I think I'm going to lose a toe

I've run in some really nasty conditions. As a matter of fact I kind of revel in it. Runners love to brag about the time they went out in a monsoon for a quick 10 miler, or about the time they couldn't even see through all the snow falling. I love to tell the story about how I couldn't drink from my fuel belt because my bottles were frozen at the end of a one 20 miler. So when I wanted to try out my new bike, I didn't really think 27 degrees was all that bad.

I mean I understood that the wind would make it feel a lot colder and I dressed MUCH warmer than I would have if I were going running. But I had a brand new bike that was just sitting in the garage, so off I went. After about 2 miles I had to turn back for home.

I had to trade my 2 pairs of gloves (running gloves under fingerless bike gloves) for a pair of ski gloves. I already had two pairs of sox but I added a plastic bag between the two for wind resistance. Then off I was again. Well the new bike was great...and indeed it was really fast. So fast in fact, that the wind blew right through 2 pairs of sox and a plastic bag. By mile 10 I had lost all feeling in my feet. I turned back for home only to realize that it was even colder on the way back.

When I got home, my feet were bricks. I could have walked on fire and not felt a thing. My wife quickly filled the bottom of the tub with very hot water and I soaked them for 10 min. before I started to get feeling back. They looked a little black and blue and on the way to the shower I told my daughter, "I think I'm going to lose a toe." She was very concerned. But after the shower, feeling was restored and they looked a lot better too.

I have since told some of my biking friends this story and they all laughed. Brett told me that he rarely goes out if the temp is under 50 and Misty couldn't believe I didn't know about the biking booties that apparently all bikers wear...great another biking expense. As if I hadn't already figured out...I had a lot to learn about Biking.