Into
the Cold by Keith Clark, Dec 22, 2008
As
I took off this morning from the Hills of the “Great Land
of the Osage” - I was reminded about the Indians. They would have been
hunting the Great White Buffalo - while I was just hunting Dan's "Coldest
Day PR". It was very cold this Morning - I showed 8.9 on www.WeatherUnderground.com - I know what you are
thinking.... Why would anyone want to get on a bike and ride to
work??? Because it was a challenge and also to set a new cold
weather commuting record that my "Little Friend - Dan" was
currently holding. This was an attempt at going into the single
digits - pushing the mark lower than Dan had ever been able to push it in
"25 Years of Commuting"!! I awoke this morning and
stared out the window at the blistering Cold and then I proceeded to get
dressed - I had put all my bicycle clothes in Caleb's room and even turned off
the heated vents so the room would be cold when I got dressed. I needed
to get my warm body adjusted down to the cold weather that it would soon be
in. After getting dressed I grabbed my bike and out the front
door - I went.... I leaned my bike up against my frozen Van and tried
to take a picture, but my camera was frozen and the batteries were dead - I had
left the camera in the van overnight and the cold had zapped the
batteries. So I went back in the house and got new batteries and then
took this picture.
After I took the picture I jumped on my trusted "Steed" and headed
down the road - it was cold! After climbing my first hill - I
realized my gloves were not good enough and my hands were getting really
cold. So I alternated riding one handed and putting my free hand in my
jacket to warm up - this worked well until I came to the top of the "Great Hill overlooking the City of Bartlesville". This also is
the hill that the "Great Osage Indians" would hide behind when the Buffalo roamed the land -
the Buffalo
would crest the hill and then when they were in the valley below the warriors
would cut them off and surround them. With no Buffalo in sight - I had another plan.
How fast could I descend the hill and in the process could I set a new record
for the "Greatest Wind Chill" attained
on a Bicycle Commute to work.... I hit 31.9 mph on the descent and
according to Wind Chill Calculator below from NOAA - You will see I
sustained a “Wind Hill” reading of -14.3 F (-25.7 C).
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/elp/wxcalc/windchill.shtml
I almost froze to death and by the time I coasted by the Airport I was
seriously wondering what I was doing.... Once in town it started to warm
up due to the heat radiating off the buildings and the fact that I knew I was going
to make it --- because there was no way I was turning around and going back up
that hill in this temperature. I figured it would have to be
warmer this afternoon...
Just south of the Sonic on Fifth street - I ran across water on
the road that had turned to Ice and I had to ride across about 4 feet. I
took the chance and figured if I just held a straight line I would be ok.
Kind of like in the movie "Days of Thunder"
after the big crash toward the end of the race - When Harry tells Cole
"just pick a line and drive through the smoke - you can do
it".. I made it safely to the other side.
After I crossed Virginia
I ran into a big Ice patch - this was a broken water line just north of the
Boys Club.
This was going to take all my Adventuring Riding skills that I had attained
this year while riding on dirt and gravel and then some. I wish --
I would have had my Poprad (CycleCross
bike), because I could have made it. Since I did not and I kept seeing
flashes of Kevin Doggett's Scar - I opted for what any CycloCross
Racer would do. I jumped off my bike threw it on my shoulder and skated
across the ice. I am sure glad I went Ice Skating on RAGBRAI this
year - it gave me the confidence to handle this little issue.
After I made it to the other side - it was smooth sailing on into work.
Here is a picture of my bike by my bicycle locker at
work.
Just
if you wondered what I looked like.
