Patapsco Mini-Tour Training Ride

I don't want to die. In fact, that's very far from my list of life goals. So, when the weather forecast for today said things like: "WIND CHILLS WILL SLOWLY CLIMB TO 10 BELOW BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON." and "WINDS... WEST 30 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH." I thought to myself, oh boy, an opportunity to dress up. Turns out I went a little overboard and was uncomfortably hot the whole time, but hey, better that than frostbitten and hypothermic!

Here's the story of the day:

Breakfast: 3-egg omelet with pepper jack, soy chorizo, and plenty of hot sauce.

Bottles: whisky up so they don't freeze - a tip from teammate Scott Myers. It worked pretty well, although 5 hours in 15-degree temps is enough to overpower the tiny amount of booze I put in there.

Clothing: A ridiculous amount. I ended up wearing, and being happy with in the 15-20 degree weather w/ moderate wind gusts with:

• Lake winter boots
• Ski socks w/ toe warmers
• Bib shorts
• Long johns
• Ski pants w/ patroller-style bib
• Undershirt
• Mid-weight synthetic upper layer
• Cloudveil shell jacket
• Face mask
• Ski helmet
• Ski goggles
• Ski gloves

12 items of clothing! And that was with overheating and stripping off my fleecy Patagonia Hellgate hoodie!

Anyways, more photos:
 

At the beginning of the ride, happy to be warm and toasty when it is cold out.

The Rig. I threw the frame bag on specifically to carry more hot chocolate. Also, I forgot to bring my backpack... whups. The bar mitts are pretty warm, sufficient for temps above 0F. 

Passing past the Dam after going through Ellicott City.

Cascade on Cascade Trail.

Since I forgot my pack in my car, the only food I had for the first 4-1/2 hours was a couple of shot bloks and some hot chocolate. I would've been OK, but when the route took me past the Breadery, which was open, there was no way in hell I could resist stopping in and scarfing down a big-ass pumpkin and chocolate-chunk Muffin. Yum!!

Rt 40 bridge on the return trip

Altogether a pretty great day. The sun was beautiful, although I'm not a huge fan of snow on the trails. It seems great, but it really slows me down because I'm not sure of my traction! Maybe I just need to MTB more... Also it was great to link up all these trails; I'd ridden almost all of them before, but not in this particular order, combination, and/or direction before. Fun!