bit too long on the front, and KL was kind enough to cruise away and leave me behind on one long grade. We regrouped briefly on the shallow descent into town, but then when we turned onto the roller coaster Old Bristol Road back to New Hampton, she powered ahead on the initial ascent (about 100 meters in just over a kilometer), and I was never able to close the gap. She soloed back into the Sand Hill Estate about 40 seconds up. I was totally spent. You know you are lucky when you can go on a ride with your girlfriend and have over half the time spent at or above LT.