B-b-b-b-b-buggah, it was cold!!

I didn't wait for my alarm to go off this morning- I had been awake since about 4:00 visualising what I had done with all of my cold weather gear. I thought I had gathered it all together before retiring last night but couldn't remember if I had my leg warmers (turns out I did).

So I got up at 4:15, turned on the laptop and fired up the internet to see just how chilly things were going to be on the race circuit this morning. The local airport was saying the temp was 10.5C- we're usually a couple of degrees cooler being further from the coast but I wanted to see what it was like at the top of the range.

The closest weather station at that altitude is Mingela- probably 50 km as the crow flies but pretty similar and the lucky number was 3.4C. So I put on my new dhb Merston full-length bib-knicks, a silk base shirt, a matching dhb long-sleeve winter jersey, a wool touque (or beanie for those in the Antipodes) and full finger gloves.

The temp at the start line for the TT up the range was a balmy 5.5. I went back to the car and pulled my armwarmers on under my jersey...I really dislike cold weather- I mean we're 19.5 degrees south of the equator- it shouldn't get that cold. It may have been a motivating factor for me as I think that was the fastest I've ever gone up Herveys Range- I really didn't want to be on the bike, in the cold, for any longer than was absolutely necessary.

This is a shot Dee got of me just as I hit the line at the top of the range.

Then it was off on the road race. There were only three of us in D grade this morning and we headed off about 15 minutes after completing the TT. The sun had made it above the trees and we were sitting at a balmy 4.5C- at least that's what our car told us. Yes- that says 4.5 with a little snowflake beside it just in case we weren't smart enough to come to the conclusion that 4.5 is not warm.

Good road race- I did manage to outsprint Damian from about 350 metres but I think on the combined times with the TT, he probably got me. Next weekend is a 40km TT and if the weather is this cold, it ain't gonna be fun!!!

Cheers

BoaB