Cold snowy week

The weather last weekend was 60's and sunny.  That came to a screeching halt on Monday and thru Wednesday with some negative  and single digit temperatures.  I don't think it was quite record cold, but it was close.  They even closed schools for 2 days because of the cold.  If only they could do that for work.  On top of the cold we had a few snowy days Monday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday afternoon to this morning.  I suppose it is winter, but it really stinks.  Especially for driving--my commute was over an hour on several occasions and even over 1.5 hours another day.  Ugh!  Since I was feeling the need for some rest, it turned out to be a good week to cut back on the running and do so more swimming instead.  Hopefully some nice weather comes back soon!

During the week, the riding the trainer is pretty much a given, but I've been getting out riding most weekends, and gosh darn it I was determined to get outside Saturday morning.  There was still ice and snow on the back roads, but I figured the road in Chatfield would be clear. And it was 40 degrees so warm enough for a ride outside.  Not smart on my part or at least not where I rode.  Adam road for almost 4 hours and didn't have to much of a problem, but he rode more northwest and on busier roads (hence less snow and ice) and has a road bike.  I started out riding my normal way and the first couple miles were fine.  I was even getting warm with the layers I had on.  Then I got to the part of the 470 trail that I take to Chatfield and it hadn't been plowed.  Instead of turning around and finding a different route, I hopped off and hiked through the snow/ice for a half mile.  I guess I thought once I got to the park it would be better.  And it was for awhile on the bike path.  But then the road in Chatfield up to the top of the hill by the dam was complete snow and ice.  I still, for whatever reason didn't turn around.  Once I rode up the hill, there was much less snow, but huge icy puddles.  Soon my feet and legs were soaked with icy cold water.  I still kept going for awhile, I was thinking about riding through the park and out the other side to get home.  But once the ice took over the road again, I finally realized how stupid I was being and turned around.  I had some more ice puddle riding, then got to a paved trail and road that out of the park so I didn't have to ride 30+ mph down an ice/snow covered hill. After that I took a busy road home to avoid another snow hike. And as luck would have it, less than a minute from home I heard a loud scraping noise and then a hissing sound. A flat on my rear tire...a tubular tire.  Darn it!  So while I did have many nice moments where I was enjoying the fresh air, for the most part it was a pretty crummy ride and stupid for me to go out and ride on snow and ice.  Hopefully I learned my lesson.

Saturday afternoon I went up to Wheat Ridge Cyclery and ordered a mountain bike.  Driving up there I thought I was going  to get a Yeti ASR Carbon. So I thought it was going to be a quick trip. But apparently they don't make a lot of those, especially in my size.  So then I considered the ASR-5 Carbon so more because they did have those available, but then decided I don't want that much travel (5 inches vs 4).  So then I started thinking about versions of the Trek top fuel.  I thought about the women's specific but also hard to get because not many women want a race level bike, and I didn't like that it had girly colors.  I like girly colors from time to time, but not on my bike.  So I decided on the Trek Top Fuel 9.7 (in red black and white) and was getting the sizing figured out when another salesperson started arguing the merits of a 29'er and showing me another bike.  After some serious consideration, I stuck with the Trek Top Fuel 9.7.  It will be here in 7-10 business days!  Finally, I'll be getting my mountain bike!

I'm hoping the weather gets better and I can get out and have a good ride next weekend.  We've been pretty spoiled here up until this past week. I don't mind a few days of cold or snow, but then I want it to melt and get warm again. Is that too much to ask?